After William Byrd II and George Washington first planned the Dismal Swamp Canal, Virginia approved construction in 1787, and North Carolina in 1790. A North Carolina/Virginia private company, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, began construction in 1793.

Hetty Reckless, born Amy Hester Boadley around 1776, spent her life helping others escape slavery and start new lives. She was born enslaved in Salem, New Jersey, to Dorcas Boadley. The Johnson family enslaved Hetty, whose mother promised she would free Hetty upon her death. The Johnson family never kept that promise.

William Byrd II was one of the first Colonists to record the first sight of the Great Dismal Swamp on March 13, 1728. While marking the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, Byrd noted: “Our work ended within a quarter of a mile of the Dismal, where the ground began to be already full of sunken holes and slashes… It is hardly credible how little the bordering inhabitants were acquainted with this mighty swamp, notwithstanding they had lived their whole lives within s

Humans have lived in and around the Great Dismal Swamp for thousands of years. Indigenous people hunted, fished, farmed nearby lands, and used the swamp as a seasonal resource and refuge. The rough terrain and abundant resources served them well, as did their ability to hide when needed.

of the first things she did was write a reminder for him:   “…[R]emember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors… If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion…”

In the Antebellum South (1815–1861), the planter class ensured a rigid, hierarchical society. Small farmers, or Yeomen, white workers, and poor whites made up seventy-five percent of the white population, but the wealthy planters controlled everything else. This produced significant economic and social tensions between the two classes.