If you’re planning on doing some reading over the summer, why not try learning a bit more about where you live?
Dozens, if not hundreds, of books have been written about the history of the Wilmington area, and while this article is not intended to provide a comprehensive list, it is a very good place to start, especially for those new to the area or unfamiliar with local history.
I can tell you from experience that even if you don’t plan on reading these books any time soon, books about Wilmington history make great gifts.
“Cape Fear River Chronicles: 1660-1916”
Written in 1915, this tome by wealthy Wilmington philanthropist and businessman James Sprant has for decades been considered the definitive work on Wilmington-area history. Sprant’s family ran one of the world’s largest cotton export facilities, located in what is now the Cotton Exchange shopping center downtown. While the book contains valuable material, more recent historians have criticized Sprant for downplaying the concerns of Wilmington residents who were not wealthy, white or male.
“Wilmington, North Carolina: A Portrait of Architecture and History”
Written by Tony P. Wren in 1984 and featuring stunning photographs by William Edmund Barrett, this book is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the history of individual downtown buildings, from the well-known (Tullienne Hall, Bellamy Mansion) to the obscure.
“Race, Place, Memory: Deep Currents in Wilmington, North Carolina.”
Margaret M. Mulroney’s 2018 book is a deep dive into the history of race relations in Wilmington, from its early days to the present. The book is both fascinating and disturbing, offering a notable reassessment of historical figures such as Revolutionary War veteran Cornelius Harnett. The book’s cover photo also shows white members of the Kiwanis Club of Wilmington performing in blackface at a 1950s North Carolina Azalea Festival parade.
“Wilmington: Lost but Not Forgotten”
A wonderful (and wonderfully illustrated) 2005 book by Beverly Tetterton, who for many years ran the North Carolina Room at the New Hanover County Library downtown, documenting hundreds of Wilmington buildings lost to history.
“Old and New Stories from the Cape Fear Region”
Lewis T. Moore’s 1956 book contains some rather outdated racist attitudes, but it is also the source of some enduring local legends, from the Jacob’s Run Tunnels and Drum Tree to the story of Samuel Joslin, who was supposedly “buried alive” in St. James Cemetery.
“The Wilmington Lie”
David Zucchino’s gripping and somewhat depressing account of Wilmington’s 1898 coup and massacre (in which whites took over the city government, killed dozens of blacks, and expelled hundreds more) is the only book on Wilmington’s history to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Show more
Lost Cape Fear and Wilmington: Then and Now by Susan Taylor Block, Wrightsville Beach: A Shining Island by Ray McAllister, Old Memories by Robert Martin Fails, M.D., A History Lover’s Guide to Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear by Jack Fryer, The Wilmington Campaign: The Last Rays of Fading Hope by Chris Fonvielle, Glory of Wilmington: The Battle of Forks Road, Strange Tales of Old Wilmington, Even Stranger Tales of Old Wilmington by Kenneth Robert Junkin, The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s by Kenneth Robert Junkin, 1898: We Took the City by H. Leon Prather Sr. and Bloody Day by LeRae Umphriet.
