Historic Photos of Wilmington

For a century after its incorporation in 1740 Wilmington North Carolina remained a sleepy port city. Then the coming of steam-power especially railroad and steamship enabled a steady growth. War whether the Civil War with its blockade-runners or the shipbuilding born of the world conflicts of the 1900s brought more growth. With that expansion came of course growing pains. The story of Wilmington North Carolina is a story of rivers sounds and sea and of a city that grew near the places where those waters mingled. It is the story of a port that became the “Lifeline of the Confederacy” as well as the lifeline of a state. And in this case it is the story of over a hundred years of history (1860s to 1970s) told through almost two hundred photographs—the captured essences of people and events now lost.