A County's 

 Claim to 

 Fame 



By Carta B. Burgess 



The saga of the lower Cape Fear 

 region is a litany of firsts, bests and 

 biggests. 



North Carolina's first lighthouse 

 was constructed at Bald Head Island, 

 the southernmost tip of the cape. 

 Lighted in 1795, it helped ships 

 navigate the treacherous Frying Pan 



Verrazano's report of friendly 

 Indians, fragrant bay laurel, and vibrant 

 fields and forests didn't tempt the king, 

 preoccupied by troubles at home, to 

 settle the area. 



A settlement attempted near 

 present-day Wilmington by New 

 Englanders in 1662 was abandoned in a 

 matter of months. 



In 1664, a group from Barbados 

 established Clarendon County along the 

 west bank of the river. The settlement 

 reportedly numbered 800 people and 

 extended 60 miles along the Cape Fear, 

 which they called Clarendon. Its capital, 

 Charlestown, was the first English town 

 in Carolina. 



Workers load naval stores on a wharf at Eagles Island. 



Shoals that extend almost 20 miles 

 outward from the river's turbulent 

 mouth. 



It was here that a group of 16th- 

 century Spanish explorers wrecked as 

 they tried to enter the river. The vessel 

 they built to replace their ship is said to 

 have been the first built by Europeans 

 in America. 



If Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon and his 

 fellow Spaniards had remained, the 

 Cape Fear region would have been 

 home to the first white settlement in 

 America. 



Ayllon's predecessor is the first 

 known visitor to the Cape Fear region. 

 Verrazano, an Italian in service to the 

 king of France, explored the area in 

 1524 on a voyage to find a faster route 

 to Asia. 



Lack of British support and 

 hostilities from Indians that the settlers 

 tried to enslave contributed to the 

 colony's demise by 1667. 



The first permanent colony on the 

 Cape Fear came much later with the 

 1726 settlement of Brunswick Town. A 

 rival town was settled opposite on the 

 east bank in 1733- Called New 

 Carthage, New Liverpool, then New 

 Town or Newton, the settlement was 

 finally incorporated in 1740 under the 

 name Wilmington. 



In addition to the river, early 

 settlers recognized the value of the vast 

 pine forests towering over them. The 

 product of these trees - tar, pitch, 

 turpentine and rosin - eventually earn- 

 ed Wilmington the distinction as the 

 world's leading exporter of naval stores. 



The region also lays claim to the 

 first student of the University of North 

 Carolina. Hinton James distinguished 

 himself further by reportedly walking 

 the 150 miles from his New Hanover 

 County home to Chapel Hill to enroll in 

 1795. For two weeks, he was the entire 

 student body. 



James, who earned his degree in 

 engineering, was credited later with 

 some initial work to deepen the 

 channel of the river in the 1820s. The 

 project, which included dredging and 

 jetties, was the first effort made to keep 

 the Cape Fear navigable. 



Here are some other exclusive 

 claims made by the port city. 



• The Prince of Parthia, the first 

 play written and produced in America, 

 was penned by the author the same 

 year he arrived in Wilmington, 1759. 

 Thomas Godfrey died four years before 

 its 1767 premiere in Philadelphia, and is 

 buried in St. James churchyard on 

 Market Street. 



• The Temple of Israel, the first 

 synagogue in North Carolina, stands at 

 the southeast corner of 4th and Market 

 streets. When it was dedicated in 1876, 

 nearly 70 percent of the state's Jewish 

 population lived in Wilmington. • 



For more information about the 

 lower Cape Fear region, check these 

 references: 



Chronicles of the Cape Fear River by 



James Sprunt 

 The Cape Fear by Malcolm Ross 

 Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear 



Region by Louis T. Moore 

 To Great and Useful Purpose: A History 



of the Wilmington District, U.S. 



Army Corps of Engineers by Ronald 



B. Hartzer 

 Tales and Traditions of the Lower Cape 



Fear by James Spmnt 

 Land of the Golden River by Lewis 



Philip Hall 

 New Hanover County A Brief History 



by Lawrence Lee 

 Cape Fear Adventure: An Illustrated 



History of Wilmington by Diane 



Cobb Cashman 



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