| NEW BERN FIRSTS | |
| Year | Event |
| 1720 | First road and ferry in North Carolina (from New Bern to Bath) |
| 1749 | First printing press (and therefore the first newspaper, book and pamphlet printed) in North Carolina |
| 1766 | First incorporated school in North Carolina |
| 1770 | First permanent Colonial Capitol Building completed |
| 1777 | First permanent State Capitol Building and site of first inauguration of State Officials |
| 1777 | First meeting of the North Carolina state legislature |
| 1778 | First public banking institution in North Carolina |
| 1778 | First in North Carolina to celebrate Independence Day |
| 1783 | First bookstore in North Carolina |
| 1790 | First postal service in North Carolina |
| 1793 | First death sentence by a Federal Court in the United States and first public hanging |
| 1796 | First in America to celebrate George Washington's birthday |
| 1805 | First theater in America still in regular operation |
| 1810 | First large-faced clock on a building in North Carolina |
| 1817 | First Presbyterian Church organization and building in Presbytery |
| 1818 | First steamboat owned in North Carolina |
| 1821 | First Roman Catholic Church and parish in North Carolina |
| 1845 | First chartered fire department in North Carolina still in existence |
| 1862 | First torpedo (land mine) put to practical use invented here |
| 1863 | First congregation in the South to join the national AME Zion Church (St. Peter's) |
| 1868 | First public school for African-Americans in North Carolina |
| 1898 | First to develop, bottle and market Pepsi-Cola |
| 1901 | First town of its size to have its own electric plant |
| 1903 | First registered nurse in America (Josephine Burton, June 3, 1903) |
| 1911 | First motion picture theatre in North Carolina built from the ground up |
| 1912 | First consolidated school in North Carolina with a bus transportation system |
| 1942 | First modern naval minesweeper made in North Carolina launched here |
| 1972 | First fully computerized radio broadcasting station in North Carolina |
| 1996 | First novel in America to be on both the hardcover and paperback best seller lists for over a year* |
| * The Notebook by New Bern author Nicholas Sparks | |