Arrest made in fire that destroyed coastal home dating to 1790, NC police say

A 38-year-old man has been charged with felony arson in connection with the fire that destroyed an 18th century home known for its minimal use of nails, according to investigators in eastern North Carolina.

James Mitchell Kearns is accused of “wantonly” setting fire to the Ward-Hancock House in Beaufort on Jan. 28, 2025, an affidavit reports. He was arrested Wednesday, records show.

A motive has not been released. Court records indicate Kearns is from nearby Morehead City and is homeless.

The Ward-Hancock House was owned by the N.C. Maritime Museum at Beaufort, which accepted the building as a donation in 2010.

Historians say the one-and-a-half-story house was built around 1790, and was the only known rural 18th century home in Carteret County.

Its construction was unique, due to an effort to conserve nails, historians say. The gambrel-roof’s shingles were pegged into roof beams rather than nailed, and the lath that held its plaster walls together was woven in place rather than nailed, according to an architectural survey of the county.

Efforts to save the home resulted in it being moved twice, once in 1944 and again in 2010, when it was purchased by the Beaufort Woman’s Club and donated to the N.C. Maritime Museum at Beaufort, according to a report by Mary Warshaw.

Beaufort is about a 155-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.