The importance of New Bern’s history cannot be overemphasized. The city of New Bern was settled in 1710 at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers and began to flourish as a farming and shipping community. The city soon became an important port, exporting naval stores and, later, tobacco and cotton. The captains of the ships that hauled these high-demand products used the spires of New Bern’s churches to guide them up the Neuse River, which at the time had few navigational aids or other landmarks. Several of the older homes in New Bern have widow’s walks projecting above the roofs, where wives would watch for their husbands’ ships returning from long sea voyages.