Wilmington is a city in and
the county seat of New Hanover
County
, North
Carolina
, United States
. The population was 75,838 at the
2000 Census. A July 1, 2008
United States Census
Bureau estimate places the population at 100,192.
Wilmington is the
principal city of the Wilmington
Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that
covers New Hanover, Brunswick
, and Pender
counties in southeastern North Carolina, which had
an estimated population of 347,012 as of July 1, 2008. It
was named in honor of
Spencer Compton, the
Earl of Wilmington, who was
Prime Minister under
George II.
Wilmington
was settled on the Cape Fear River
and offers its historic downtown with its one mile
long Riverwalk as a main tourist attraction. It is minutes
away from nearby beaches.
The National Trust
for Historic Preservation named Wilmington, North Carolina one
of its 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations.
City residents have
the advantage of living nestled between the river and the ocean
with Wrightsville
Beach
a short 20 minute drive from downtown.
In 2003 the city received, through an act of Congress, the
designation of "A Coast Guard City". The city is also home port for
the
USCGC Diligence, a
United States Coast Guard
medium endurance
cutter..
Wilmington is also known as the childhood home of
basketball great
Michael Jordan and
journalist David
Brinkley; famous Wilmington natives include
Robert Ruark,
Sonny
Jurgenson,
Charles Kuralt,
Charlie Daniels,
Roman Gabriel,
Meadowlark Lemon,
Trot Nixon and
Alge
Crumpler. The city produced four
Medal of Honor recipients,
Edwin Anderson, Jr. who won it in Vera
Cruz, Mexico, in 1914;
Eugene Ashley,
Jr., posthumously in Vietnam in 1971;
William D. Halyburton, Jr. posthumously on
Okinawa in 1945 and
Charles
P. Murray, Jr., in France
in 1944. It is also home to the World War II Battleship . Now a war
memorial, the ship is open to public tours and is on display across
from the downtown port area.
The town is home to the University of
North Carolina Wilmington
, the Wilmington
Hammerheads USL soccer team, the training camp site for the
Charlotte Bobcats and the Cape
Fear Museum.
The city is home to
EUE Screen
Gems Studios, the largest TV and movie production facility
outside of California. "Dream Stage 10," the facility's newest
soundstage is the third largest in the US and houses the largest
special effects water tank in North America.
Since the studios
opening in 1984, Wilmington has become a major center of American
film and television production; motion pictures such as
A Walk To Remember,
Blue Velvet,
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, Empire
Records, Cape
Fear, Black
Knight, 28 Days,
The Crow (death place of
Brandon Lee), Nights in Rodanthe and the
controversial Dakota Fanning film
Hounddog; as well as
television shows such as Matlock, Surface, The WB's
Dawson's
Creek
and One Tree Hill have been
produced there. Hundreds of films, documentaries, and
television series have been filmed here.
Geography
Welcome to Wilmington
Wilmington is located at (34.223232, -77.912122). .
It is the Eastern
Terminus of a major East-West Interstate
40 which ends at Barstow, California
where it joins I-15, the Gateway to Southern
California, some 2,554 miles away, passing through many major
cities and state capitals along the way.
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
41.5
square miles
(107.4
km²). 41.0 square miles
(106.2 km
2) of it is land and 0.5 square miles
(1.2 km
2) of it (1.16%) is water.yep
Climate
Wilmington has a
humid
subtropical climate.
- Winters are generally cool with temperatures in the 50s and 60s
(°F).
- Spring has temperatures in the 70s and 80s. The presence of
abundant dense vegetation in the area
causes significant pollen dusting in the
springtime that tends to turn rooftops and cars yellow.
- Summer brings humidity with temperatures in the 80s and 90s °F.
Heat Indexes can easily break the
100 °F mark. Due to the proximity of warm Atlantic Ocean
waters, the area may be hit by a tropical cyclone during the summer, at an
average of once every seven years.
- Fall is also generally humid at the
beginning, with the same tropical threats as the summer.
Temperatures hover mostly in the 70s and 80s. Some of the deciduous trees may lose their leaves; however most trees in the area are evergreens and therefore remain green
year-round.
- Annual Average High Temperatures: 90 °F (summer)
60 °F (winter)
- Annual Average Low Temperatures 72 °F (summer)
38 °F (winter)
- Highest Recorded Temperature: 104 °F (1952)
- Lowest Recorded Temperature: 0 °F (1989)
- Warmest Month: July
- Coolest Month: January
- Highest Precipitation: July
- Annual Precipitation: 57.07 inches
History
Although there had been attempts to settle the Cape Fear region in
the 1600s, the first permanent English settlers established
themselves in the area in the 1720s. The town of Wilmington was
incorporated in 1739.
A number of the first settlers of the region
came from South Carolina and Barbados
. The British maintained a garrison at Fort
Johnson near Wilmington during the Revolutionary War. Slavery came
early to the region as landowners used slave labor to exploit the
region's natural resources. The forest provided the region's major
industries through the 18th and most of the 19th century:
naval stores and lumber fueled the economy both
before and after the American Revolution. A significant event in
Wilmington's history is the
coup d'état and Massacre of
1898.
Civil War
During the
Civil War the port was
a major base for Confederate blockade runners.
It was captured by
Union forces in the Battle of
Wilmington in February 1865, approximately one month after the
fall of Fort
Fisher
had closed the port. Since almost all the
action was some distance from the city itself, a number of
Antebellum homes and other buildings are still extant.
Massacre of 1898
In November 1898 Wilmington was the scene of a violent attack by a
well-organized group of whites who destroyed the printing press of
the
African American newspaper
The Daily Record and set fire to the building in response
to an editorial that "insulted white womanhood", which was credited
to editor
Alex Manly. The mob then went
to the north side of town, where an unknown number of African
Americans were murdered by
lynching and
many hundreds more were run out of town. No whites were killed
during the incident.
At the same time, the Republican mayor and city council were forced
to resign their offices and the leader of the white mob was then
installed as mayor, effectively establishing a de facto
coup d'état. The events in Wilmington—which
was the largest city in the state at the time—helped make North
Carolina into a controlled state. They also helped institute
Jim Crow and
disenfranchisement which lasted until the
African-American
Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the second half
of the 20th century.
In 2006 the
1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission completed
its official report on the event. Consisting of thirteen
commissioners appointed by the legislature, the governor, mayor and
city council of Wilmington, the commission was assisted by the
staff of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
They used
the experience of the Rosewood
Report (completed 1993), and the Tulsa Report (completed 2001) as a model and
set out to provide detailed explanations for the causes and effects
of the riots and to propose a series of recommendations to address
the wrongs perpetrated by earlier generations. The
resolution also apologized to those affected by the riots and their
repercussions and renounced these actions.
500 px
1918 panorama of Wilmington's
waterfront
World War II
During World War II Wilmington was the home of the North Carolina
Shipbuilding Company. The shipyard was created as part of the U.S.
Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program and built 243 ships
during the five years it was in operation.
The city also was the site of a POW camp from February 1944 through
April 1946. The camp was first located on the corner of Shipyard
Blvd and Carolina Beach Rd and moved downtown to Ann Street between
8th Ave and 10th Ave when it outgrew the original location. At it's
peak it housed 550 German prisoners.
Cityscape
Wilmington theater and banking
area
Downtown north
Northern downtown redevelopment
Wilmington boasts one of the largest historic districts
encompassing nearly 300 blocks.Old abandoned warehouses on
downtown's northern end have been recently demolished making room
for multi-million dollar projects such as PPD's World Headquarters
and a state of the art convention center due to open in 2010.
Downtown/
Old Wilmington is home
to Historic Neighborhoods and buildings such as the
Sir Water Wilmington Hotel Build
in the late 20th Century, the restored City Market.
Economy
Wilmington's industrial base includes electrical, medical,
electronic and telecommunications equipment; clothing and apparel;
food processing; paper products; and pharmaceuticals. Wilmington is
part of North Carolina's Research coast,one of the Country's
largest and most successful research parts and major center in the
United States. Also important to Wilmington's economy is tourism
film production. Wilmington North Carolina was #2 in the Nation in
a national study for 2007 projected job growth. This list of 25 top
cities, compiled by the
Miliken
Institute, an Economic "Think Tank" based in California, also
included the NC cities of Charlotte and Raleigh.
Crime
Over the
last 3 years crime rates, as reported through the Federal
Bureau of Investigation
's Uniform Crime
Reports, have decreased in 6 of the 8 reported
categories.
| Year |
Murder |
Rape |
Robbery |
Assault |
Burglary |
Larceny |
MVT |
Arson |
| 2006 |
7.4 |
65.4 |
431.5 |
398.8 |
1,787.0 |
4,078.2 |
682.5 |
23.2 |
| 2007 |
10.4 |
60.3 |
358.9 |
424.4 |
1,703.8 |
3,761.2 |
667.8 |
16.6 |
| 2008 |
12.2 |
49.8 |
324.2 |
404.5 |
1,489.0 |
3,511.5 |
535.6 |
15.2 |
|
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 75,838
people, 34,359 households, and 17,351 families residing in the
city. The
population density was
1,849.8 people per square mile (714.2/km²). There were 38,678
housing units at an average density of 943.4/sq mi
(364.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 70.57%
White, 25.82%
African American, 0.35%
Native American, 0.90%
Asian, 0.09%
Pacific Islander, 1.14% from
other races, and 1.13%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.63% of the
population.
There were 34,359 households out of which 20.4% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 33.5% were married couples living
together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present,
and 49.5% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up
of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years
of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the
average family size was 2.77.
In the city the population was spread out with 18.4% under the age
of 18, 17.2% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to
64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
34 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,099, and the
median income for a family was $41,891. Males had a median income
of $30,803 versus $23,423 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$21,503. About 13.3% of families and 19.6% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 25.9%
of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.
A
2008 U.S. News & World Report study
named Wilmington as the 7th "smokiest" city in the US, with 26.5%
of the population listed as smokers.
Transportation
Airport
The
Wilmington International
Airport
(ILM) serves the area with commercial air service
provided by Allegiant Air, Delta Air Lines and US
Airways. Allegiant Air has coast-to-coast service,
however, when you select the departure city, your options for
arrival city are extremely narrowed. For instance, if you want to
fly out of Wilmington, you only have 2 destinations to choose from,
Orlando, Florida and Daytona Beach, Florida. The airport is also
home to two fixed base operations (FBO's) which currently house
over 100 private aircraft. The airport maintains a separate
International Terminal providing a full service Federal Inspection
Station to clear international flights. This includes U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, U.S. Dept of Agriculture and the U.S. Dept
of Immigration. The airport is 4 miles from downtown.
Interstate Highways
U.S. Routes
North Carolina State Highways
Alternate Transportation Options
Public transit in the area is provided by the Cape Fear Public
Transportation Authority., which operates fixed bus routes,
shuttles, and a free downtown trolley under the brand name Wave
Transit.
A daily intercity bus service to Raleigh
is provided by Greyhound
Lines.
The
NC-DOT Cape Fear
Run bicycle route connects Apex
to Wilmington and closely parallels the RUSA 600 km brevet route.
The City of Wilmington offers transient docking facilities in the
center of Downtown Wilmington along the Cape Fear River
approximately 12.5 miles from the
Intracoastal Waterway. The river depth
in the run up from the ICW is in excess of 40 feet.
Business
Wilmington experienced staggering growth in the 1990s, ranking at
one point as the second fastest growing city in the country, behind
only Las Vegas. Economists have forecast growth in the Greater
Wilmington area to be the fastest in the state between 2004–2010,
averaging 7%.
Wilmington Ranks #13th in the nation on Forbes Magazine's"Best
Places for Business and Careers" 2009.
Wilmington Ranks #14 in the nation on Fortune Small Business
Magazine's "Best Places for a Start-Up"
Port of Wilmington
Located
on the Cape Fear
River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean, Wilmington is
a sizable seaport, including private marine
terminals and the North Carolina State Ports
Authority's Port of Wilmington. A major international
seaport, the North
Carolina International Port, is being planned down the river in
Southport
.
Wilmington is home to the
Greater Wilmington
Chamber of Commerce, the oldest Chamber in North Carolina,
organized in 1853.
Top employers
Company (Product/Service) - Employee Count
- New Hanover Regional Medical Center/Cape Fear Hospital
(Hospitals) - 4,887
- New Hanover County Schools (Education) - 4,129
- General Electric (Global Nuclear Fuel/Aircraft/Nuclear
Energy/Nuclear Energy) - 2,128
- University of NC Wilmington (Higher Education) - 1,809
- PPD, Inc. (Discovery & Development Services to
Pharmaceutical & Biotech) - 1,800
- New Hanover County (County Government) - 1,673
- Cape Fear Community College (Education) - 1,256
- City of Wilmington (Government) - 1,200
- Verizon Wireless (Communications) - 1,200
- Progress Energy - Southport & Wilmington (Electricity) -
1,100
- aaiPharma (Pharmaceutical Product Sales and Drug Development) -
915
- Corning, Inc. (Optical Fiber) - 900
- International Paper - Riegelwood Operations (Bleached Pulp
& Paperboard) - 743
- DEL Laboratories (Cosmetic & Over-the-counter
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Distribution) - 589
- Wachovia (Banking Services) - 500
Primary and secondary education
Universities and colleges
Primary schools
Public Schools in Wilmington are operated by the New Hanover County
Public School System. Observers have praised the New Hanover County
Public School System for its innovative efforts to maintain a
socially, economically and racially balanced system by using income
as a prime factor in assigning students to schools.
High schools
Academies and alternate schools
Culture
Performing arts
The city supports a very active calendar with its showcase theater,
the Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts, hosting about 250
events annually. The complex has been in continuous operation since
it opened in 1858 and houses three performance venues, the Main
Stage, the Grand Ballroom, and the Studio Theater.
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington College of Arts and
Science Departments of Theatre, Music and Art share a
state-of-the-art, $34 million Cultural Arts Building which opened
in December 2006. The production area consists of a music recital
hall, art gallery, and two theaters. Sponsored events include 4
theater productions a year.
Local stages include:
- The Red Barn Studio
- Level 5 at City Stage
- Opera House Theater
- The Brown Coat Pub & Theater
- The Cape Fear Playhouse (home of Big Dawg Productions)
Film
Wilmington also hosts a nationaly recognized independent film
festival, the Cucalorus. It has been in existence since 1995 and is
the keystone event of The Cucalorus Film Foundation, a 501(c)3
non-profit organization. The Foundation also maintains an active
presence throughout the year through a combination of weekly
screenings, several short documentary projects and the annual Kids
Festival with hands on filmaking workshops.
Music
The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra was established in 1971 and
offers throughout the year a series of five classical performances,
and a Free Family Concert.Wilmington is also home to numerous music
festivals.
One of the largest
DIY festivals, the Wilmington
Exchange Festival, occurs over a period of 5 days around
Memorial Day each year. It is currently in its
13th year
Celebrating its 29th year, The North Carolina Jazz Festival is a
three-day traditional jazz festival which features world-renowned
jazz musicians.
The Blues Society of the Lower Cape Fear was formed in 1987 by a
small group of blues supporters in Wilmington, N.C. The festival
features local, regional & national acts at a Main Stage
Concert, All-Day Blues Jam, Blues Cruise, Kick-Off Party, and Blues
Workshops. This also includes the "Women in Blues" music
festival..
Museums and Historic Areas
Media
Newspapers
The Star-News is Wilmington's
daily newspaper; read widely throughout the Lower Cape Fear region
and now owned by the
New York
Times. Two historic black newspapers are distributed and
published weekly --
The Wilmington Journal and
The
Challenger Newspapers. Encore Magazine is a weekly
arts and entertainment publication.
Television stations
Broadcast
The Wilmington television market is ranked 133 in the United
States, and is the smallest
DMA in North Carolina. The broadcast
stations are as follows:
- WWAY
, Channel
(3), (ABC affiliate):
licensed to Wilmington, owned by Morris Multimedia
- WECT
, Channel
(6), (NBC affiliate): licensed to Wilmington,
owned by Raycom Media
- WILM-LD
, Channel (10), (CBS affiliate):
licensed to Wilmington, owned by the Capitol Broadcasting
Company
- WSFX-TV
, Channel (26), (Fox affiliate): licensed to
Wilmington, owned by Raycom Media
- WUNJ-TV, Channel (39), (PBS member station, part of the UNC-TV Network)
- W47CK
, Channel
(47), (MyNetworkTV affiliate, uses
fictional WMYW calls on-air): licensed to Shallotte
- W51CW, Channel (51), (TBN affiliate)
Subscriber
The region is also served by a cable-only affiliate of
The CW,
WBW
(channel 29 on
Time Warner Cable
and channel 17 on
Charter
Communications). Cable news station
News 14 Carolina also maintains its coastal
bureau in Wilmington.
On September 8, 2008, at 12 noon, WWAY, WECT, WSFX, WILM-LP and
W51CW all turned off their analog signals, making Wilmington the
first market in the nation to go digital-only as part of a test by
the
Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to iron out transition and
reception concerns before the
nationwide shutoff.
Wilmington was chosen as the test market because the area's digital
channel positions will remain unchanged after the transition. As
the area's official conduit of emergency information, WUNJ did not
participate in the early analog switchoff, and kept their analog
signal on until the national
digital
switchover date of June 12, 2009. W47CK did not participate due
to its low-power status; FCC rules currently exempt low-powered
stations from the 2009 analog shutdown. WILM-LP and W51CW chose to
participate, even though they are exempt as LPTV stations.
Despite
Tropical Storm Hanna
making landfall southwest of Wilmington two days before (September
6), the switchover continued as scheduled. The ceremony was marked
by governmental and television representatives flipping a large
switch (marked with the slogan "First in Flight, First in Digital")
from analog to digital.
Radio stations
- 88.1
FM WGHW
- Christian
Programs from Church Planters Of America
- 88.5
FM WZDG
- Christian
Rock ("88.5, The Edge")
- 88.9 FM WKVC - Contemporary Christian
("K-Love")
- 89.7
FM WDVV
- Worship
& Praise Music ("The Dove, 89.7")
- 90.5
FM WWIL
- Christian
Music & Teaching Programs ("Life 90.5")
- 91.3
FM WHQR
- Public
Radio
- 92.3 FM WQSL - Urban Contemporary ("92.3,
The Touch")
- 92.7
FM WBPL
-
Wilmington Catholic Radio
- 93.7
FM WNTB
- Talk
Radio ("The Big Talker FM")
- 94.5
FM WKXS
- Classic
Hits ("94.5, The Hawk")
- 95.5 FM W238AV - Contemporary Christian ("K-LOVE")
- 95.9 FM W240AS - Christian Programs from WOTJ, Morehead City
- 97.3
FM WMNX
- Hip Hop/R
& B ("Coast 97.3")
- 98.3
FM WSFM
-
Alternative ("Surf 98.3")
- 98.7
FM WLGD
- Popular
Latin music ("La Grand D")
- 99.9
FM WKXB
- Oldies
("Jammin' 99.9")
- 100.5 FM W263BA - Contemporary Christian ("K-LOVE")
- 101.3
FM WWQQ
- Country
("Double Q, 101")
- 102.7
FM WGNI
- Hot AC
("102.7 GNI")
- 103.7
FM WBNE
- Classic
Rock (103.7,"The Bone")
- 104.5
FM WILT
- Adult
Contemporary ("Sunny 104.5")
- 105.5 FM WXQR - Rock ("Rock 105")
- 106.3
FM WLTT
- Talk
Radio ("The Big Talker FM")
- 106.7 FM WUIN - AAA ("The Penguin")
- 107.5
FM WAZO
- Top 40 ("Z
107.5")
- 630
AM WMFD
- Sports
("ESPN Radio, AM 630")
- 980
AM WAAV
- News,
Talk, Sports ("News, Talk, & Sports 980 The Wave")
- 1180
AM WMYT
- Spanish
Christian ("Radio Alegre")
- 1340
AM WLSG
- Southern
Gospel ("God's Country, 1340")
- 1490
AM WWIL
- Urban
Gospel ("Gospel Joy, 1490")
Sports
The
Wilmington Sharks are a
Coastal Plain League (CPL)
baseball team in Wilmington that was founded in 1997 and was among
the charter organizations when the CPL was formed that same year.
The roster is made up of top collegiate baseball players
fine-tuning their skills using wood bats to prepare for
professional baseball. Their stadium is located at Buck Hardee
Field at Legion Stadium in Wilmington.
The
Wilmington Sea Dawgs are a
Premier Basketball League
(PBL) team in Wilmington that began its inaugural season with the
American
Basketball Association (ABA) in November 2006.
The
Wilmington Hammerheads
are a professional soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina.
They were founded in 1996 and currently play in the
United Soccer Leagues Second Division.
Their
stadium is the Legion
Stadium
.
The
University of North Carolina
Wilmington sponsors 19 intercollegiate sports and has held
Division 1 membership in the NCAA since
1977. UNCW competes in the
Colonial Athletic Association
and has been a member since 1984.
The Cape Fear Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby club playing
in USA Rugby South Division II. They were founded in 1974 and hosts
the annual
Cape Fear Sevens
Tournament held over 4 July weekend; hosting teams from all over
the world. They own their own rugby pitch located at 21st and
Chestnut St.
Notable shopping complexes
Sister cities
Wilmington is a
sister city with the
following cities:
Points of interest
Notable residents
References
- METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENTS,
Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-07-30.
- Wilmington, North Carolina | Dozen Distinctive
Destinations 2008 | The National Trust for Historic
Preservation
- http://www.uscg.mil/community/Coast_Guard_Cities.asp
- USCGC Diligence (WMEC-616)
-
http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Wilmington,%20North%20Carolina,%20USA&&heading=18;with+locations+including;Wilmington,%20North%20Carolina,%20USA
- 1898 Wilmington Race Riot - Final Report, May 31,
2006
-
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/living-well-usn/2008/12/16/10-smokiest-us-cities--and-10-most-smoke-free-too.html
- [1]
- 600 Kilometers
- http://www.ci.wilmington.nc.us/Default.aspx?tabid=205
- Thalian
Hall
- UNCW Performing Arts Schedule
- http://www.cucalorus.org
- Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Home Page
- WE Fest XII
- May 22-26, 2009 - Wilmington, NC
- Cape Fear
Jazz Asscociation, wilmington north carolina
- Cape
Fear Blues Society - Wilmington, NC
- Wilmington, N.C., to test mandatory switch to
digital TV - USATODAY.com
- StarNewsOnline.com | Star-News | Wilmington,
NC
- FCC Confirms Wilmington as Digital Test Market -
TVWeek - News
- Star-News: "Local TV broadcasts make switch to
digital" (9/8/2008)
External links
- Interstate 40 (eastern
terminus is in Wilmington)
- Interstate 140
- Interstate
20 (Future)
- U.S. Route 17 runs from the
North
Carolina
. The road was named in 1933.
- U.S.Route 74 is a more
direct path from Charlotte
, through Lumberton, North Carolina
, and into Wilmington proper. The route crosses the
Cape Fear
River
- U.S.
Route 76 is a route from Florence,
South Carolina
that runs into the city coexistent with US Route 74
from Whiteville, North Carolina
in the west.
- U.S.
Route 117
- U.S.
Route 421
satellite campus
Hoggard High School
— 1986
— 1989
— 2004
, who escaped from slavery in
Wilmington at the beginning of the American Revolution.
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