AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
OF THE SUNNY POINT TERMINAL AREA
ON THE I..GJER CAPE FEAR RIVER
by
Wilson Angley
•
•
AN HISTORICAL OVERV:IEW OF '!HE SUNNY POINT TER-UNAL AREA
ON '!HE I..CWER CAPE FFAR RIVER
by
Wilson Angley
February 10 , 1983
•
I I
The first appearance of white men in the lower Cape Fear region of North
Carolina is thought to have occurred during the 1526 expedition of the Spanish
explorer , Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon. The French-sponsored expedition of Giovanni
Verrazzano two years earlier carne within sight of Cape Fear itself and the adjoin­ing
coastline, but apparently did not enter the mouth of the Cape Fear River •1
Having set sail from Hispaniola for an intended destination along the coast of
present-day South Carolina, Ayllon apparently entered the mouth of Cape Fear
which he referred to as the River Jordan. One of his vessels carne to grief in
the lower reaches of the Cape Fear , and was replaced by another craft constructed
by his men on the west bank of the stream. 2 The building of this ship, more
than four and a half centuries ago, may well be the basis of the local tradition
that "a Spanish shipyard" was once located on the west bank of the Cape Fear ,
approximately two and a half miles upstream fran what is now the town of South­port.
3 This location would place the site of the supposed shipyard facility
about midway between Southport and the mouth of Walden Creek, sanewhat below
the southern boundary of the present-day Sunny Point Terminal; however , there
is at least the possibility that Ayllon' s vessel was constructed farther up-stream,
much nearer the area of the proposed channel :improvement project.
From his base on the lower Cape Fear, Ayllon dispatched parties of men to
explore the interior of the region and the adjacent coastline. Soon, however ,
after the replacement of his lost vessel , Ayllon hastened to relocate his
expedition southward, apparently on Winyaw Bay in present-day South Carolina.
Here he founded the town of San Miguel de Gualdape , the first white settlement
in what is now the United States. Unfortunately this settlement, proved to be
~ short~lived. During the first winter Ayllon was among the many who succumbed
• to cold and disease. Also beset by internal dissentions arrl a shortage of
supplies, the wretched survivors soon gave up the settlement attempt and
•
ed H. . 1 4 return to 1span1o a .
In August of 1662 , nearly a century and a half after Ayllon' s departure ,
the New Englander William Hilton set sail for the lower Cape Fear aboard the
ship Adventure . After several failures to reach his ap!X)inted destination,
Hilton entered the mouth of the Cape Fear on the 4th of October. For more
than three weeks Hilton and his associates explored the stream, taking the
Adventure as far upstream as present- day Wilmington , and then proceeding by
small boat well up the river ' s northeast branch. Representing a group of
prospective Massachusetts Bay colonists, Hilton's primary purpose in coming
to the Cape Fear was to examine the feasibility of establishing a settlement
along its banks . On the map later prepared for Hilton by Nicholas Shapley, a
number of prominent landmarks were identified along the lower reaches of the
Cape Fear and along the northeast branch . Among the former was "P/oint/
Winslav" (named for crew member Edward Winslav) , which was located only a few
miles upstream fran the ocean bar and on the west bank , in or near the area
nav embraced within the boundaries of the Sunny Point Terminal. Close by "P.
Winslav" on the Shapley map was "Crane Island, " also near the project area .
Farther upstream was Old Town Creek , which was referred to as " Indian River."
All indications are that Hilton came away fran his initial explorations with
a favorable impression of the lower Cape Fear as an area conducive to
settlement. 5
Encouraged by Hilton' s favorable report, a group of hopeful New England
colonists sailed down the Atlantic coastline and entered the mouth of the Cape
Fear River late in the winter of 1662- 1663. These prospective colonists soon
departed from the region, h<:Mever, having made little concerted or effective
effort to establish a permanent settlement . Behind them they left a quantity
2
• of livestock and possibly other possessions as well. The reason for their
early abandonment of the region is not entirely clear ; but they are said to
have left a public notice intended to discourage other prospective set tlers
in the future . 6
In October of 1663 Hilton returned aboard the Adventure to conduct a
more extensive exploration of the laver Cape Fear. On this occasion he had
sailed fran Barbados rather than New England, and primarily on behalf of
prospective Barbadian colonists. For mo r e than two months he and his men
explored the laver Cape Fear , and again they were favorably impressed by
th . d' . th 7 e1r 1scover1es ere .
Enti ced by the contents of Hilton ' s more detailed account , a g roup of
3
Barbadians soon set sail for the Cape Fear under the leadership of John Vassall .
•
Arriving in May of 1664, they began a concerted effort to establish a permanent
col ony. Vassall' s group was subsequently joined by other colonists fran Bar-bados
, New England, and else.where. Their canbined activities on the l aver
Cape Fear soon gave birth to the County of Clarendon and to the settlement
called Charles Town , which is thought to have been located on the west bank
of the river, just above the mouth of Town Creek . Although Charles Town
was the commercial and political center of Cl arendon , colonists soon took
up choice lands and established hamesites along a rather lengthy section
of the laver Cape Fear:
Within two years the smoke curling fran the ch:inu}eys o f
these modest and scattered hanes could be seen for same
sixty miles along the banks of the Charles River , which
the settlers . • • called the stream. • • • While the
settlement was primarily an agricultural camrnunity, there
was also a lucrative trade with the Indians who came from
great d i stances to exchange furs and skins for English
goods . 8
4
~ From what little is known of the Clarendon settlement of the mid-1660s , it
seems highly probable that at least same of its widely dispersed residents
•
established homesites along the shoreline of what is now the Sunny Point
Terminal. 9
Unfortunately, the Clarendon settlement was soon brought to an end by
a canbination of inadequate external support, internal dissention, and
increasingly hostile relations with local Indians. Despite John Vassall ' s
manful endeavors to hold the beleaguered colony together, even he was forced
to acknowledge at length the hopelessness of the enterprise . 10 The rate of
colonists ' departures by land and sea accelerated markedly in the spring of
1667 , and by early autumn of that year the colony was completely deserted ,
many of its erstwhile residents having removed to Virginia, others to New
England:
Weighted d<.:Mn by want and harassed by the Indians, the
colonists were not able to carry the burden alone. Bereft
of hope, they departed and left behind their banes and their
fields to be engulfed by the lonely wilderness from which they
had sprung.ll
Following the failure of the Clarendon settlement, the lower Cape Fear returned
12 to its Indian inhabitants for more than half a century.
Little is known of the Cape Fear Indians, who preceded the Clarendon settle-rnent
and reclaimed their lands from the colonists after the latter ' s departure.
These Indians are thought, however , to have represented the wide-ranging Siouan
stock or language group. It has been estimated that the Cape Fear Indians or
their linmediate predecessors numbered about 1,000 persons in the early seven-teenth
century, and that quite a m.nnber of towns must have existed at that time
along the lower Cape Fear and along the northwest branch. During William
Hilton ' s initial investigation of the Cape Fear region in 1662 , he is thought
to have encountered only about 100 of these Indians; but this may have been
5
• due to the fact that much of his time was spent on the Northeast Cape Fear,
where the native people were far less numerous .13
•
The Indians of the laver Cape Fear are thought to have lived in relative
isolation from each other , in open tavns or farm communities scattered along
the banks of the river and its tributaries. The number and location of their
tavns at the time of the Clarendon settlement are unknown. By 1715 the Cape
Fears had five towns, with their combined populations consisting of only
seventy- six men and 130 women and children.14 Their numbers were still further
reduced during the Yamassee War of 1715-1716, when they joined with the Wacca-maws,
Cheraws, and other Siouan groups against white settlers in South Carolina.
Many of the Cape Fear Indians were killed and their remaining tavns laid waste
when Colonel Maurice Moore led his troops on a line of march which passed
directly through the laver Cape Fear region. The very few Indians in the area
who survived Moore ' s campaign soon filtered westward and southward to join the
Waccamaws and Winyaws. By 1730 , if not long before , the Cape Fears had can­pletely
vanished from the area of their former habitation .15
Only two years after the Yamassee War there occurred the only i ncident
known involving the presence of pirates on the lower Cape Fear--this was the
capture of Stede Bonnet, one-time associate of the notorious Edward Teach or
Blackbeard. For several weeks, late in the summer of 1718, Bonnet and his men
sought refuge in the lower Cape Fear while careening and repairing Bonnet' s
sloop, the Royal James (formerly the Revenge). In addition to the Royal James ,
Bonnet brought with him to the Cape Fear two vessels which he and his crew had
captured, the New England sloops Fortune and Fr ancis, together with their hap-less
and captive crews. Learning of Bonree s reported presence on the lower
Cape Fear , officials in Charlestown (now Charleston) dispatched two vessels
northward under Colonel William Rhett to attempt his capture. On the evening
6
~ of 26 September Rhett' s vessels crossed the bar at Old Inlet and soon spotted
Bonnet' s vessels upstream, lying at anchor "over a point of land." During the
~
next day there occurred a bizarre running battle in the lCMer Cape Fear, during
which the Royal James and Rhett' s two sloops all ran aground on shoals along
the west bank . For approximately five hours the three ves.sels foundered until
finally floated free by the rising tide . During the engagement which followed
Bonnet was soon forced to surrender; and he and his crew were subsequently
taken to Charlest<:Mn and hanged.16 The capture of Bonnet is thought to have
taken place a short distance upstream from present-day Southport, near a jut
of land still called Bonnet's Point.17 It appears quite possible, h<:Mever ,
that the incident occurred sanewhat further upstream, near the fl'OUth of
present-day Walden Creek and Snows Point.
The final opening of the lCMer Cape Fear region to permanent white settle­ment,
sane seven years after Bonnet's capture, was due in large measure to the
activities and actual presence of proprietary and later royal governor George
Burrington. In addition to actively encouraging settlement of the area, Bur­rington
took it upon himself to help establish arteries of transportation and
carmerce, liberalize the procedures for taking up lands, and blink at South
Carolina ' s long-standing claim to the river's west bank .18 Most important of
all , perhaps, Burrington established a pioneer plantation of his CMn on the
lCMer Cape Fear , on the west bank of the stream just above the mouth of present­day
Walden Creek. Early maps of the lower Cape Fear, dating from the 1730s and
1740s, clearly indicate that WaTden Creek was previously kl1CMI1 as Governors
(or Burringtons) Creek, and that SnCMs Point was once known as Governors (or
Burringtons) Point, due to the presence of Burrington' s plantation there.19
In 1731, after returning to North Carolina from England as royal governor
to the colony, Burrington could take a portion of satisfaction from the fact
•
•
that the settlement "on Cape Fear begun by me six years past" had developed
into " the place of the greatest Trade in the whole Province . " 2° Clearl y , l1ovr
ever , conditions had been vastly different when his initial efforts on the
lCMer Cape Fear began. In writing to the Board of Trade in 1733 , he gave a
brief account of his personal hardships and of the conditions of the lCMer
Cape Fear country when he first arrived there in the wint er of 1 724- 1725:
North Carolina was little known or mentioned before I was
Governor for the proprietors, when I came first , I found the
Inhabitants few and poor. • • • Perfect ing the Settlemen t
on Cape Fear River cost me a great sum of money , and infi n i te
trouble . I endur ed the first winter I wen t there, all the
hardships coul d happen to a man destitute of a house to live
in, that was above a hundred miles fran a Neighbor in a path­less
Country and was oblidged to have all provisions brought
by sea at great expense to support the number of men I carryed
there. . • • 21
Few details are available concerning Burrington' s plantation on present-
7
day Snows Point, just within the southern boundary of the Sunny Point Terminal.
Indications are that the house itself was constructed in 1725, and that an
unspecified number of servants and slaves were employed at the house and on
the plantation . Indeed, Burrington created a good deal of apprehension among
the citi zens of Brunswi ck TOwn and other area residents i n 1731 by putting to
work on his plantation seven slaves reportedly stolen fran their Spanish owners
at St. Augustine . His neighbors were rendered even more apprehensi v..e by his
subsequent refusal to relinquish these slaves to the Spanish agent who had
come northward from Florida to reclaim them:
This proceeding of the Governor the Inhabitants upon Cape Fear
River are apprehensive will be highly resented by the Spaniards ,
and as there i s no Fort to protect the young Settlement and
being open and every way easy to be invaded , they are in great
fear the Spani ards will make reprizals , by taking their Negr oes ,
as they may without difficulty . 22
Fortunately for the residents of Brunswick Ta.vn and the surrounding area, the
23 fears of Spani shre prizals did not material ize--at least , not for many years .
• In addition to his plantation on present- day Snows Point, Burrington
acquired, during his two terms as governor, vast landholdings elsewhere in
North Carolina. On the Northeast Cape Fear River, at Stag Park , he lay
disputed clabn to same 10, 000 acres, where he apparently established a summer
home. He al so acquired considerable land in what later became Orange County.
Taken altogether , Burrington' s landholdings in North Carolina at the tbne
of his death in 1759 amounted to upwards of 18, 400 acres. 24
Closely associated with Governor Burrington' s pioneer activi ties on
the lower Cape Fear was the arrival of Maurice Moore and other prominent
South Carolinians and the establishment of Brunswick Tbwn, the excavated
8
ruins of which lie just north of the upper boundary of the Sunny Point Terminal.
From the time of i t s founding in the mid- 1720s until the Revolutionary War ,
Brunswick Town was to be the J;XJlitical , social, and carmercial center of the
lower Cape Fear settlement. The town of Brunswick was laid out in 1725 on a
360 acre tract of land belonging to Maurice Moore and hi s brother Roger .
Some 360 lots were included in the plan for Brunswick, each of which con-tained
one-half acre of ground. It is uncertain how many lots were sold
or how many houses were built during the early years of the town' s existence. 25
In 1731 the Philadelphia traveler Hugh Meredith rendered the following account
of the fledgling settlement:
The only Tbwn they as yet have is Brunswi ck, seated on the River
Clarendon /i.e., Cape Fear/, about 18 or 20 Miles fran the mouth
of it; having a carrnodious place for Ships to lie safe in all
Weathers, and is likely to be a Place of Trade, and the Seat of
Government; tho' at present but a poor, hungry, unprovided Place,
consisti ng of not above 10 or 12 scattering mean Houses, hardly
worth the name of a Village; but the Platform is good and conve­nient,
and the Ground high, considering the Countcy.26
Brunswick Tbwn was destined never to be a large town. By 1754 it was
• said to contain only about twenty families or about 150 people. Even by the
time of the Revolution it is probable that Brunswick ' s population did not exceed
9
tit 200. 27 Nevertheless, the tavn did achieve considerable linportance in the
overall context of colonial North Carolina as the administrative center of
•
one of its five ports of entry and as the place of residence and center of
operations for sane of North Carolina 1 s most praninent men. Indeed, Russell-borough,
just above the town , served as the hane of two colonial governors,
Arthur Dobbs and William Tryon, the latter removing in 1770 to take up resi­dence
in the newly completed palace at Newbern. 28
Brunswick had been designated as a port of entry by the end of March,
1731. All vessels entering or leaving the Cape Fear were required to clear
with the customs officials stationed there . 29 The principal exports of Port
Brunswick throughout the colonial period were naval stores (tar , pitch, and
turpentine) , lumber and wood products, rice, corn, livestock, and other agri-cultural
products. Imports consisted primarily of a wide variety of manu-f
t ac ur ed ar t ~· c 1e s, c 1o th , w·m e, rum, rno1 asses , and salt . 3° Fr an f a~· r 1y mode st
beginnings , the trade of Port Brunswick rose rather rapidly during the decades
just prior to the Revolution. During the years 1767 to 1772, a total of more
than 600 vessels entered and cleared with port officials.31 Increasingly with
the passage of tline, however, incaning vessels were bound upriver to Wilmington,
rather t..l-lan to the ol der Brunswick 'I'cMn.
Fran its establishment in the mid- 1730s, Wilmington began a slow but
inexorable ascendency over Brunswick as a center of trade and cxmnerce. With
Wilmington 1 s rise came a steady decline in the linportance and prosperity of
Brunswick .32 By the mid- 1760s Wilmington had grown to roughly twice the size
of Brunswick; and by the coming of the Revolution, Wilmington was approxlinately
three times the size of the older town. 33
Throughout the 1740s there was a recurring and not unrealistic fear of a
Spanish attack among the residents of Brunswick Tbwn and the surrounding country-
10
• side. As early as 1731 this fear had been expressed in connection with
Governor Burrington' s seizure of the seven slaves reportedly stolen at St.
•
Augustine . In November of 1740, during the War of Jenkins Ear , a company of
Cape Fear men sailed south\¥ard to take part eventually in the ill- fated attack
on the Spanish fortress of cartagena, on the coast of South America. Two
years later only twenty- five survivors of the debacle returned to their Cape
Fear homes. The English failure at Cartagena greatly increased the gnawi ng
fears of a Spanish attack among the residents of the Brunswick area. 34
In May of 1741, even before the return of the Cartagena survivors , a
Spanish man-of-war lay at anchor off the mouth of the Cape Fear , preying with
impunity upon hapless merchant vessels as they entered and cleared through
Port Brunswick. TWo crew members of this Spanish vessel were said to be
familiar with the lower Cape Fear region and to have urged their canrades to
launch an attack on Orton, the plantation home of Roger Moore, just above
BrunS\¥ick Town . For sane reason, however, this projected upriver raid did
not mater1'a l1' ze. 35
Tensions were further increased in 1743 when North Carolina furni shed 1,000
men under Maurice M:lore to help defend South Carolina against an anticipated
Spanish attack from Cuba. By August of that year two English men- of-war were
stationed at BrunS\Yick to guard against possible attack and further Spanish
seizures of goods and vessels. By this and related measures, Spanish depre-dations
in the Cape Fear area were temporarily reduced, but not entirely
e 11. m.1 na ted • 36
In 1745 continuing fears of a Spanish attack on the lower Cape Fear at
last prompted Governor Gabriel Johnston and the colonial assembly to begin con-struction
on Fort Johnston at present- day Southport, same twelve miles down-stream
from Brunswick Town. This urgently needed facili ty was supposedly
11
~ completed in 17~9; ·but throughout the 1750s and early 1760s, it was reported
from time to time to be woefully inadequate or in a state of neglect and dis-
~
rep~ir. Moreover , the defensive value of Fort Johnston was considerably
reduced ~n 1761, when a violent storm opened New Inlet several miles upstream.
Following the creation of New Inlet, it was possible for small, shallow-draft
vessels to enter the Cape Fear River without venturing past Fort Johnston to
the south. 37
Late in the summer of 1748, when Fort Johnston was still under construe-tion,
the long- feared Spanish incursion into the lower Cape Fear became a
reality. On the morning of 4 September two Spanish privateers and a captive
sloop crossed over the Cape Fear bar and sailed upriver, with the linmediate
objective of seizing the slaves at work on Fort Johnston. Thwarted in this
initial aim, the Spaniards continued upstream and attacked the nearly defense-less
Brunswick Town . While the main body of Spanish invaders arrived at
Brunswick aboard their three vessels, others attacked the town by land, having
disembarked a short .distance downstream, quite probably along the shoreline
of what is now the Sunny Point Terminal. For two days the invading Spaniards
occupied the nearl y deserted town, looting its shops and homes, taking same
hostages, and plundering the merchant vessels at its docks. Driven aboard their
ships by local militia forces on the third day, the Spaniards continued to
s9ell Brunffi¥ick Town from the river , despite the fortuitous ~xplosion and loss
of one of their vessels, the Fortuna. Finally, on the morning of September
~th, the rem~ining Spanish vessels fell down the Cape Fear and sailed away. 38
Any involvement of the Sunny Point Terminal area with the Spanish attack
on Brunswick Tbwn would most likely have occurred just prior to the actual
seizure of the tOWR. However , it is entirely possible that the area might
also have been involved in the looting of abandoned homes in the vicinity and
12
~ in the maneuvers of local militia forces prior to their successful counter­attack
against the Spaniards on the third day of occupation.
~
Although the evidence is rather meager , it is apparent that several
plantations were established bel~ Brunswick Town during the half century
preceding t.he American Revolution. It is also apparent , h~ever , that most
of the plantations established during this early period were s i tuated between
Brunswick Town and Wilmington, and along the northeast and northwest branches
of the Cape Fear . Indeed, this continued to be the case after the Revolution
and throughout t.~e antebellum period as well .
Governor George Burrington' s plantation at present- day Snows Point was
apparently the earliest to be established within the area now encompassed by
the Sunny Point Terminal. M:>reover , the site of Burrington' s plantation was
the same or nearly the same as that subsequently occupied by the prominent
rice planter, Robert Sn~. Sn~ was a member of the vestry of St. Philips
Church in Brunswick Town, a grandjuryman, and a justice of the peace for
Brunswick County, which was formed out of New Hanover in 1764 . With the
approach of the Revolution, he also became an active promoter of the
Patriot cause.39
Robert Sn~ apparently established his Snows Point plantation in the
1750s or very early 1760s, having previously been a road commissioner in
the northwestern portion of New Hanover County. 40 There is no indication
as to whether Governor Burrington' s former residence was still standing
when Snow acquired the property. In 1768 Snow and his estranged wife, Mary,
arranged a l egal separation and division of property which indicates that
their home on Snows Point was well if not lavishly furnished. Provisions
regarding slaves would also seem to indicate considerable agricultural
pro d uct1. on. 41
•
•
The presence of Snow' s plantation was duly recorded on the Collet Map of
1770, which shows the former Governors Point (or Burringtons Point) as "Snow
Pt." Five years after the Collet Map was drawn, the presence of Snow's
plantation was also noted by the Scottish "Lady of Quality," Janet Schaw, who
was just beginning her visit to the Cape Fear region. Indeed, Snow' s plan-tation
house seems to have been the first dwelling seen by Miss Schaw in
Am
. 42
er1ca.
Regrettably, the sources are extremely confusing and contradictory
with regard to another lower Cape Fear plantation-that of Major General
13
Robert Howe , North Carolina's highest ranking officer during the Revolutionary
War. At least three modern writers, without dealing with the question in
detail , state that General Howe' s principal place of residence was Kendall
(or Kendal) , located just above the mouth of Orton Creek. 43 Numerous older
writers, however, have stated with confidence that the Howe plantation was
located on an elusive jut of land below Brunswick Town, which in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was known as Howes Point. Unfortu-nately,
these writers failed to describe the location of Howes Point preci sely,
and the feature does not appear to have been designated by name on any of the
maps of the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. In general, the older author-ities
also assert that the plantation owned and occupied by General Howe had
been established somewhat earlier by his father, ,Job Howe, who had cane very
early to the lower Cape Fear area from South Carolina with Roger , Maurice,
and Nathaniel Moore .44
The question is further complicated by the fact that both Job Howe and
his son Robert owned a good deal of land throughout the Cape Fear area. The
elder Howe is known to have had a plantation on Topsail Sound, where he
resided at least during the stmner months , as well as lands along the north-
14
• west branch of the Cape Fear. 45 For his part , Robert Howe acquired several
tracts of land long before the outbreak of the American Revolution . He is
•
known to have owned at least one plantation in Bladen County, where he
apparently resided in the late 1750s and very early 1760s; and in 1763- 1764
he purchased no fewer than four separate plantations on Old Town Creek ,
be B . k Town d 'lm' 46 tween runsw~c an W~ ~ngton .
EVen ~hough General Howe ' s principal place of residence on the lower
Cape Fear may well have been Kendall , the old and very strong tradition of
a Howe plantation below Brunswick Town should not be dismissed out of hand.
MJreover , even if local tradition erred in identifying the house on "Howes
Point" as that of General Howe , the apparent fact remains that an impressive
plantation house once did exist at this location . In addition, the ruins of
this house were evidently located just to the rear of unidentifi ed earthworks
near the river , which were thought to date fran the colonial period. The a r ea
of these ruins was personally examined by the patriarch of cape Fear historians ,
James Sprunt, who recorded the following description in 1896. It i s interesting
to note that Sprunt was aware of the conflicting claims as to Howe's place of
residence:
A short distance below Fort Anderson , on a bluff called Howe's
Point, are the remains of a Colonial fort , and behind it the
ruins of a residence , in which, tradition says , was torn in
1730 /Howe was actually born in 1732/ one of the greatest
heroes of the Revolutionary War (General Robert Howe) •
It is said that Robert ' s estate was on Old Town Creek,
and that he resided there . It is also stated that he lived,
for a time at Kendal. • • • Mr . Reynolds, the present intel­ligent
owner and occupant of the Howe place /i . e. , land/
behind the Colonial fort, who took part in the building of
Fort Anderson, says that his father and his grandfather
informed him forty years ago that this fort was erected long
before the War of the Revolution as a protection against
buccaneers and pirates; that his great-grandfather lived with
General Howe on this place during the war and took part in a
defence of this fort against the British.
•
•
Since the foregoing was written, Mr. Reynold ' s statement
with reference to General Howe's residence has been fully
corroborated by the well-known Cape Fear skipper, Captain
Sam Price , now eighty- six-years old. He remembers distinctly
and has often visited the house known as General Howe's resi­dence,
which he says was a large three-story frame building
on a stone or brick foundation, on the spot already described 47 just below Old Brunswick, long and still known as Howes Point.
The explanation of the "colonial fort" site examined and described by
Sprunt must largely be left to speculation. These ruins probably did not,
15
however, represent an effort by colonial settlers to protect themselves "against
buccaneers and pirates, " as Stede Bonnet is the only pirate known to have ever
entered the Cape Fear River. It is much m::>re likely that these ruins, if of
colonial origin, were those of a makeshift fortification thrown up in the 1740s
to guard against the Spanish threat; during the late 1750s during the French
and Indian War; or , most likely , during the Revolution, to help protect against
the movement of British troops and vessels on the lower Cape Fear .
Little can be learned of other colonial plantations which might have been
situated between BrunS\<lick Town and the m::>uth of Walden Creek. However, at least
two plantations existed along the shoreline of what is now the upper portion of
the Sunny Point Terminal--these, in addition to the possible location there of
General Robert Howe's plantation. Just south of Brunswick Town was located
York plantation, belonging to Nathaniel M:x:>re ; but M:x:>re owned several planta­tions
farther upriver, and it appears doubtful that he actually resided at York. 48
An even more praninent figure in colonial North Carolina , Edward Moseley , is
known to have owned a plantation which his will referred to as the "plantation
below Brunswick carrnonly called Mac Knight ' s . • • . "49 Moseley had owned this
plantation for only one year at the time his will was drawn in 1745 (he died in
1749). He had acquired it from Anna MacKnight of New York , widow of the New
York merchant Patrick MacKnight. Conveyed to Moseley in 1744 was one half of
Patrick MacKnight ' s original 640 acre tract , the location of which was described
16
• as being "half a mile belav a Plot of Land laid out for the 'Ibwn Called
Brunswick • .,SO The approximate location of MacKnight' s plantation is shown on
•
the Edward lvbseley Map of 1733; and as late as 1807 the shallows along the
upper shoreline of the present Sunny Point Terminal area were referred to
as "McKnight' s Shoal. "51
Nearly a decade before the beginning of the American Revolution, during
the Stamp Act crisis, the Brunswick Tbwn area was the scene of a potentially
explosive clash of wil ls between residents of the lower Cape Fear region and
their colonial officials. For several months the camnerce of Port Brunswick
was paral yzed, and two British warships lay at anchor off the Brunswick TOwn
waterfront. In February of 1766 an angry and resolute mob of about 1,000
citizens marched on BrunS\vick, confronting Governor li\Tilliarn Tryon at his hane
and then proceeding southward to seize Fort Johnston. In the end, however ,
actual violence was averted , and the crisis at length subsided. 52
On 24 May 1775, with the Revolution fast approaching , Governor Josiah
Martin was forced to flee fran the palace at New Bern and to journey southward
to take up temporary residence at Fort Johnston . There he found no safe haven,
however . Since the end of 1774 the canmander of Fort Johnston, Captain John
Collet, had been harassed "in every way the Americans could devise," the latter
having been made increasingly anxious that the fort was to becane the staging
area for attempts to seize private property and to incite slaves against their
masters in the lower Cape Fear region. Finally, on 15 July 1775, then Colonel
Robert Howe and Colonel John Ashe led a force of about 500 armed men in an
attack against Fort Johnston, where Governor Martin had be~n hole up for nearly
two months. Gathering first at Brunswick Town, the troops under Howe and Ashe
then proceeded southward to lay seige to the fort; but Collet and Martin,
realizing the futility of attempting its defense, removed or destroyed all arms
17
~ and supplies before taking refuge in the harbor aboard the British man-of­war
Cruizer. On the 19th of July the two men looked on in impotent rage fran
•
the deck of the Cruizer, as Fort Johnston and its ancil lary structures
(including Collet' s home) were laid waste . 53
As early as March of 1775, Governor Martin had actively pranoted a plan
to regain control of North Carolina through the oambined use of British troops
and Scottish Highlanders and other Loyalists in the Cape Fear region. On the
other hand, however , his subsequent presence at Fort Johnston and aboard the
Cruizer had the effect of attracting men a~d supplies to the area in support of
the Patriot cause. As a result, sane 1,000 Patriot troops were soon placed on
station in the Cape Fear region, 100 of wham were positioned about four miles
above Fort Johnston, just dCMnStream fran the lower portions of the present
Sunny Point Termina1 . 54 The prevailing situation along the lower Cape Fear
following the destruction of Fort Johnston was one of extreme tension and
uncertainty:
After its destruction the British war vessels still controlled
the mouth of the river , and the people of the .Lower Cape Fear
lived under the constant fear of what they might do. On the
one hand, it was rumored that upon the arrival of reinforcements
the G:>vernor would occupy Brunswick as a base in lieu of Fort
Johnston. On the other hand it was said that Brunswick as well
as Wilmington would be burned. Defensive installations were hur­riedly
thrown up /including one on Howes Point?/ to protect both
towns and steps taken to block the river channel as added security.
Calls for help went out to other sections for both troops and arms .
Every attempt was made to isolate Martin and hi s followers fran
contacts with the people. r-Dnth after month went by and nothing
of consequence happened, but the ever-present cloud of danger hung
heavy over the Lower Cape Fear.SS
In January of 1776 concrete steps began to be taken to implement Governor
Martin' s plan to reassert British authority over North Carolina through the
coordinated use of British forces and Cape Fear Loyalists. Men and supplies
were hastily gathered on both sides, and events marched inexorably toward a
decisive clash of arms. This came at length on 27 February, when the proposed
18
• C F t abo ed b th . . c k . d 56 ape ear stra egy v1as rt :y e Patr1ot v1ctory at ~res ree Br1 ge.
•
Even after this victory, however , British warships, in varying numbers ,
remained firmly in control of the lower Cape Fear . By the end of March sane
twenty of these vessels were present in the area, along with several hundred
British troops and considerable quantities of arms and ammunition. Aboard
one of these vessels was General Henry Clinton; and on the 3rd of May General
Charles Cornwallis sailed into the Cape Fear with an additional four to five
thousand men . 57
From the decks of their warships, the British apparently carried out numer-ous
sporatic raids along the river's banks--raids which very likely involved
hanes and property within the present Sunny Point Terminal. One of the largest
of these raids occurred on the morning of 11 May 1776, when generals Clinton and
Cornwallis led a force of about 900 men against the harte of General Robert Howe .
From the previous discussion of General Howe's place of residence, it seems
probable that this raid was carried out at Kendall , just above Brunswick;
however , the possibility remains (though , perhaps, slim) that it was carried
out below Brunswick, against the reputed home of General Howe on Howes Point .
The Virginia Gazette of 29 June carried the following account of the incident:
The enemy having landed at General Howe's plantation, •.•
/with/ about 900 troops , under the cannand of Generals Clinton
and Cornwallis , the sentry posted on the river bank bnmediately
gave the alarm to the guard who had only time to collect their
horses, and throw down the fences to let a few cattle out , which
they drove off before the enemy surrounded the house. On their
march up the causeway from the river , part of the guard kept up
a fire on them , which the enemy returned. A few \\01\en who lived
in the house , were treated with great barbarity; one of wham was
shot through the hips , another stabbed with a bayonet , and a third
knocked down with the butt of a musket. The enemy had two men
killed, several wounded, and a sargeant of the 33rd regiment
taken prisoner . They proceeded on their march to Orton mill ,
with a design to surprise Major Davis, ' who cannanded a detachment
of about 90 men , stationed at that place • • • • They have burned
the mill and retreated to their vessels at the fort . Upon the
whole , the Generals have very little to boast of , they having got,
by this descent , three horses and three cows . We had not a man
killed or wounded . 58
•
•
Shortly after the .raid on General Howe' s plantation, generals Clinton
and Cornwallis departed fran the Cape Fear, leaving behind several warships
to keep Port Brunswick closed. These vessels finally departed during the
following October , and for several years the Cape Fear region was relatively
free of hostilities .
British t .roops returned to the lower Cape Fear in late January of 1781,
19
at which time Major James Craig's troops sailed up the river aboard three
vessels and easily occupied the nearly defenseless city of Wilmington. Little
more than two months later , on 7 April , Craig was joined in Wilmington by Gen­eral
Cornwallis, in command of about 2,000 additional troops . Cornwallis and
his men lingered for only eighteen days, however , before canmencing their long
march to the north; and on 18 November 1781, upon hearing of Cornwallis ' s defeat
at Yorktown, Craig and his troops also evacuated the city, sailing downriver as
the Patriot forces of General Griffith Rutherford looked on. So far as military
action was concerned, the Revolution had ended in the lower Cape Fear region. 59
The Revolution had dealt a devastating, indeed mortal , blow to Brunffivick
Town. Even in 1775 it had been described as a mere "straggling village , "
largely abandoned because of the British presence on the Cape Fear . 60 Trade
had virtually ceased to flow through Port Brunswick and agricultural activity
had been forced . to a near standstill. The town had, moreover, been subjected
to sporatic British raids; and in 1779 it was thought necessary to move the
seat of Brunswick County government to the vicini ty of Lockwood Folly Bridge. 61
By the close of the Revolution Brunswick Town had been at least partially
burned and destroyed by British troops; in 1783 the once thriving port ~vn
was said to be "almost wholly derrol ished and deserted. u62
General Robert Howe , one of the most praninent men ever to reside on the
lower Cape Fear, returned to his despoil ed plantation in a state of acute
20
• financial embarrassment. .M::>reover, his family life, never an edifying or
congenial one, had now fallen into even greater disarray . After three years
of renewed activity as a planter and political leader , Howe passed away in
1786, at the age of fifty- four . 63 Howe ' s widow, the former Sarah Grange,
survived her husband by eighteen years, dying as still a resident of
Brunswick County in 1804 . 64
•
Beginni ng in the early 1790s, the town of Smithville (present- day Southport)
began to develop around the ruins of Fort Johnston. An abortive attempt was
also made to establish a town called Walkersburg, just upstream fran Smithville
on Deep Water Point. Walkersburg , however , \"as destined to be no more than a
town on paper.65 Smithville was formally established by the state legislature
in 1792. For nearly a century thereafter (until 1887), it retained its original
name until the present name of Southport was adopted. Throughout most of the
nineteenth century , this small canmuni ty near the mouth of the Cape Fear was
a local port of relatively minor importance; and it also contained the st.mmer
banes of sane of Wilmington' s wealthier- residents.66
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, many of the
names and famil ies formerly associated with the shorel ine of what is now the
Sunny Point Terminal disappeared, with new names and families taking their
places. For sane reason a map of the lower Cape Fear drawn in 1807 fails to
show any places of residence within the present Sunny Point Terminal area; but
this map was apparently not intended to be all- inclusive or preci sely detailed . 67
One of the more notable changes in the residents of the shoreline between
Walden Creek and the former site of Brunswick TOwn is the apparent disappearance
of the Snow family fran the area still known as Snows Point. The census records
for Brunswick County from 1790 through 1820 all fail to i ndicate the presence of
any members of this family , not only in the area of their former habitation,
21
4lt but in the county as a whole.68 By the early years of the nineteenth century,
the former plantation of Robert Snow had apparently passed into the hands of
the Hankins family, which would retain it throughout the antebellum period.
Already in 1800 a Thomas Hankins was residing in Brunswick County, appar-ently
at Snows Point. Moreover , Thomas Hankins was one of the two legal heirs
of a Dennis Hankins , who died in 1802 and may have been residing at Snows Point
for quite sane time. 69 By 1820 Thomas Hankins , aged 40 , was the head of a
household which included his wife and several children. When he passed away at
his Snows Point plantation eleven years later, .in 1831, the Cape Fear Recorder
of Wilmington carried a curious and affecting obituary for both Hankins and
his young son:
Died at 'Snows Point,' Brunswick County, on the 30th ultimo,
much regretted, Mr. Thomas Hankins, age 51. His son , Thomas
Griffith, age 13 , on 2nd inst. The child was, at the time
of his father ' s death, at his grandfather ' s , which is a dis­tance
about 18 miles fran 'Snow' s Point. ' When information
of the melancholy event was canmunicated the next day to the
family (31 ultimo) , he uttered a scream and fell into a spasm
which deprived him of reason and terminated his life on the
2nd inst., as above stated. Such an instance of affection
and sensibility in one so young is worthy of being noted. 70
Although it is by no means certain, it is reasonable to speculate that the
location of Thomas Hankins ' s house on Snows Point was very close to the horne-sites
earlier chosen by Robert Snow and Governor Burrington. Indeed, it is
quite possible that the same site served all three men.
Another prominent resident of the present Sunny Point Terminal area in
the early nineteenth century was Joel Reaves, from wham Reaves Point evidently
tCXJk its name. "J. Reaves'' appeared in the Brunswick County census for the
first time in 1810 . By 1820 his household included eight members . 71
From contemporary maps and census information, it i s possible to identify
~ and roughly locate at least some of the individuals who resided along the shore­line
of the present- day Sunny Point Terminal during the decade preceding the
22
• Civil War. Farthest north in 1850, just below the ruins of Brunswick Town ,
lived Willis Miliner (or Milnor) , a wheelwright , and Robert Miliner (or Milnor) ,
a laborer. Neither man owned slaves nor a substantial amount of real estate . 72
•
Next below the Miliners in 1850 was apparently Jesse Drew , a thirty- two-year-
old farmer with a wife and four children. Drew owned three slaves.
His farm consisted of fifty acres of improved land and 650 acres unimproved .
On this farm , valued at $1 , 000 , he kept same livestock and raised primarily
corn and sweet potatoes . 73
Just downstream from the Jesse Drew farm in 1850 was the slightly larger
farm of Enoch Robbins, aged forty-seven. Robbins ' s household was comprised of
eight members . He held forty acres of improved land , 1,327 acres of unimproved
land , and was the owner of eleven slaves . Robbins tended a small number of
cattle and swine; and his crops consisted mainly of corn and sweet potatoes .
The cash value of his farm was placed at $1 , 285 . 74 Maps of the Civil War
period indicate that the Robbins homeplace was located on what is now called
Reaves Point. Indeed, they reveal that, for a brief period at least, this
jut of land was referred to as Robbins (or Robins) Point. 75
Next below the Enoch Robbins place was that of Joel Reaves, aged sixty-seven,
whose household ncM consisted of five members. Reaves's farm was
located at what was then known as Reaves Point, but which is now known as
Sunny Point. Contemporary maps indicate that the two points of land unaccount-ably
exchanged their names in the late nineteenth or very early twentieth
centuries. The transposition had certainly been accomplished by 1910 . 76
Reaves was the owner of ten slaves in 1850. His farm was comprised of sixty-five
acres of tmproved land and 1 , 220 acres of land which was unimproved . He
raised cattle, sheep , and swine , while cultivating fields of corn, sweet pota­toes
, and a small amount of rice . 77 Reaves was to pass away in 1860 , only
· th c· ·1 78 one year pr1or to e 1v1 War .
•
•
Just beloo the Joel Reaves farm in 1850 was the Snoos Point plantation
of William Hankins. Hankins was forty- two years old at this time and was the
head of a household comprised of six members. His plantation consisted of
100 acres of improved land and 600 acres of unimproved land. He was the
23
ooner of twenty- four slaves. The cash value of his farm was a very impressive
$4,200 ; and the value of his real estate (including his dwelling house) was
an even more impressive $8, 000. The latter figure strongly suggests that
Hankins's plantation home on Snows Point was far and away the finest and largest
residence then standing within the confines of what is today the Sunny Point
Terminal. On his plantation Hankins raised cattle and swine, and cultivated
small amounts of corn and S\veet potatoes. The most important of his crops
by far, however , was rice. During the year preceding the census , his planta­tion
had produced no less than 6, 500 lbs. of this grain. 79 A detailed map of
the l~ver Cape Fear dating from 1855 clearly indicates the presence of what
appears to be a house and outbuilding on Snoos Point- -undoubtedly those belong­ing
toWilliam Hankins . The same two structures are apparently shown on an
even more detailed map done nearly half a century later , in 1901. 80 An archae­ological
investigation of the Snows Point area may well uncover evidence of
the Hankins plantation house and perhaps evidence, as well, of the rice culti­vation
which had been carried out there since before the Revolution.
Events anticipating the approach of the Civil War came early to the lower
Cape Fear area . On 10 January 1861 a group of well- armed men from Wilmington
took it upon themselves to seize and occupy forts Johnston and Caswell, though
only for a short time. On 16 April these two forts were again seized and held ,
even though secession did not formally occur until the 20th of May. 81
After the Civil War actually began, it became increasingly apparent that
an elaborate defense system was essential on the Cape Fear if the river was to
24
• remain open as a vi tal artery of supply for the Confederate cause. As a
result, several fortifications were improved or constructed anew along both
•
the eastern and western banks of the river , from its mouth northward to
Wilmington--all designed to strengthen .and complement Fort Fisher, the massive
and seemingly impregnable fortress located just above Ne\'1 Inlet on Federal
Po 1. n t • 82
It was apparently in 1863 that Fort Lamb or Battery Lamb was constructed
as part of the overall Cape Fear defense system. This facility was located
nearly opposite Fort Fisher, on what was then Reaves Point and is now Sunny
Point. This location placed it midway between Fort Johnston (or Fort Pender)
at Smithville and Fort Anderson just north of the Brunswick Town ruins. The
name Fort Lamb was evidently taken from the carmander of Fort Fish~r, Colonel
William Lamb. Little can be learned of Fort Lamb' s armaments or personnel;
however , its location and approximate configuration are shown on at least two
contemporary maps of the Civil War period.83
It is uncertain whether Fort Lamb was ever called upon to play a role of
any real significance during the perod of its existence. Apparently, this
small, ancillary facility was not threatened by military action until after
the fall of Fort Fisher, and even then its involvement was very minor.
On the fateful evening of 15 January 1865, following a massive assault
by land and sea, Fort Fisher finally fell to Union forces , despite a valiant
defense. With its fall, the Confederate forces at Fort Caswell, Fort Johnston,
and other installations near the mouth of the Cape Fear had little choice but
to retreat upriver and attempt a stand at Fort Anderson . Flushed with their
victory at Fort Fisher, Union forces were quick to seize and occupy these
freshly abandoned forts, and then move northward along the west side of the
Cape Fear toward Fort Anderson and , ultimately, beyond to Wilmington. It
~ was during this march northward from Smithville by same 5,000 Union troops
that Fort Lamb' s involvement, or near involvement, occurred. It was also
at this time that significant troop movements a~d minor skirmishes took place
within the general area now embraced within the Sunny Point Terminal. It was
25
in the report of Union General Jacob D. Cox that the movement of troops through
•
the present terminal area was best described. Indeed, his account was one of
the very few to mention Reaves Point and other natural and man- made features
specifically:
On the 17th /of January/ at 8 a .m. I moved with four brigades
and battery upon the Wilmington road under orders to advance
toward Fort Anderson, with a view to develop the nature of the
approaches to that work and the force holding it, also at or
near Reeves' Point, to communicate with t~e general commanding
department, who was upon a vessel in the river, and to receive
some new orders according to circumstances. About three miles
from Smithville we encountered the enemy' s cavalry outposts ,
which retired skirmishing . The country being an almost con­tinuous
swamp the march was slow. It was found also that the
road did not approach the river near Reeves' Point; difficult
swamps and morasses intervening until the Wilmington road
crosses Governor's Creek , where it forked, the right fork
turning toward the river and the left keeping on to Orton Pond,
the two roads meeting at Fort Anderson and then crossing Orton
Creek. At the crossing of Governor ' s Creek sane stand was made
by a battalion of the enemy' s cavalry, but ~hey retreated upon
the advance of the column after a slight skirmish. • • • I
advanced on the right fork /of the road/ until we approached
the river about two miles bel~v Fort Anderson and three miles
above Reeves ' Point. Here I opened signal communication with
the fleet under Admiral Porter. Distance marched during
the day, ten miles.84
It need ha.rdly be said that the Union troops, moving northward , easily
overcame the futile Confederate resistance at Fort Anderson. On 21 February
1865 Confederate troops were compelled to evacuate Wilmington itself, in the
face of overwhelming Union forces. Within a few months, the fall of Wilmington
was followed by the fall of the Confederacy itself.
The only known shipwreck which can be associated with Civil War action in
or near the Sunny Point Terminal area is that of the Thorn, a 400 ton federal
26
4lt transport vessel sunk by a Confederate torpedo on 4 March 1865, just bela~
Fort Anderson. This wreck occurred well above the proposed dredging area at
•
Sunny Point. Moreover, the Thorn was raised a~ repaired in September of
1870.85
In addition to the Fort Lamb facility on present- day Sunny Point, the
area now encanpassed within the Sunny Point Terminal also contained a salt
works during the Civil War. By far the largest salt works facility in the
general Wilmington area was that maintained by the State of North Carolina
at the mouth of Purviance Creek /nowWhiskey Creek/, near: the point of
meeting between Myrtle Grove Sound and Masonboro Sound. This salt works was
raided and partially destroyed in April of 1864. In December of the same year
the destruction was completed, and the facility did not resume operations. In
addition to this facility , however, there were numerous smaller and private
salt works in the Wilmington area which helped to supply the needs of the Con-federacy
. Indeed, by 1863 there may have been as many as 100 salt works in
Brun~vick and New Hanover counties, producing no less than 2,000 bushels of
the vital substance each day. 86
One of these facilities , apparently operated by one or more members of the
Drew family , was located in the south-central portion of the present- day Sunny
Point Terminal, or near the shores of Walden Creek. The facility is shown on
two contemporary maps of the area, although the two maps differ slightly as
to its exact location. One map of 1863 (unavailable for copying) indicates
that this sal t works was located on the point of land at the confluence of
Fishing Creek and Governors Creek , just above the point where their combined
waters empty into Walden Creek to t.~e south. According to this map, the salt
works location was about 1~ miles west of the mouth of Walden Creek.
87
The
second map referred to above indicates that this salt works was not located on
• the site just described, but approximately one third of the distance in a
straight line between this site and Fort Lamb to the east.88
•
Unfortunately, the sources disclose little or no information regarding
the size of this salt works facility or the methods of production employed
there. However , it seems safe to assume that this facility , like most others
by the Civil War , employed a ccrnbination of solar evaporation and boiling.
This method consisted of greatly increasing tl1e salinity of sea water by
allowing it to evaporate for a time in shallow reservoirs with cl ay bottoms
and often with wooden sides; then boiling the concentrated brine in rectangular
cast iron pans placed in a large brick furnace.
89
An archaeological exarnina-tion
of the two sites described above may well reveal vestiges of this salt
works facility . It should also be noted that maps of the Civil War period,
in addition to showing the salt works , also provide additional documentation
for the presence of several places of residence along the shoreline of what
is now the Sunny Point Termina1.90
By far the most detailed a~d potentially useful map for archaeological
purposes is that produced of the lower Cape Fear by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers in 1901. This map (reproduced in the Appendixes in tw:o sections)
apparently shows virtually every structure, cultivated field , and farm road
then extant in the entire eastern half of what is now the Sunny Point Terminal.
Located on Snows Point, just above the mouth of Walden Creek, was apparently
the same house formerly occupied by the praninent antebellum rice pl anter
William Hankins, and possibly by Thanas Hankins or even Robett:. Snow before him.
A large outbuilding is shown just to the rear of this house, and four other
structures (presumably farm buildings) are shown in the same general vi cinity.
Indicated on present- day Sunny Point to the north is anotl1er structure (pos-sibly
a residence) within what appears to be the earthworks of Fort Lamb.
27
28
~ Several other structures and a cultivated field are shown between Sunny Point
and Reaves Point , with still other structures and another cultivated field
~
shown above Reaves Point. After an intervening stretch of undeveloped shore-line,
numerous buildings and other cultivated fieldslie northward to the
"Ruins of Old Brunswick . " Despite its excellent detail, this 1901 map does
not, of course, indicate the relative ages of any of the structures shown .
'Ihe possiblility should cer tainly be entertained , however , that sane of the
buildi ngs shown dated fran the antebellum or even the colonial period . 91
More recent maps of . the present- day Sunny Point Terminal area are not
nearly as detailed and informative as the 1901 map with regard to structures
and the patterns of land use . A soil survey map of 1932 (published in 1937)
indicates that all but one of the structures standing along the shoreline had
vanished during the past three decades , the sol e survivor being situated well
upriver , just below the unmarked ruins of Brun~~ick TOwn. Two other structures
are shown slightly north of present- day Reaves Point, but they are a considerable
distance back from the water ' s edge. Numerous other buildings are shown even
farther fran the river , along both sides of the River Road between Southport
and Wi lmington--a road wh i ch formerly ran through the entire l ength of what
. th s Po' . al 92 1s now e unny 1nt Term1n •
A sanewhat later map of 1946 (which extends northward only to Reaves Point)
records the presence of two structures nea:r the river and just above Sunny Point,
with no structures shown between that point and the rrouth of Walden Creek to the
south . 'J.Wo other structures stood well back fran the river , near Reaves Point;
and, as before, other buildings stood along both sides of the River Road. 93
Unfortunately, available maps published since 1946 show merely the boundaries
of the Sunny Point Terminal , with no interior detail whatsoever; or , show the
massive terminal facility in such a way as to render the identificat ion of
. 1 . t' . 11 . 'bl 94 prev1ous y ex1s 1ng structures v1rtua y 1rnposs1 e .
•
•
29
Development of the Sunny Point Terminal facility began in the early 1950s ,
while the nation was still at war in Korea. Fran the outset it was envisioned
that the canpleted project would encompass sane 14 , 000 acres of land, with its
eastern boundary stretching along the entire seven miles of shoreline between
the mouth of Walden Creek and a point just belON the ruins of Brunswick Town.
'Ihree large docks were to be constructed , with access channels thirty-four
feet deep and 300 feet wide , broadening still farther to 800 feet opposite
each wharf to provide separate turning basins. Planned as a connecting link
between the Sunny Point facility and the interior was a railroad to Leland,
with thirty- eight to forty- five miles of spurs, sidings, and yards within
the reservation itself .
The three huge docks, situated one-half mile apart, were built by the
Diamond Construction Company of Savannah, Georgia, each being 2, 400 feet
long and eighty- seven feet wide. The eighteen-mile railroad to Leland was
constructed by the William A. Smith Construction Canpany of Houston , Texas.
And the extensive railroad connections and yard facilities inside the termi­nal's
boundaries were built by T. F. Scholes Inc . of Reading, Pennsylvania. 95
Of prime importance with regard to both submerged and terrestrial
archaeological resources is the tremendous amount of dredging which occurred
during the construction of the Sunny Point Terminal. This dredging not only
involved the carving out of channels in the river bottan, but also the creation
on land of massive diked spoil deposit areas . 'Ihe actual dredging along the
shoreline began in January of 1953, and was carried out by the ~illiams
Dredging Corporation of New Orleans , Louisiana. In January of the follONing
year the State magazine carried the following description of the work in
progress:
•
•
Already Brunswick ' s physical features are changing fast .
Huge dredges are chewing at the bottom of the Cape Fear River .
and spewing muck across the landscaPe on a scale that staggers
the imagination of the uninitiated. Dredging for the dock
area alone will heave up 18 million cubic yards of spoil. . . •
Four slots from 60 to 1,100 acres in size were cribbed
with dikes averaging 15 feet high to form pockets for dumping
the dredgings.
30
Into these areas, the dredges last January began pouring their
muck- 1,000 cubic yards per hour around the clock . As the water
drained away, layer after layer built up until the deposits were
as much as 35 feet deep, extending over hundreds of acres. 96
The Sunny Point Terminal \'las finall y canpleted in the mid to late 1950s,
at a cost of approximately $23 , 000 , 000 .97 By the mid-1970s the installation
employed sane six hundred civilian workers. It remains to this day a facility
of considerable importance in the development ~1d economy of eastern Brunswick
County. 98
The vast area comprising the Sunny Point Terminal is one extremely rich
in terms of its history. European contact may have been made as early as the
1520s; and for more than two and a half centuries the area has been continuously,
though sparsely, inhabited. Large plantations and small farms have been laid
out across the terrain; and tl1e events of the Revolution and Civil War have
also made their imprint upon the land. It is hoped that this report will be
of at least same assistance in locating and preserving the cultural resources
which lie hi dden within the terminal ' s boundaries •
• 1 Lawrence Lee, The I.J::>wer Cape Fear in Colonial Days (Chapel Hill:
The University of North Carolina Press, 1965), 12- 14.
2 Lee, I.J::>wer Cape Fear , 11.
3see Bill Reaves, Southp::>rt (Smithville) and Environs: A Chronology,
Volume 1 (Southport: Southport Historical Society, 1978), 1.
4Lee, I.J::>wer Cape Fear, 11.
5r.ee , IDwer Cape Fear, 27- 32.
6 Lee, Iower Cape Fear, 33- 34.
7 Lee, Lower Cape Fear, 37-40.
ar.ee, I.Dwer Cape Fear, 41- 42.
9The population of the Clarendon settlement is not known with any degree
of accuracy . A promotional pamphlet published in London in 1666 stated that
the settlement contained nearly 800 people, but this was probably a gross
exaggeration. See Lee, Lower Cape Fear , 42.
10r.ee, Lower Cape Fear , 45-53.
llLe e, Lower Cape Fear, 53.
12Lee, Lower Cape Fear, 54.
13Le e , Lower Cape Fear , 61 and 69-70.
14Le e, Lower Cape Fear , 73-74.
15Le e, Lower Cape Fear, 73- 74 and 80- 83.
16r.ee, Lower Cape Fear , 86-88; and Charles Johnson /pseudonym for Daniel
Defoe/, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious
Pirates. • • • Edited by Arthur L. Hayward (New York: rxx:ld, Mead and Co. ,
1925. First published in 1724), 71- 84.
17Reaves, Southport, 2. For location of Bonnet's Point, see maps in
Appendixes .
18For general accounts of Burrington's activities with regard to settlement
of the Cape Fear, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear, 92-95; and William s . P<:Mell , editor ,
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, volume I (Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press, 1979), 283- 284. South Carolina' s claim to the Cape
• Fear ' s west bank was not finally settled until 1735.
•
•
32
19For the presence and location of Burrington's plantation, see early maps
in Appendixes . See also Lee, IDwer Cape Fear, 94; Alfred Moore Waddell, ~
History of New Hanover County and the IDlver Cape Fear Region, 1723- 1800, volume I
(N.p.: n.d. ) , 39; and James Sprunt, Chronicles of the Cape Fear River , 1660- 1916,
2nd edition (Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton, 1916) , 57-58.
20williarn L. Saunders, editor , Colonial Records of North Carolina, 10 volumes
(Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890), III , 259 .
21 Saunders, Colon~al Records, III, 436.
22 Saunders, Colonial Records, III, 362- 363.
23
Lee, Lower Cape Fear, 228 .
24~owell , Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 283- 284; Samuel A' Court
Ashe, editor , Biographical Hi story of North Carolina, 8 volumes (Greensboro:
Van Noppen, 1905-1917) , I , 205; and Saunders, Colonial Records , I II , 618- 619.
25
Lee , lower Cape Fear, 117- 118; and Janet Schaw, Journal of a Lady of
Quality, edited by Evangeline W. Andrews and Charles M. Andrews (New Haven:
Yale University Press , 1921) , 277- 278 .
26Hugh Meredith, An Account of the Cape Fear Country, 1731, edited by
Earl G. Swem (Perth Amboy, New Jersey: Charles F . Heartrnan , 1922) , 14- 15.
27I.ee, !.Dwer Cape Fear, 140.
28Le e , I.ower Cape Fear , 188- 190 .
29Le e , Lower Cape Fear , 188- 190 .
30Le e , T..ower Cape Fear, 138, 149, and 163 .
31r..ee, Lower Cape Fear, 171.
32
lee, Lower Cape Fear , 166; and Lawrence Lee, The History of Brunswick
County, North Carolina (N.p. : BrunS\vick County American Revolution Bicentennial
Committee, 1978) , 33-35.
33waddell, History of New Hanover County, 33.
34 Lee, I.ower Cape Fear ,
Countyj , 21- 22 •
229-230 ; and Waddell , History of New Hanover
35Lee, I.ower Cape Fear 1 229-230; and Waddell , History of New Hanover
County, 22 .
36Le e , I.ower Cape Fear 1 229- 230; and Waddell , History of New Hanover
County, 22 •
37I.ee, I.ower Cape Fear , 5, 230- 231, and 238-240.
•
•
33
38 Lee , laver Cape Fear, 232-234 .
39saunders, Colonial Records , VI , 232-233 ; Waddell, History of New Hanover
Councy, 14; Lee , History of Brunswick County , 76; and Ida Brooks Kellam,
" Members of Safety Camtittee, 1774-1776" {Typescript prepared in Wilmington,
North carolina in 1959) , 37.
4°Kellam, "Members of Safety Carmittee, " 46 .
41see BrunS\-Iick County Deeds , Book A, pp. 67- 70. Microfilm copy in the
North Carolina State Archives , Raleigh, North Carolina.
42 See Schaw , Journal of a Lady , 141- 142 .
43 see ~:mald ·R. Lennon ' s sketch of Robert Howe in Alan D. Watson, Dennis R.
Lawson , and Donald R. Lennon, Harnett, Hcoper , and Howe: Revolutionary Leaders
of the L<::Mer Cape Fear (Wilmington: U:Mer Cape Fear Historical Society, 1979},
72 and 95; James M. Clifton, "Golden Grains of White: Rice Planting on the
laver Cape Fear , " North carolina Historical Review (1973), 370 , 374, 376, 388;
and Lee, I.c:Mer Cape Fear, 272.
44see, for example , J . G. de R. Hamilton's sketch of Robert Howe in
Allan Johnson and Dumas Malone, editors, Dictionary of American Biography,
20 volUmes (New York : Charles Scribners Sons , 1936) , IX , 294-295; Schaw,
Journal of a Lady, 318; Waddell , History of New Hanover County , 40- 41; Sprunt,
Chronicles of the Cape Fear River, 57-58 and 60; and James Sprunt , Tales and
Traditions of the ID<'ler Cape Fear, 1661-1896 (Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Co. ,
1973. First published in 1896), 80-82 .
45 See Schaw, Journal of a Lady, 318; and Watson , Lawson, and Lennon ,
Harnett, Hooper, and Howe, 71 and 95 . In a footnote to his sketch of General
Howe , Donald Lennon makes the following observation with regard to the location
of Howes Point:
Although numerous local writers have placed Howe's residence at Howe ' s
Point belON Brunswick Town on the Cape Fear , there is no documentation
to indicate that a Howes Point ever existed on the Cape Fear .
Apparently Job Howe's plantation on 'lbpsail Sound is the only
location to bear that appellation.
46see Elizabeth F . McKoy, canpiler and editor, Early New Hanover County
Records (Wilmington : Published by the author , 1973) , 132- 133 and 138-139; Lee ,
laver Cape Fear, 175; and Watson, Lawson , and Lennon, Harnett, Hooper , and Howe, 72 .
47sprunt , Tales and Traditions of the Lower Cape Fear , 81-82; Sprunt,
Chronicles of the Cape Fear, 60; and Waddell , History or New Hanover County, 40-41.
4 ~addell , History of New Hanover County, 4; and Schaw, Journal of a Lady, 278 .
49Mae Blake Graves , canpiler , New Hanover County Abstracts of Wills
(Wilmington: Published by the author, 1981) , 12 •
50 M::Koy , Early New Hanover County Records , 8.
•
•
51see maps of 1733 and 1807 in Appendixes.
52For detailed discussions of the Stamp Act crisis, see :u=e , Lower Cape
Fear, 243- 250 ; and Waddell, History of New Hanover County, 26- 31.
53see :u=e, lower Cape Fear , 265; and Schaw, Journal of a Lady , 187 , 205 ,
207, and 232.
54 See :u=e , lower Cape Fear , 264-265 .
55:u=e,
56T~ .ut::e,
I.ower Cape Fear, 266 .
Lower Cape Fear, 266-271 •
57 :u=e, Lower Ca:pe Fear , 271.
58virginia Gazette , 29 June 1776. See also :u=e , I.ower Cape Fear, 272;
:u=e , History of Brunswick County, 74; Waddell , History of New Hanover County ,
179 ; and Andrew J. Howell , ,'Ihe Book of Wilmington {Wilmington : Published by
the author /1927?/), 56-57 .
59 :u=e , Lower Cape Fear , 277- 280 .
~0 schaw , Journal of a Lady, 281 .
6 ~e, Lower Cape Fear, 275 .
62Lee, Lower Cape Fear , 282 .
34
63see Curtis C. Davis, Revolution' s Godchild {Chapel Hill: 'Ihe University
of North Carolina Press , 1976), 18-19; Johnson and Malone , Dictionary of American
Biography, IX, 294-295; and Watson, Lawson , and :u=nnon , Harnett, Hooper , and
HeMe , 92.
614Kellam, "Members of Safety Camlittee, " 11-13; and will of Sarah Howe in
Brunswick County Wills, North Carolina State Archives , Raleigh, North Carolina.
The will of General HeMe has not survived; and , unfortunately, Sarah Howe ' s will
makes no specific mention of either Kendall or a plantation on Howes Point.
65:u=e , History of BrunS\'lick County, 89.
66:u=e , History of Brunswick County, 90; and Waddell , History of New Hanover
County, 212 .
67 See map of 1807 in Appendixes . This map does indicate the presence of
sane of the larger plantations along the west bank of the Cape Fear between
Brunswick Tbwn and Wilmington.
68see Brunswick County Censuses for 1790 , 1800 , 1810, and 1820.
69see Brunswick County Census for 1800 ; and Brunswick County Estates
Papers, Dennis Hankins folder .
35
• 70 Quoted in Lewis P. Hall , editor and canpiler, Marriage Notices, Obi-
•
tuaries, and Items of Genealogical Interest in the 11Cape Fear Recorder I II the
.. Peoples Press, .. and the "Wilmington Advertiser .. fran Aug. 26, 1829 to Dec.
24 , 1833 (Wilmington: Published by the Author , 1958), 14. -
7~run~~ick County censuses for 1810 and 1820 .
7~runswick Coun't'J Census for 1850, population and slave schedules.
73Brunswick County Census for 1850, population, slave, and agricultural
schedules. The order of visitation in the census records seems to indicate
clearly that Jesse Drew's farm was located along the upper shoreline of what
is no.v the Sunny Point Terminal. Hooever , a map of the Civil War period
indicates that the residence of a "J . Drew" was located sanewhat south and
west, along a tributa.ry of Walden Creek. On the other hand, this map also
places the residence of an unidentified 11Drew" in the location described
above in the text. See map in Appendixes.
74
Brunswick Colinty Census for 1850, population, slave, and agricultural
schedules .
15See Civil War period maps in Appendixes.
76see Brunswick County Map of 1910 in North Carolina State Archives,
Raleigh, North Carolina. This map is not reproduced in the Appendixes.
77Brunswick County Census for 1850, population, slave, and agricultural
schedules.
7
1
8Reaves, Southport, 58.
79
Brunswick County Census, 1850, population, slave, and agricultural schedules.
80see maps of 1855 and 1901 in Appendixes .
81Lee, History of Brunswick County, 98.
8~or locations and names of the forts in the Cape Fear defense system,
see maps in Appendixes.
83se e c·1 v1·1 War maps 1· n Ap pend l' Xes.
84The War of Rebelli0n: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union
and Cohfederate Armies (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880- 1900) ,
series I, volt.nne XLVII, part 1, 960- 961. For general discussions of the fall of
Fort Fisher and its aftermath, see John G. Barrett, The Civil War in North
Carolina (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1963), 280-284;
and Lee, History of Brunswick County, 161- 164.
85see Charles H. Foard, "A Chart of Wrecks of Vessels Sunk or Captured Near
Wilmington, N.C., Circa 1861-1865," revised (Wilmington: Published by the
author, 1968).
36
• 86r.cwer Cape Fear Historical Society, Bulletin, vol. 14, number 1 , N.p.,
••
and volume 14 , number 3, N. p .
87Map of 1863 in North Carolina State Archives . See also ''Map of the
Cape Fear and the Approaches to Wilmington, N.C." in Appendixes.
88s ee untJ·. tl ed c·l. Vl·.1 War map J·. n Appena ·J .Xes.
89F or a d escrJ.. ptJ.. on o f th"J. S process, see Lower Cape Fear Historical Society
Bulletin, volume 15, number 3, N.p.
90se e c· ·1 · a· l.Vl. War maps J.n Appen J.Xes.
91 See map of 1901, reproduced in two sections in the Appendixes .
92See 1932 map in Appendixes.
93 See 1946 map in Appendixes.
94 See maps of 1970 and 1980 in Appendixes .
95state magazine (16 Janua.ry 1954), 3-4 .
96state magazine (16 January 1954) , 3.
97Bill Sharpe, A New Geography of North Carolina, volume 2 (Raleigh:
Sharpe Publishing Company, 1958) , 603- 604 .
98u:e, History of Brunswick County, 229 . For the boundaries and inter ior
l ayout of the Sunny Point Terminal , see maps of 1970 and 1980 in Appendixes •
•
•
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ashe , Samuel A'Court, ed. Biographical History of North caroli na . 8 vols.
Greensboro: Van Noppen, 1905-1917.
Barrett, John G. The Civil War in North Carolina. Chapel Hill: The Uni­versity
of North Carolina Press, 1963 .
Brunswick County Records
Censuses
Estates Papers
Maps
Wills
Clark, Walter , ed. State Records of North Carolina.. 16 v6ls. Winston and
Goldsboro: State of North Carol ina, 1895-1906.
Clifton, James M. , "Golden Grains of White: Rice Planting on the I.cMer Cape
Fear ," North Carolina Historical Review (1973), 365-393 .
Davis, Curtis C. Revolution's Godchild . Chapel Hill: The University of
North Carolina Press, 1976.
Foard, Charles H. "A Chart of Wrecks of Vessels Sunk or Captured Near Wilmington,
N. C. , Circa 1861- 1865. " Revised. ~vilmington: Publi shed by the Author , 1968 .
Graves, Mae Blake, canp. J-.and Grants of New Hanover County. Wilmington:
Published by the author, 1980.
New Hanover County Abstracts of Wills. Wilmington:
Published by the author , 1981.
Hall , Lewis P., ed. and canp. Marriage Notices, Obi tuaries , and Items of
Genealogical Interest in the "Cape Fear Recorder," the"Peoples Press,"
and the ''Wilmington Advertiser" fran Aug. 26 , 1829 to Dec. 24 , 1833.
Wilmington: Published by the author, 1958.
Ha.vell , Andrew J. The Book of Wilmington. Wilmi ngton: Published by the author
/1927?/ .
Johnson, Allen and Malone, Dtnnas, eds. Dictionary of American Biography.
20 vols . New York : Charles Scribner ' s Sons, 1936.
Johnson, Charles /pseudonym for Daniel Defoe/. A General History of the
Robberies and Murders of the M::>st Notorious Pirates. • • • Edited by
Arthur L. Haywar d . New York: Dodd, Mead and Canpany, 1925. First
publi shed in 1724.
Kellam, Ida Brooks. "Members of Safety Camnittee, 1774- 1776." Typescript
prepared in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1959.
38
• Lee, Lawrence. The History of Brunswick County, North Carolina. N.p.:
'" "'·· .
• ••
Brunswick County American Revolution Bicentennial Canmittee, 1978.
The laver Cape Fear in Colonial Days. Chapel Hill: The
University of North Carolina Press, 1965.
Lower Cape Fear Historical Society. Bulletin, 1957--.
McKoy, Elizabeth F., canp. and ed. Early New Hanover County Records.
Wilmington: Published by the author, 1973.
Meredith, Hugh. An Account of the Cape Fear Country, 1731. Edited by Earl G.
SW'em. Perth Amboy , New Jersey: Charles F. Heartman, 1922.
New Hanover County Records
Estates Papers
Maps
Wills
Powell, William s. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Volume l.
Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Reaves , Bill. Southport {Smithville) and Environs: A Chronology. Volume I.
Southport: Southport Historical Society, 1978.
Saunders, William L. , ed. Colonial Re<.."'rds of North Carolina. 10 volumes.
Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890 .
Schaw, Janet. Journal of a Lady of Quality. Edited by Evangeline W. Andrews
and Charles M. Andrews. New Haven: Yale Uni:szersity Press, 1921.
Sharpe, Bill. A New Geography of N9r.th Cprolina. Volume 2. Ra;Leigh:
Sharpe Publishing Co., 1958.
Sprunt, James .
Raleigh:
Chronicles of the Cape Fea~ River, 1660- 1916.
Edwards and Broughton, 1916 .
2nd edition.
Tales and. Traditions of the loNer Cape Fear, 1661-1896.
Spartanburg: Reprint Co. , 1973 . First published in 1896.
State magazine.
The Correspondence of William Tr.yon and Other Selected Papers. Edited by
William S. Powell. 2 vols. Raleigh: Nor.th Carolina Division of
Archives and History, 1980.
Virginia Gazette
Waddell, Alfi·ed r.boJ:e . A History of New Hanover County ..and the laver Cape Fear
Region, 1723-1800. Volume l. N.p.: N.d •
The war of Rebellion: .. A Compilation of· the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies • . . Wasl:lington, D.C.: Gove.rnrnent Printing Office, 1880-
1900 .
••
•
Watson, Alan D. ; Lawson, Dennis R. ; and Lennon , Donald R. Harnett, Hooper ,
and Have : Revolutionary Leaders of the LcMer Cape Fear . Wi lmington:
Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, 1979 •
39
M
M
r-­r-
i
~
r-i
J)
(/)
~
•
1
¥ ,,
~
f
A..
A.. -
&.
~
...
\
...
)
.\ ~
_, ...
~
-...
~
~
... ,..
1.
t.
t.
L
\
:
< ·\ L'- L ..
l
t.. L • ~ - . ~ J .... :: ..
"' "'~·'"Un~ ~ l - t..
t. • &.. '::.. - ·' - "-.- ~
&. • • -
l ~\... L L L - - ' ' .....
~· - L " ~ \ -
. . ' .. C:apc- f,.ar
--::
... ~
.. .. , -,
-.. , -,
'= .. ~ ~:: :~":::~ •• ::·~;:::--: .. -:-:~;: •·•
·' ,_., ~- _, .... ....,.. ·-"-v " .. .. "·"" .~ .... ... ,. ,;.~----"- ,., - ,,,·,., ,._ .... ~.f-1...,-~
l
M osel~>y Map of 1733
t
L
t.
l
..
t.
t.. t.
..
t..
..... ,
from the State Department of Archives and History, of Raleigh, N. C .
•
l
0 I
~ ·'
l-- - ~
1
1r ~ ·,·. · 8 $ : ., I ( ·'r
l.
I
I .\. t: n:
/ _ _,.
,./11; •. , ..
/~~
/ - J(, .. , ,., ~·
' J; . '
-~
J()
/
' .
/
I /
.,
/
~i
\
"'
\ \ /
; /~-
- - -7
Wimble Map of 1738
• the State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh. N. C.
-!. ()
\
\
(
--- - - ·-------- -----
Early
New Hanover County
Records
•
~
~
~ I
......
~ w
co -
•
~ ------·-------,----------------------------.---.
A ~"" ~nd F.sa rt l'J.AN
01"
l'AI'F. FF.AR RIVEll .
.Ji·t7m ~'
.BAR m .IJRr~'".fWIC.JC ,
'~ Tntml.lfmu '/f9 .
... , . ..... ........ ..,.,, ,.,. • • ~~~--'· -$"~. """"­.,
A-•,., ~-# • 1 ,.11(,,.. <II'IIW" t'r M w-7
A(,, ,M,,, j4_./l,w.,. ,tw-J tw4 'hriW """"' ..,.IM ~
I "' ~~fA ..... jw -
" '
\
\
\'
,.
/
\
'
\
\
Hyrne (1749)
..
I .
--
·· . ~ ...
\ ,s ...... ,
. tl\ .. \
•. ·. i.\
. . .
\ /
I
I
I
I
I I
I
-.--
------- ·- ----------
..... ..... .. ~ .
,.,..,..
~~0
. ' •> ......
- - ..... •'+- ... .,... .,.,. • ....,._ ... - ... . ""' ... - ....
.. , .. ~ · . ....
. .......
~ < UJ
lL. I/)
~ UJ s
f;:. O..!::
c(t<(,
~ l u .
:5 ~a
II. uJ ..
~
0
_.J
<.
' " ~
't
" '-
~
; .
•'
~· Jt
~t
-~:
I!
I!
H
'\ ·-
..
t:
l[
I.
'~.
p .. =e ! • . . . '
~·~
.~ .. .. . . o l
- "'·· --~ ----~~~-·-·---······ ·-
-- ·-.·
"' ..
~
_..- , .
... ~$!
,., .
tY l
0-..:
a
...,. ~
l
~ ...
\'- ~"' ~ ..... ..,.
... ~
~ "'
' \ ~ .. .
... ..; ~
'~ ~..: ...
~
o(
~
..
~ ... '
'
!. ~
~ "' c ~
~
( . '"::-.
~
, ~
~
~· .. .
~ ~ ~
~
~
~ ~
~~
......
\::,
~ '" ,'\
~ ~ . ...
..: ' . 0 \ .
:--....
~ ....
...
~-
l $'t ' ·"
-:::: l •
~
~
' ...
~
' ..... .,..
/ ' ~
1853
• •
•
I
t·
I
•
I'
~I
•
'1
11
...,
.............. ..,.,.
fN L~-,.
.~
A
·'
d
Fromo·r i§inat onnle>nthe Off'~" of the Chtd ot Ert~1ncers ,IJ S Army
SE'R;E$ 1. VCL. lC.t.Vl
I 0 /
I I /
: I ,' • j<;.l< I I ~ ••
\ \ ./ c --- --- """ ', :- ' \ \ --- • , . . i •. )'' l ·~ ' \ : .---- s~ /, ,. ', · ..:;•.:• :·~o'', '':
I I ,/ ot1 / ~ • 1 , " ' ~-.. ,~'l•,n I ',,_, If , ';r4 !Jdo /)0! '
I , ---- . • .;J;--.../1 ~ 1:> I"
I~ • o Jt'f- ----- , - !lYur· ..u..t.~....... -~ \JI \ 1- ,-' ., '1'<. - • _;;:....~ LJt. r;//
' / ~ . ·~BaLd •,_ __ , v • -·.· : Head ov H•4 "-' Bau.~:1, ·
0
~
...() '·
~· ·
~
~
v
~
.....
-~'!
';:J t
NORTH ATLANTIC SQUAOR'-.t '
REAR-AO MIRAL 0 . 0 . PORTER.COMMANOING .
\
(...)..
.<..:. .
t-'
& 1"1
~
.1.".1. . a
-------- i
, I
' I . I
I
. \
\:-
'•
· .. . ~
' ...
•. ' • • I
/
I.
(
,·
' '
Civil War Period
_ .... ----- .......
.. _ .·
- ·- .
-­,
·---
-
p .. <.
,/
'
I ; ·
if.
~\
. I M L.At\VLII'lA
(. , .
:.
·.;,
I
... ,<
: 'B ioi X234
~: - . r-
\ - -- ,. . . - - -.::.;:::_7 .
t" -~- / ~ --:.~ ~ '\ - ,.:: . / / ' -: . ~ \." .
\'=-· -' ••
1946
.7/_ ·. \<i .·
--\?\Snow
-'/\ ~ \- Pt
' .,..
: .
c" ,,
•
_,,
-- _.._
- Sunny Pt I
I
I
I
.. .
-~) o~o (.) (.)
~{5
U.:::.;
~/o
~~ ~~
CCS: Q:)4J
I~
\ UPP[ '
\
\
' ( L RANGE • v(S POI NT CkANN 0
RE R(AR Ll
,,
'
/.. \>
,r,.::. ;)
..( ,,
25 ~~ -
~~-·
/ ,
,' .· ,' ,~
(
, ,
,
, , ,'
,
,
' ,
\· .
, , , ,
/
I , ,
,/ 14 , _tf .( (. o~·F
.,. 0
,
, ,
I
I
I
• , I.
• I ~
• II ~ J
I t' f
I J...ltl
l
I I
I •
I I fJJtlf~ ~
I , •' ~5 ,
I I f I I
I 1 I 1
• I ,' 1 ./ 1
G +,~ / / / i B.,q;,..~ ~ I I I I I I I
• b . / / / ft... ~ 1 I ' I ~ 1 1 / l il . ~
I I I 'I
,/ ;' I ~ I . , /
,I / / '" / / ,, t''
, ',- , · ·" ~ / \ "
,I '
/ ,' ,' /
. ~v, ·
'J~ , · '
IS
I
o':-'
,._Cj.'
,(,.~-·
) Y'/ 22
,~
3
,
,
' ,
10
/
O LIGHT
9
OLIGHT
3
I
&
I I . ro
f'
2
)
edited . and published by the Geological Survey
• USGS . USC&GS, and North Carolin a Geode t oc Sur.~y
. . . . ~ . . .. .. ... .. .. . .. .. "' . .. .. . .. .
. . . . . .
. . . . . ...
-11: r-
' ,, ---- - ' ' £_ ----- .-- - - ' - ~ /- .·· .·
- ::_:- ~ ••• •• ;.·. · · - - CH.
IYo.p ..S"tc"~ _:::- ::::: ...... • • • • • • • • . 0 ~ '=f2· ............... ~UP p f R J' 1!!1" lq]f !_ _:-_--___
otc" :-.... - -- - - ---- • • • • ·• ~ .•. ~ ~-- - - - s~o- - - --- - . - - - - ,,, '4 - - - CH - - - - . • - 0 ~ ( /leAVES POINT • lOW£.(> 4i--::::::------_:_- __ ..,- G·<··'
C IDN;c;Hr c- ---- - -'_.- .. ·. • .... 4 H. _-.-4. / . a --~ - /.f.- r- L' ~-·.. . ··· - -.....; /.f.- <- ::.: .· .· ·:· :·: ::· - :::::::
.. ; : .· .. · ·.· . .::---......-
R -- F E 4 R R I V f '~,
~,
'·
f-' ~ ~ 1 -...... N • "· I '-:,
\ ~
'--"
. . .
~\\\
. . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . ..
S·CHEMATIC OF PROPOSED CHANNEL
. REALIGNMENT (FLOW- THROUGH · SYSTEM)
----- EXISITlNG CHANNELS
---REALIG,.EO C~ANHEL
';.. •• .. ·• · · .. EXISITI NG C.,.ANNELS TO BE FtLLEO
• 1 .. FIGURE I ( NOT TO.
' ... ·- ·- ~-
N co
0'1
.-i
I
I
I
'
_..,
' '
/
I
I
I
I
'\
PROPOSED
' " " ' '
DISPOSAL AREA # 5
400 TO 500 AC. +
,.," ...... _____ ___ ---
EXIST lNG
DIKED DISr>()SAl AtEA
#.t
25Q AC. !.
•• -..
~
\
\
\
\
,)
DIKED DISPOSAl AlEA
#-2
~00 AC. !
--~~
~.:~~=~~NIOVII .. Hll t.li.O'M WMI -.,.:
MOTW N.WIGAIION ... CIUTIU MAlt! ~C.T C. Of"" 01 H II k LW DliUM Willi 2 rt
AUO-ht 151tOG<NG 0VIl0trt" OfV ... (f
N114t Atilt Dll~ OVn<J 01 U "
AI lOw W&TU
III IIIIAtf CXlAN ~Al
~~POINt , ,_,,. CAIIQUN.t.
............. ~ '"-" 0111 ~ ....... ......a ~ ...
IASIC LAYOUT Of
MOTSU NAVIGATION fAOUTIU
... .....,. ___ ~--.......... &
o ~ooo'
FIGIIRF ~
1901
•
•
,, I
.,
_.., .,.,_;e--
•
r
~~·1 .. ... -~ r ,
' :!:. -
•
•