State

the cupola of this early Wilmington home, the first owner— a merchant— nibed daily to watch and see if his ships were coming into port. In Old Wilmington The Fori C ity of i\orlli Carolina! lias had an interesting history and contains many old homes. Mr. Tucker, in the accompany¬ ing article, describes an out¬ standing one. ft;/ IIAKRY THE harbor at Wilmington, long Hie finest natural haven between Hampton Roads and Charleston, was probably discovered by ex¬ plorers as early ач КИИ). But it was not until 1730 that, a band of settlers sailed up the Cape Fear River, landed here, and set up a community which they called first New Liver¬ pool, then Newton. Nine years later, according to the old records, Newton was incorporated as a town. It was then called Wilmington. From the beginning, it. was found that, the fresh-water harbor, thirty miles from the outer bar. proved of immense value to the little town and the surrounding country. It was not only the port of North Caro¬ lina, but it. soon became the scene of several of America’s important historical events, not the least of which was the famous Stamp Act Rebellion, when the citizens of the town successfully resisted the at- Z. TLCKFJt tempt of the British to land stamps in the colony. The shipyards of Wilmington have long formed one of her liveliest in¬ dustries. with concrete, steel, and wooden ships being constructed simultaneously in the town. For many years the only government shipyard in the South was located here. It is easy to perceive, there¬ fore, that the |>ort of Wilmington constituted the foundation, the back¬ bone of North Carolina's water- commerce facilities; that through it flowed strongly f lie lifeblood of North Carolina shipping for two centuries. Along with its commercial growth, Wilmington's harbor has always played a significant part in the mili¬ tary affairs of the nation. Ships from here, laden with food and other sup¬ plies. were dispatched to the relief of Boston during the British siege of 1774. Privateers were sent out from hero to harass the British in the War of 1812. And during the Civil War the part played by the Wilmington harbor, and by the seamen who lived close by. needs little mention. Man¬ ning every effort in defense of the city and the dying Confederacy, the people made Wilmington a center around which were fought, some of the fiercest naval engagements of the war. Today, where the early settlers founded New Liverpool, stands an utterly charming city, spreading its shaded streets and beautiful parks in enticing contentment. But the Wilmington that the visitor sees, and is interested in, is a modern city which lias hut recently forged to the front as a center of commercial and industrial activity. A place of his¬ tory, too. is Wilmington, for it has succeeded in becoming one of the South’s most solidly entrenched ports. Few aspects of Wilmington’s early civilization and her commercial and cultural structure are better pre¬ served than in her colonial architec¬ ture. Still standing in Wilmington is one of the notable historic houses of the slate, a mansion-fortress erected about the time of the Revo¬ lutionary War. The name of the builder has long been lost, but more than a century had already mellowed the walls of the old brick and stucco house, on Grace Street, when it was purchased for a residence some years after the Civil War by Captain John F. Devine, co-founder and first, gen¬ eral superintendent of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The house, a monument to the in¬ tegrity of the early American arti¬ sans and joiners of colonial days, once stood alone in the block with its hack to Grace Street, and facing Chestnut Street to which it led with an avenue of Carolina cherry trees. Approaching the house along this avenue, one always noted with pleas¬ ure the magnolia trees and the cen¬ tury-old crepe myrtles, which were interspersed with the lower-growing olive and fig trees. Roses clustered along the avenue, too. Directly in front of the mansion a wrought iron fountain gently played in the warm sunshine of the semi-tropical setting. From here the house stood in full view, with wrought iron steps leading to a porch of black and white flagstones. Pillars of lacy iron grilhvork sup¬ ported a double piazza which was adorned with a handsome balustrade of the same material on the second floor. The doors and windows of the (Continued on page twenty- five)