Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
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Wrightsville Beach is a town in
New Hanover County New Hanover County is one of 100 counties located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 225,702. Though the second-smallest NC county in land area, it is one of the most populous, as its county seat, Wilm ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, United States. Wrightsville Beach is just east of Wilmington and is part of the Wilmington
Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
. The population was 2,477 at the 2010 census. The town consists of a long beach island, an interior island called Harbor Island, and pockets of commercial property on the mainland. It served as a filming location of ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
''.


History


Establishment

The first documented history of present-day Wrightsville Beach began when the Lord's Proprietor granted land to Charles Harrison in 1725. The land grant was for located north of the present day Heide Trask Bridge that runs over the
Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...
and was the first formal ownership of property near the beach. In the 1700 and 1800s the Hammocks were accessible by a footbridge from the mainland, but the beach itself was only accessible by boat. In 1883, the Carolina Yacht Club was founded by seven local men who loved to sail and race boats. It is currently known as the seventh oldest
Yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mari ...
in America. It was the first permanent structure on the beach and was only accessible by boat. This was followed by a few scattered cottages and commercial buildings began springing up on what was then known as Ocean View Beach. The town bears the name of Joshua G. Wright of Wilmington (1842-1890), who developed a local realtor company. A post office called Wrightsville was subsequently established in 1881. Accessibility to the beach improved in 1887 when Shell Road was completed, running from Wilmington to the edge of the current
Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...
. The town was incorporated in 1899 as Wrightsville Beach, in honor of the Wright family of Wilmington and the community of Wrightsville on the mainland side of Harbor Island.


Development

By the late 1800s, ownership of the land had passed to the MacRae family of Wilmington. In 1887 passenger service began on the Wilmington Sea Coast Railroad from Wilmington, bringing people from downtown Wilmington to the edge of Bradley Creek. In 1889, the Ocean View Railroad built a track across Banks Channel to carry visitors to the oceanfront. Having already established a power generation company, in 1902 Hugh MacRae (March 30, 1865 - October 20, 1951) took control of the city of Wilmington's utilities by forming the Consolidated Railroad, Power & Light Company (CRPLCo - subsequently renamed the Tidewater Power Company, which became part of the
Carolina Power & Light Company Carolina Power & Light (CP&L), later doing business as Progress Energy Inc., was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merge ...
in 1952 post-MacRae's death). The Ocean View Railroad was subsequently converted to an electric streetcar. After MacRae subsequently took over the Wilmington Sea Coast Railroad, he consolidated the area's lines into one electric streetcar system, carrying people from downtown Wilmington to one of seven stations along South Lumina Avenue. Automobiles were banned from Wrightsville Beach until the 1930s, giving the CRPLCo streetcar a virtual monopoly on transportation. The streetcar operations also carried freight with adapted freight cars, often part of the operations consist mainly of carrying ice in an era before indoor refrigeration was available, allowing the subsequent development of far more snack stands and soda shops along the beach. With the CRPLCo electric streetcar now in operation, the MacRae family began developing plots of land both along the streetcar line and Wrightsville Beach as a beach resort. The two hotels on the beach were renovated, and the first public entertainment venue on the beach was built, named Lumina, because of the 6,000 exterior lights that illuminated the building. It was opened in 1905 with a venue for dancing and socializing, games, food, and entertainment. It attracted many entertainers and musicians, including the Big Bands of the 1930s and 40s. In 1913, Lumina enlarged the dance floor and added a movie screen in the surf from which they showed silent films. After World War II, its popularity slowly declined due to the cancellation of the trolley service to the beach in 1940 and the growing number of other entertainment venues in and around the area. Lumina changed hands a few times after the war as people tried various ways to make it the hottest spot on the beach. It was a skating alley and then a bar before it was closed in 1972. The health department then condemned lumina. It was torn down in 1973 to make room for condominiums along the beach. In 1923 Shell Island was purchased by the Home Realty Company to build a resort for
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in the community. They built a pavilion, boardwalks, concessions, and bathhouses. Visitors could ride the streetcar to Harbor Island and board the ferry, taking them over to Shell Island. But in 1926, a massive fire burned every structure on the island. Never rebuilt, transportation to Shell Island also hence ceased. In 1937 the third pier in North Carolina, the Ocean View Pier, was constructed. In 1939 it was bought by Johnnie Mercer and renamed after its new owner. Hurricanes have really taken a toll on the pier. It was hit by hurricanes Hazel, Connie, Bertha, and Fran. After Fran in 1996, the pier was so damaged that it was closed until 2002, reopening with a whole new look. The current Johnnie Mercer's Pier is made of reinforced concrete and still stands today. A second pier was constructed in 1938 by Floyd Cox and named the Mira Mar Fishing Pier. It was built on top of the wreck of the Fanny and Jenny, a Confederate blockade runner that ran aground during its maiden voyage in the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
in 1864. The wreckage created a natural reef, making for good fishing. Originally Mira Mar was long and boasted a bowling alley and restaurant. The pier was later bought and briefly renamed the Luna Fishing Pier and then the Crystal Fishing Pier. The construction and popularity of these new buildings were made possible in part by constructing a highway and car bridge to the beach in 1935. A causeway from the mainland to Harbor Island was built in 1926. This allowed people to drive to the first part of the beach. The opening of a road all the way from the mainland to the beach, with a bridge over Banks Channel, allowed residents and visitors to access the town via road easily. On April 18, 1939, W.R. "Tuck" Savage, who had operated the first electric streetcar in Wilmington, also piloted the city's last one on a return trip to Wrightsville Beach.


Storm activity

Wrightsville Beach has weathered many storms. Two devastating hurricanes hit in 1899. The first hurricane hit on August 17, making landfall at Hatteras with widespread destruction at Wrightsville Beach. The second storm came just south of Wrightsville Beach on November 1 at high tide. Many structures and buildings on the island were damaged. Cottages were wiped off the beach, the train trestle was damaged, and the Carolina Yacht Club had to be completely rebuilt. A few smaller storms hit in the early 1900s, but none did extensive damage. The next big hit came in 1954 from
Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South ...
, which made landfall at Holden Beach. This was the third named hurricane to hit the area within seven weeks and is the only category 4 hurricane to make landfall in North Carolina. The storm headed up the coast devastating Yaupon Beach, Long Beach and Southport before hitting Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach.
Hurricane Connie Hurricane Connie was a Category 4 hurricane that contributed to significant flooding across the eastern United States in August 1955, just days before Hurricane Diane affected the same general area. Connie formed on August 3 from a tropical ...
hit the beach in 1955 and caused damages to Johnnie Mercer's Pier and other houses along the beach. In 1996, the area was hit by two hurricanes,
Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...
and
Fran Fran may refer to: People and fictional characters * Fran (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Fran (footballer, born 1969) or Francisco Javier González Pérez * Fran (footballer, born 1972), Spanish retired football ...
, within months of each other. The storms destroyed the beaches' fishing piers and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage. In 1999, the area was affected by
Hurricane Dennis Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Dennis was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season. F ...
, which dumped heavy rains and recorded gusts up to at Wrightsville and set up the catastrophic flooding disaster that would be the result of
Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful Cape Verde hurricane which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd tr ...
's landfall nearby just weeks later.
Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third hu ...
made landfall in Wrightsville Beach in 2018 as a Category 1 storm with maximum winds.


Historic sites

* Bradley-Latimer Summer House *
Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck Discontiguous District The Cape Fear Civil War Shipwreck Discontiguous District is a historic district (United States), historic district encompassing a collection of shipwrecks in the Cape Fear (headland), Cape Fear area of southeastern North Carolina. The district i ...
*
Mount Lebanon Chapel and Cemetery Mount Lebanon Chapel and Cemetery, also known as Lebanon Chapel, is a historic Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal chapel and cemetery located on the grounds of Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina, Wilmington, New Hanover County, ...
*
James D. and Frances Sprunt Cottage James D. and Frances Sprunt Cottage is a historic cottage, beach cottage located at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover County, North Carolina. It was built in 1937, and is an elevated two-story, three-bay frame co ...
, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.


Geography

Wrightsville Beach is located at , The area's geography is composed of two islands separated by two different bodies of water. Bradley Creek runs between the mainland and the Hammocks (currently known as Harbor Island). The Hammocks are then separated from the beach by Banks Channel. Wrightsville Beach lies south of
Figure Eight Island Figure Eight Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of North Carolina, just north of Wrightsville Beach, widely known as an affluent summer colony and vacation destination. The island is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Area, and lies ...
, separated by Mason's Inlet, and north of
Masonboro Island Masonboro Island is a barrier island in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The island, which is undeveloped and accessible only by boat, is a component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve and a North Carolin ...
, separated by
Masonboro Inlet Masonboro Inlet is an inlet in New Hanover County, North Carolina, separating the town of Wrightsville Beach from Masonboro Island. The inlet was used as a hideout by Confederate blockade runners during the Civil War A civil war or int ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the town has a total area of , of which 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) is land and (44.40%) is water.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 2,473 people, 1,166 households, and 531 families residing in the town.


2000 census

At the 2000
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, there were 2,593 people, 1,275 households and 566 families residing in the town. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 1,943.4 per square mile (752.8/km2). There were 3,050 housing units at an average density of 2,285.9 per square mile (885.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.11%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.27%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.31% Native American, 0.54%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.08%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.19% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.50% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.66% of the population. There were 1,275 households, of which 10.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 4.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 55.6% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02, and the average family size was 2.47. Age distribution was 8.9% under the age of 18, 16.8% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 125.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.1 males. The
median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...
was $55,903, and the median family income was $71,641. Males had a median income of $35,388 versus $36,083 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the town was $36,575. About 2.0% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.


References


External links


Wrightsville Beach Museum

Official website of Wrightsville Beach, NC
{{authority control Towns in New Hanover County, North Carolina Towns in North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Populated places established in 1853 Barrier islands of North Carolina Cape Fear (region) Landforms of New Hanover County, North Carolina 1853 establishments in North Carolina Populated coastal places in North Carolina