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ilmington 



By Kathy Hart 



A decade ago Wilmington may 

 have been the best kept secret in North 

 Carolina. 



The sleepy little port city that 

 hugged the left bank of the Cape Fear 

 River oozed southern charm, hospitality 

 and history. 



It was a city of church steeples, 

 brick-paved streets, antebellum homes 

 and stalwart southern families who had 

 laid down their foundations along with 

 that of the city. 



Adorned in azaleas, magnolias and 

 live oaks, Wilmington anchored New 

 Hanover County and southeastern 

 North Carolina. It perched alongside a 

 river that brought tall ships, steamers 

 and cargo vessels to call. 



It was graced with cool summer 

 breezes and warm winter winds. It 

 boasted a university by the sea and 36 

 miles of nearby public beaches. 



It had all the elements that at- 

 tracted thousands to Charleston and 

 Savannah. 



All but one. 



Wilmington lacked connections. 



There was no main artery feeding 

 the city a steady diet of commerce, 

 tourists and would-be residents. Wil- 

 mington was the only major city on the 

 Eastern Seaboard not linked to the 

 nation's interstate highway system. 



And halfway through this century, 

 Wilmington lost its Atlantic Coast Line 

 Railroad to a merger. With the railroad 

 went much of New Hanover County's 

 economic stability. 



The city that had turned the 20th 

 century as North Carolina's largest had 

 stagnated while Charlotte, Greensboro 

 and Raleigh-Durham moved ahead to 

 become retail, research, banking and 

 industrial meccas. 



Many blamed that stagnation on 

 the lack of four-lane highways feeding 

 into the port city. 



But in the 1980s, Wilmington 

 began to grow despite its lack of 

 connections. 



As the largest city in southeastern 



North Carolina, it drew people from the 

 surrounding counties of Pender, 

 Columbus and Brunswick in North 

 Carolina and Horry County in South 

 Carolina, says Joe Augustine, executive 

 vice president of the Greater 

 Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. 



"Wilmington has become a regional 

 shopping center," Augustine says. 

 "People commute up to 75 miles to 

 come to Wilmington to shop for big- 

 ticket items such as cars, boats and 

 furniture; for medical and educational 

 services; and for recreation." 



And the beachfront building boom 

 of the 1970s and 1980s sent folks scurry- 

 ing to the New Hanover shores of 

 Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches 

 to buy seaside retreats, 



"Weekend warriors," as they were 

 called by native Wilmingtonians, 

 flooded the area from Friday until 

 Sunday as they traveled from points 

 west to their second homes. 



But neither its weekend warriors 

 nor its reputation as a regional shopping 



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