From the August 28, 2015, Coastal review Online by Kurt Ross.
The 140-year-old New Inlet Dam at Zeke's island on the Cape Fear River is being studied for a determination as to whether pert or all of it will be removed. The cost will be included in the final state budget.
During the Civil War, New Inlet, guarded by Fort Fisher, was a favorite entrance and exit to the Cape Fear River and Wilmington, North Carolina. After the war, it was decided that the inlet would be closed to prevent silting and a two-mile dam was built by the Army Corps of Engineers. It was completed in 1871. The dam prohibits what some now consider the natural flow of water between the Cape Fear River and the ocean.
Zeke Island was formed after the dam was built. It is one of the three original islands in the National Estuarine Research Reserve components established by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management in 1985.
I walked on "The Rocks" as they are called this past July and they are in bad shape. The original covering over the rocks has broken down in many places making walking on it somewhat dangerous. I am not sure whether I want it removed or not. It has always been there and we have been on it often as well as fishing and crabbing from it. But, it would be somewhat neat to have New Inlet back as it was during the Civil War.
--Old B-Runner
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