Southport - A Maritime Legacy

Southport, North Carolina stands at one of the world's crossroads, where the mighty Cape Fear River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Her past is tied to both the river and the sea. It is a story of exploration, piracy, and commerce; of pilotage, salvage, and fishing.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum tells the story of the Cape Fear region's people and their relationship to the water ... a tale of tides, wind, and ocean.

The First Inhabitants

For centuries, Native Americans lived in the Cape Fear region, calling the area "Chicora." Like later generations of residents, the Cape Fear Indians, members of the Siouan Nation or language group, fished the local waters, using slender dugout canoes.

Exploration and Confusion

European mariners explored the Carolinas in the 1500's and 1600's. In 1524, while in search of a northerly route to China, Ian Verrazano, commanding a French expedition, described his landing on this coast as 34 degrees northern latitude. Two years later, a Spanish expedition under Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon entered a large river, naming it the Rio Jordan, probably the present Cape Fear River. In 1662 and 1663-64, the Englishman William Hilton explored the ‘Cape Fayre’ coast and river twice, searching for lands for prospective colonists from Massachusetts Bay and the Island of Barbados.

Though confused in regard to the different Carolina capes and rivers, Hilton's explorations inspired English entrepreneurs and fishermen to carve out settlements near Cape Fear.

Pirates - "Gangsters of the Sea"

By the early 1700's, English settlers were establishing permanent holding in the Cape Fear Region. They were not alone. Pirates preying on the growing maritime commerce of Virginia, South Carolina, and the West Indies used the sounds and rivers of North Carolina as bases for their depredations.

Stede Bonnet, the "Gentleman Pirate," had been a respected planter on the Island of Barbados. He joined forces with Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, but it was an unsatisfactory partnership. While aground in his ship The Royal James, Bonnet was captured in a fierce battle here at the entrance of the Cape Fear River.

1720 - 1776: Brunswick, Wilmington, and Fort Johnston

Two seaports rose on the banks of the Cape Fear River. The Town of Brunswick, 1725, on the west bank of the river, served deep-draft vessels carrying naval stores to British ports. In 1731, the port of Brunswick was the official place for the entry and clearance of goods for the entire Cape Fear area.

New Carthage, incorporated as Wilmington in 1740, was settled upriver, above a shallow section called "The Flats," and served smaller shallow-draft vessels from other colonies. The pilots who guided ships through the difficult shoals settled at Ft. Johnson, the future site of Southport.

A Cradle of Liberty/Troubled Times

Great Britain's attempts to tax and control her American colonies focused on maritime commerce. When Britain imposed the Stamp Act in 1765, the Royal Navy seized ships in Brunswick for failing to comply. Armed protest by the "Sons of Liberty" in Brunswick and Wilmington forced local authorities to back down. During the American Revolution, rebel and royal forces fought for control of the river. Ft. Johnson was ruined by American militiamen to prevent its use by British forces. The colonists were unable to protect Brunswick from the raids of British troops, and the port was abandoned.

Smithville - A New Port Rises at the River Mouth

When peace returned in 1785, Brunswick lay idle and desolate. River pilots still plied their indispensable trade from dwellings on the ruins of Ft. Johnson.

Wilmingtonians, seeking a healthier climate, settled in the "pilot community" at the mouth of the Cape Fear. In 1792, this growing community was chartered as "Smithville," named after General Benjamin Smith, then Brunswick County's representative in the House, and later, Governor of North Carolina in 1810-11.

The Steamboat Era

Steamboats plied the river between Smithville and Wilmington for over a hundred years. In 1815 the steamboat Prometheus replaced the sailing vessels that had served this route "wind and tide permitting." In 1840 the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad carried passengers and freight from points north to Wilmington. Passengers bound for points further south boarded one of four magnificent steam packets for Charleston, stopping at Smithville. Smithville's life as whistle stop on this run ended with completion of a Wilmington-Charleston rail connection in 1854. Smaller steamboats ran between Smithville and Wilmington until 1932, and were a focal part of local social life.

A Haven for Blockade-Runners

In 1861, war came again to Cape Fear as the Civil War engulfed the nation, and Federal ships blockaded Southern port. As Southern seaports fell one by one to Union forces, Smithville became a vital link in the international "lifeline of the Confederacy." Fast, shallow-draft steamers from the British West Indies ran the blockade and took shelter under Confederate gun batteries. Pilots from Smithville guided the "runners" upriver to Wilmington, where their cargoes of military supplies were transferred to trains and speeded northward to Richmond and General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. When Smithville and Wilmington fell to Federal forces in 1865, the end of the Confederacy was inevitable.

The Gilded Age - And a New Name

After the Civil War, the Cape Fear region experienced bitter conflict between rival political factions during Reconstruction. By the 1880's, Smithville was once again a thriving port with a flourishing social and cultural life. Dances, concerts, and steamboat excursions entertained people of the town. Citizens entertained themselves with "joggleboards," baseball musical ensembles, and amateur theatricals. In 1886, the town changed its name from Smithville to Southport. The sport of day-sailing grew, and the Southport Yachting Club sponsored frequent regattas. A Quarantine Station was built at the water's edge to inspect and fumigate arriving ships, and boarding houses sprang up for summer vacationers.

Aids to Navigation/Wrecks and Rescues

As ships make for shore laden with cargo or passengers, dangers lurk to cause the ruin of many. The Frying Pan Shoals, an enormous sand bar, extends miles out to sea past Cape Fear. Other shallows, offshore winds, and snags in the river have claimed many vessels. The people of the shore have fought the elements for centuries to guide ships safely to their destinations, and in extremity to rescue survivors and salvage cargo from wrecked ships.

Lighthouses have shone from Smith Island and Oak Island since 1794, and numerous small lights have guided vessels on the river itself. Frying Pan Shoals was marked with a succession of lightships from 1854 until a permanent tower was installed in 1964. River pilots, snag boats, and dredges have labored for the safety of vessels on the river, and surfmen have achieved daring rescues of shipwrecked passengers and crew.

Fishing - Reaping a Silver Harvest From the Sea

From the dugout canoes of the Cape Fear Indians to modern shrimp boats, local residents have fished for their own needs or for the market. The Indians collected oysters, and northern fishermen settled the coast west of Cape Fear in the 18^th century. The eating habits and market pressures of each generation have altered local fisheries. In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, mullet were the predominant commercial food fish, while oysters and clams were harvested for private consumption. Shrimp, formerly a lowly bait fish, rose to a high place in the local fishing industry.

But not all fishing is for edible fish. Menhaden, an oily fish used for fertilizer, was fished heavily from 1920 through the early 1960's, and their processing plants operated in and around Southport. Until the introduction of power blocks, menhaden fishermen hauled in their nets by hand, singing work songs, or "chanteys" that are now famous worldwide.

History in the Making

"Where pine meets palm, and the Cape Fear meets the sea," the lives of local people are still tied to the water. New communities have appeared and grow on the beachfront. Aquaculture, the raising and harvesting of food fish in controlled environments, grows steadily. Important industries operate plants by the cooling waters of the Cape Fear River. Commercial fishermen supply local and northern markets, tickling the palates of residents and visitors, and a nearby Brunswick County town is world-famous for it's "Calabash Style Seafood." As the people of Southport and the Lower Cape Fear look to the future, their hopes and dreams still spring from the river and the sea.

---

ADMISSION
FREE

MUSEUM HOURS
TUESDAY - SATURDAY
9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

North Carolina Maritime Museum at Southport
116 North Howe Street
Southport, NC 28461
Phone: (910) 457-0003, Fax: (910) 457-5201
Mary Strickland, Branch Manager