USA > North Carolina > New Hanover County > New Hanover County : a brief history > Part 8
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This early view of Wilmington's waterfront showing the old Cus- toms House and the steamer Wil- mington offers an interesting con- trast to the scene below. (McKoy.)
This aerial view of Wilmington shows some of the city's most im- portant buildings, including the Customs House visible in the fore- ground. Photograph appears in Bill Sharpe's A New Geography of North Carolina (Raleigh, 1954), I, and is used by permission of Mrs. Sharpe. Other pictures from the same volume are used in this pam- phlet and are so acknowledged.
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from wells on private property. Unfortunately, some of the private wells were shallow and polluted. The result was an un- usually high death rate from intestinal diseases.
Because of public concern, the city in 1909 purchased the Clarendon Water Works Company and the Wilmington Sew- erage Company, a private enterprise that had been established about 1902. The operation of the two companies was turned over to the newly created Wilmington Water and Sewerage De- partment. The water system was modernized, and a purification process was installed to render the water fit for human con- sumption. Even so, the sources of supply continued to be a prob- lem. At times and under certain circumstances, ocean water pushed up the river, causing the drinking water to be brackish in spite of purification. To solve this problem, it was decided to move the source farther upstream, beyond the reach of the ocean flow. The location selected was a short distance above Lock Number One on the Northwest Branch of the Cape Fear, at King's Bluff, about 23 miles from the city. The laying of the pipe line, interrupted by World War II at Hoods Creek, has since been completed and the city now draws its water from that source.
The Wilmington government, with its multiplicity of boards, proved to be inefficient, and so it was changed in March, 1911. By an act of the General Assembly, the aldermanic form of government was superseded by a commission form, with five elected commissioners. The commissioner receiving the highest number of votes became mayor. With several changes in detail, this form of government remained in force until 1941 when it was replaced by the mayor-council-manager form which is still in effect.
The home of the municipal government of Wilmington, the magnificent City Hall at Third and Princess streets, has been occupied since its completion in 1855. It replaced another town hall which stood at the intersection of Second and Market streets as early as 1819, and possibly before. The present home of the county government, the courthouse on the southeast corner of Third and Princess streets, has been occupied from the time of its completion in 1893. The modern addition to the east was added later. This courthouse replaced another, located on the north side of Princess Street, between Second and Third, which had been in use since 1840. An even earlier courthouse had stood at the intersection of Front and Market streets until it was
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destroyed by fire in 1840. It had been built in 1790 to replace the original courthouse of 1739, located on the same site, which had been pulled down to prevent the spread of a destructive fire.
Another important public building in Wilmington, the Federal Customs House on Water Street between Market and Princess, was built in 1916. It replaced a fine three-story brick building which had been located on a portion of the same site and was used for the same purpose. The present United States Post Office, at the corner of Front and Chestnut streets, was completed in 1937. It replaced an ornate but sturdy Victorian structure which had stood on the same site since 1891. Until 1874 the Post Office had been located in the old Customs House; from then until the completion of permanent quarters in 1891, it had occupied temporary facilities at Second and Chestnut streets.
An important innovation in local mail service took place in 1884 when steps were initiated for free delivery of mail through- out the city. In preparation for this improvement the city officials saw to the proper naming of streets and the numbering of the houses. Another milestone in the local postal service was passed on January 2, 1912, when E. L. Lee, a postal official, turned over a bag of mail to the pilot of a small airplane at Highwood Park. The pilot took off and flew to nearby Winter Park Gardens where he dropped this mail to Mr. Lee, who had driven ahead and was waiting. This was the beginning of airmail service in Wilmington. The flight had been planned for the previ- ous day but was postponed because of rain and a boggy field; the mail, however, was postmarked January 1, 1912.
The Growth of Modern Business
Possibly the most challenging postwar problem facing the people of New Hanover County was the revival of business. Recovery came, but it was gradual and subject to the winds of change that affected the business world in general. For several years Cape Fear shipping was mostly by sailing craft and largely confined to coastal and West Indian trade. Some vessels, however, came from as far away as England, Germany, and Scandinavia. Naval stores and lumber continued to be the principal exports, but some cotton was beginning to be shipped.
Of the various prewar products, rice alone failed to make a postwar recovery. In the past, rice had been cultivated by slaves in an inefficient fashion. With poor labor conditions after the
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war, rice production almost ended. Some continued to be grown but there was hardly enough for local consumption. By the end of the century, it had virtually disappeared, cultivation having shifted to Louisiana where more efficient methods were used to perpetuate its growth.
For the Cape Fear people to turn once more to naval stores was quite natural, and soon the country people were floating tar, rosin, and turpentine down to Wilmington in such quantities that the city could feel secure in its claim to being the largest naval stores market in the world. By 1880, however, there were signs of trouble. Sailing vessels were not as numerous as they had been, and there was also a noticeable depletion of the pines from which the products came. Wilmington held its leading position for some years, but by the early years of the present century, the center of the naval stores industry had shifted to Georgia and elsewhere in the Deep South.
The lumber industry was among the most important sources of income. From the extensive forests, not only lumber but also timber products and shingles flowed in great quantities. Ship- ments went to both domestic and foreign destinations, with most going to the West Indies and to Central and South America.
A small amount of cotton was shipped out of Wilmington be- fore the Civil War and also in the years immediately following the conflict. As cultivation increased and as transportation im- proved with the passing of time, Wilmington became more and more important as a cotton market. More than anyone else, Alexander Sprunt and his son James were responsible for this development. Just after the war, they became active in naval stores exports. As this business declined, the Sprunts turned to the expanding cotton trade. By 1889 their firm had established some 100 agencies through which its compressed cotton could be marketed in Europe. By the early years of the twentieth century, cotton had become the most important export of Wil- mington, and Wilmington had become one of the great cotton markets of the nation. Cotton remained an important local export until about 1930.
The Industrial Revolution was slow in coming, but it finally arrived in North Carolina in the postwar years. Compared to the Piedmont section, however, New Hanover County benefited little from this development. Local citizens, however, made the most of the resources they did have and so were not completely denied the fruits of industrial development. One early manu-
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facturing enterprise was a derivative of the West Indian lumber trade. In returning to the Cape Fear from the West Indies, some of the lumber vessels brought sugar, molasses, fruit, and other such tropical products. Others, however, returned with worth- less ballast. A number of local businessmen came to realize these vessels could bring back West Indian guana, and so the local fertilizer business was born and thrived, as the founders had hoped, on the increasing needs of the cotton planter. The first venture in this field was the Cape Fear Guana Company, organized in 1867. An unexpected slump in cotton caused it to fail, but in 1869 the Navassa Guana Company was founded. Its success marked the beginning of an industry that thrived and expanded in the years that followed.
Another derivative, or branch, of the lumber business was the preservation of wood. The increasing need of railroads for crossties and of utility companies for poles came at the same time heart pine was declining in volume, so there was a need for a cheap method of preserving common timber. The answer came in a process by which the wood was impregnated with creosote, a derivative of lightwood or coal. The first plant using this process was built in Mississippi in 1875. In 1886, the first plant in Wil- mington was built by the Carolina Oil and Creosoting Company ; this was the beginning of a thriving industry.
The city's first textile plant, the Wilmington Cotton Mill, was established in 1874, and other enterprises followed. By the turn of the century, New Hanover County had, in addition to textile plants, numerous lumber mills, two iron works, a large cotton- seed and oil plant, a bag plant, a brick plant, two paint factories, fertilizer plants nearby, and various other enterprises.
In 1917 the United States became involved in World War I. Soon thereafter, the economy of New Hanover County received a temporary boost with the establishment of shipbuilding fa- cilities. Work was begun on the Carolina Shipyard in May, 1918, and a number of steel ships were built there. Almost simultane- ously, the Liberty Shipyard was begun nearby; and among other vessels, it turned out several concrete ships of an experimental nature. While the shipyards were in operation, jobs were plenti- ful and wages were high. The result was a period of prosperity that ended all too soon. The war ended, the yards closed, and the boom was over with little or no lasting benefit derived from it. For several years afterward, the economy of the county fluctuated and then languished through the Great Depression of
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The Wilmington shipyards have contributed greatly to the county's economy, especially during wartime. During World War II such Liberty ships as the Zebulon B. Vance above were built by contract for the United States government. This vessel was later renamed the John J. Meany and used as a hospital ship.
Truck farming has been successfully practiced at Castle Hayne; Euro- pean immigrants have developed a large market for their vegetables and flowers. (Sharpe.)
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the thirties. Relief came in the 1940s, and once more it was brought by war.
New Hanover County benefited far more from World War II than she had from the earlier conflict. Once again shipbuilding facilities were erected and provided well-paying jobs for thou- sands. In addition, there were major military bases nearby, in- cluding Camp Davis and Camp Lejeune, which not only provided civilian jobs but were also the source of great amounts of money entering the local economy through military payrolls and pur- chases. Unlike that of World War I, this later boom had lasting benefits because many of those who came to the city for work or for military service chose to make it their home afterward. These new citizens joined with local young men returning from service in refusing to permit prosperity to drift away. Their ability and determination has had much to do with the con- siderable economic progress the county has enjoyed since the war. With the continued influx of important industrial enter- prises, this progress promises to reach even greater heights.
One of the most important economic developments in New Hanover County has been truck farming. By the last decade of the nineteenth century, local farmers were turning more and more to the cultivation of various vegetables and small fruits; rapid shipment to northern markets was made possible by the Wilmington and Weldon, or, as it later became, the Atlantic Coastline Railroad. A great boost was given truck farming early in the present century by Mr. Hugh MacRae of Wilmington. At the time, there was much unused land in New Hanover and adjoining counties, and much of it was considered more or less worthless. At the same time, there were farmers in Europe who desperately wanted land. Mr. MacRae believed that the local land, under their care, would be productive and would add to the general prosperity of the area. To prove his conviction he sent an agent to Europe to recruit immigrants. The agent was suc- cessful, and soon farmers of various nationalities began to arrive. About 300 were located in each of five different settlements in New Hanover and nearby counties. The one settlement in New Hanover was at Castle Hayne. Because of the soil, this settle- ment seemed to offer the least promise of success. On the con- trary, it thrived along with all the others. Most of the new arrivals at Castle Hayne were Hungarians and Dutch, but other nationalities, including established Americans, also settled there. The foreigners continued to grow vegetables, but they also intro-
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duced the cultivation of flowers and bulbs for the northern and midwestern markets. Their success has been a great boon to the whole county.
The Development of Modern Transportation
While various factors have contributed to the economic develop- ment of New Hanover County, none has been more important than transportation. One of the first signs of returning normalcy after the Civil War was the resumption of regular river traffic between Wilmington and Fayetteville. The prewar steamer service between Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah was not resumed, the connection having been superseded by rail lines. On the other hand, regular steamship service was reestablished between Wilmington and the northern cities of Baltimore, Phila- delphia, and New York. In spite of this promising development, however, there were ominous signs that Wilmington shipping might be restricted to coastwise traffic.
The Cape Fear River had been able to accommodate the shallow draft blockade-runners, but during the war years it had been allowed to deteriorate through silting. After the war, the silting continued, and the depth decreased progressively. This problem was accentuated by the fact that ships were being built with deeper drafts. The continued existence of Wilmington as a major port demanded that the river channel be deepened, an expensive project requiring federal financial assistance. The first such aid came in 1870. Other grants have since been made, and the river channel has been deepened from time to time as shipping needs have demanded. The present depth of 38 feet was attained in 1970.
One river improvement of unusual interest came about when engineers concluded that a deeper channel would be obtained if the river water passed through a single inlet rather than two. It was believed that the increased force of the concentrated flow would be sufficient to sweep out the channel. For several reasons, it was decided to keep Old Inlet and the original bar open and to close New Inlet. In a major engineering feat, the closure was accomplished by a rock dam that extended for more than a mile from Federal Point to Zeke's Island. Later known as "the Rocks," the dam was completed in 1881. Soon afterward another dam, also made of rocks but more than twice as long, was built between Zeke's Island and Smith's Island.
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"The Rocks" is a term applied to the dam which was built between Zeke's Island and Federal Point for the purpose of deepening the channel. The illustration above shows the "mattress" on which rocks were placed and sunk in the Cape Fear River mud; the plan was developed by the engineer Henry Bacon, Sr. (McKoy.)
Wilmington's port is North Carolina's largest, with modern facilities and services. (Sharpe.)
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Measures were also taken to improve traffic on the Northwest Branch of the Cape Fear between Wilmington and Fayetteville. In places this stream had excellent depth, but in other places, especially along its upper reaches, navigation was so limited by shoals and sunken logs that passage was not always certain. In 1910 the federal government appropriated funds to dredge an 8-foot channel between the two towns and to construct two locks to make possible the passage of vessels. The first lock, Number One, is located at King's Bluff, about 23 miles above Wilmington. Lock Number Two is located at Elizabethtown.
Another important addition to water transportation came with the extension of the Intracoastal Waterway through New Hanover County. This is a national system that extends from New Jersey to Florida to provide a protected inland water passage for small craft. Where possible the system has incorpo- rated existing streams and bodies of water, and where necessary, channels and canals have been dredged. Much of the system extends through the coastal sounds. In 1929 work was begun on a canal, Snow's Cut, located below Wilmington, to connect the Cape Fear River with the nearby sounds. In 1930 dredging operations to extend the system through the sounds of New Hanover County were begun at Wrightsville Sound. Since its completion, the Waterway has brought much traffic through the county and has added to its prosperity.
A major step in the development of the port of Wilmington was taken in 1945, when the North Carolina State Ports Au- thority was created. Its purpose is to promote the two major ports of the state, Wilmington and Morehead City. In 1954, state docks were opened at both locations. Among the services made available to shipping at Wilmington are wharfage, open and covered storage, United States Customs Service, rail and and highway connections, modern cargo-handling equipment, and others. With these facilities Wilmington continues to be the largest port in the state, and the port's activities contribute much to the well-being of the community and of the region.
In 1865 Wilmington was already the most important railroad center in the state, being the hub from which three lines ex- tended. Nevertheless, a great deal needed to be done if she were to hold her position. The Wilmington and Weldon had contributed much to the effort of the Confederacy, but at war's end it was in a run-down condition. Needed improvements were made, how- ever, and soon the line was attracting to the port of Wilmington
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cotton and wheat from the Roanoke Valley that had been going to Norfolk. In 1893 the line completed a shortcut from Wilson, North Carolina, to Florence, South Carolina; this eliminated the necessity of through traffic going the longer distance by Wilming- ton.
The Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford had been extended as far west as Rockingham at the time of the war. Another link had also been built between Charlotte and Lincolnton. In 1873 the road was sold and reorganized as the Carolina Central Rail- way. The new company completed the line to Shelby in Septem- ber, 1875. This was an event of the greatest importance to the future of Wilmington. Extending for a distance of 241 miles from Wilmington, the line ran through some of the best cotton land in the state, and cotton began to flow to Wilmington in greater quantities. This development came at a time when river improvements were making it possible for large steamers to proceed to Wilmington to load the cotton. Consequently, the city's position as a major cotton market was assured. In 1880 the Carolina Central Railroad Company was sold and reorganized as the Carolina Central Railroad Company. In 1900 the line became a part of the Seaboard Airline System.
The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad had also been under construction at the outbreak of the war. At the end of the conflict it was purchased by a group of northern businessmen who com- pleted the line to Columbia, South Carolina. Lumber and naval stores rolled over its tracks to Wilmington, insuring the city's position as a center for those products. By connecting with the Wilmington and Weldon at Wilmington, the Wilmington and Manchester also formed an important link in the north-south rail route.
In 1898 various lines in South Carolina which connected with the Wilmington and Weldon were consolidated under the name of the Atlantic Coast Line of South Carolina. Later, in the same year, the Virginia connections were organized as the Atlantic Coast Line of Virginia. Two years later, in 1900, these two com- panies were joined with the Wilmington and Weldon and others of its connecting lines as the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Com- pany. In 1902 the Plant system of Georgia and Florida was combined with the Atlantic Coast Line, completing a system that extended from Richmond and Norfolk on the north to Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Fort Meyer on the south, and to Montgomery on the west. The Atlantic Coast Line also added other lines to
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its system. One was a segment of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad which ran between Wilmington and Mount Airy and was completed in 1890. It had financial difficulties, however, and the section between Wilmington and Sanford was sold to the Atlantic Coast Line. The name of the new acquisition was changed to the Atlantic and Yadkin Railroad. The Atlantic Coast Line also acquired the Wilmington, New Bern and Norfolk Rail- way. This line, then known as the Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina Railroad, had been completed in 1893 from Wilming- ton to New Bern. It also had financial difficulties and was absorbed into the bigger system.
One small line that retained its independence was the Wil- mington, Brunswick and Southport Railroad. Completed in 1911, it ran a daily passenger, mail, and freight service between Southport and Navassa, where it connected with the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard. It continued in operation until rendered obsolete by improved highways and automotive ve- hicles. Its services were finally discontinued during World War II.
At the time of its merger with the Atlantic Coast Line, the Wilmington and Weldon was recognized as the mother company, and it was agreed the general offices of the system would be in Wilmington. In keeping with this agreement, work was started in 1912 on the construction of a large office building and station. This building with two others, all located at the corner of Front and Red Cross streets, housed the general offices of the company until the summer of 1960 when the offices were moved to Jack- sonville, Florida, where they are now located. On July 1, 1967, another major event occurred when the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Airline joined together as the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company.
Improved highways have also contributed to the progress of New Hanover County. Until after the beginning of the present century, counties were responsible for roads. New Hanover, like other counties in the state, built roads as conditions demanded, but the quality was often poor. One exception was the Wilmington and Coast Turnpike which ran from Wilmington to Wrightsville Sound. The roadbed was an old one, but just before the Civil War it was improved, covered with oyster shells, and drained by parallel ditches running along each side. It was a private enter- prise and a toll was charged for its use.
In time, the county road system proved inadequate for the
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needs of the modern world. Automobiles began to appear in greater numbers, and they required a statewide system. Construc- tion of roads by the counties was too slow for the demands, and there was too much variation in the quality of roads among the counties. In 1915 the North Carolina General Assembly estab- lished the State Highway Commission to advise and cooperate with the counties in matters of road building. The following year, the federal government gave encouragement to good roads by initiating a policy of financial aid to the states for the construc- tion of major interstate, or federal, highways. In 1919 North Carolina began to construct state highways on a major scale and by the early 1920s had acquired wide recognition as "the Good Roads State."
New Hanover County and the communities within it have benefited from this program, and major highways from various directions have been brought into Wilmington. One of the most interesting undertakings was the construction of a causeway and hard-surfaced road over the marshes of Eagles Island, across the river from Wilmington. Built on an old roadbed, this cause- way was a link in the highway leading west; it was connected with Wilmington by a ferry which operated from the foot of Market Street to the opposite shore. The ferry, however, became obsolete in 1929 when bridges were built over the two branches of the river, bringing traffic into the northern end of the town. In 1969 another bridge, a medium-level structure of magnificent proportions, was completed, leading traffic into the southern section of the city.
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