History

In 1917 a large tract of land owned by "Jefferson" (not that one) was divided into parcels. The name Jefferson goes back to land grants in the region into the early 1700's. In 1917 Jefferson subdivided one of his parcels and sold a 34-acre creekside lot, #7, to the Brown family at that time. 

The "A. C. L.  R. R." line that runs NW-SE is the Atlantic Coast Line, a railroad. The "New Road" (now Colt Cove Rd.) was a Farm-to-Market road that ran from the main highway (formerly NC 33, now US 264) to the large "Public Landing" on Tranter's Creek - the large rectangle shown at the SW end of the roadway. Horse drawn wagons met boats and barges at the landing to pickup and deliver goods - crops, lumber, barrels, etc. from farms and several mills situated upstream. The Public Landing was a commercial hub. Boats carried goods to and from ports along on the Pamlico/Tar River between Greenville & Washington, and places further east.

In 1965, a next-generation owner in the Brown family worked with Wesley Boykin, a leading member of Beaufort County Peace Officers Protective Association and the NC General Assembly to fund a 'pistol range' - thereby establishing what exists today. 

The Brown's had a survey done to subdivide a portion of Lot #7 expressly for this purpose and immediately donated the 5+ acre parcel to the Association. At the same time, Mr. Boykin was given the small, triangular 0.33-acre lot, a remnant resulting from the surveyor's boundaries being generated along the New Road. 

As apparent from the second, long-abandoned road gate immediately adjacent to the current gate, association members jumped into action to build their range according to the survey's fresh markers and, likely, with the assistance of Mr. Brown and the surveyor. It didn't work well to try to make a new access road on their property right beside the old, established market road. The immediate area is naturally swampy and the hard-packed old road shed even more water into the drainage area. So members began using the old 'New Road' for access.

Land was cleared. A low shooting berm was built up, backing to the swampy area which runs north behind our northern boundary from the gate to the creek. This berm became 'Bay 1' or 'Range 1' - at the time, the only shooting bay until 2012!

Mr. Boykin served in the NC Highway Patrol for 31 years. He was recipient of the Governor's Order of the Long Leaf Pine meritorious award. According to the website, " Since 1963, North Carolina’s governors have reserved their highest  honor, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, for persons who have made  significant contributions to the state and their communities through  their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments." We'd have to agree with that! 

• The range is over 55 years old. 
• Between its foundation in 1965 to 1974, it seems little changed on the range. In 1974, the Clubhouse was funded by donations raised by the local business community. It's history is currently thin. Some long-time members may be able to fill in some details. 
• For 34 years, the range served as the primary training venue for Law Enforcement in Beaufort County.
• In 1999, the after-effects of Hurricane Floyd - cresting the Tar River 24-feet above flood stage - brought the Tranters Creek water level some 6-7-feet up inside the Clubhouse. Everything below ceiling height was destroyed.
• Beaufort Community College picked up the LEO training slack.
• In 2010 the greatly-reduced membership reconstituted. Beaufort County Peace Officers Protective Association became Beaufort County Law Enforcement Officers Association. The first new board was elected October 28, 2010. Re-reorganizing as a 501(3)(c), non-profit was finalized in 2015.
• In its renewed effort, the Clubhouse interior was finally cleaned-up, given a new roof, doors, and windows - installed sometime after July 2014. In 2012, a mix of trees and scrub was cleared to widen the Shooting Berm two Bays to the east and add the 25-yard fingers separating the current 3-Bays to greatly increase the range's pistol shooting capacity. Today, we call for the occasional Work-Days. The first several years following reorganization were Work Years!
• Though the shell had been cleaned-up and protected from the elements, the Clubhouse remained unoccupiable. Monthly meetings were hosted by Washington Churches to the gratitude of BCLEOA's Members.
• After some re-planning and interior reconstruction work to bring the building 'up to current building codes', an Occupancy Permit was issued by Beaufort County on August 13, 2018. Member Tommy Edwards offered his professional services to install a 'Split' Heating/Air-Conditioning System which was operable as of March 5th, 2019. Our meetings could now be held on site - after nearly 20 years! ...and would have been the following month, April, had it not been for a minor miscalculation on road repairs. 
• 2020 was a special year for all. We still made some progress. Lead by BCLEOA Member, Cornell Purvis, his Brothers in the Field team finished the interior wall paneling in the Clubhouse's main meeting space in time to launch into 2021. We greatly appreciate BIF's efforts!