About Wilmington's Eagles Island-- Part 3: Into the 1900s

Eagles Island appears to have sunk into commercial decline  about the time of World War I.

The Wilmington  Iron Works operated a shipyard and marine railway on Eagles Island as late as 1924  The rusted iron gears they used to pull ships out of the water are reportedly still in view.  In 1910, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built docks and a yard on the island that are still in use.

The battleship USS North Carolina was docked at the island in 1961 and formally dedicated  April 29, 1962,  as a memorial to World War II veterans from North Carolina.  The memorial now occupies a 61-acre tract on the island and is set aside as a nature preserve.

Today, parts of the island  are on the National Register of Historic Places for the number of wrecks in the area along the west bank of the Cape Fear River.

The paddle wheel of a U.S. Engineer snag boat, the H.G. Wright, was removed from the island in the 1980s, restored and now is on display at the Cape Fear  Museum.

--Old B-Runner

Death of Paul Laird-- Part 2: Chris Fonvielle's Condolences

I went to the Wilmington Funeral site and read the condolences.  I seemed to remember that Paul Laird had something to do with the Friends of Fort Fisher even though the obituary just said he worked at Fort Fisher.

One of those condolences was from Chris Fonvielle.  I knew Chris Fonvielle from his days at the Blockade Runner Museum in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.

I will write his words here:

"I extend my deepest sympathies to Kay, Matt, Ben and the entire Laird family for their unexpected loss.  Paul was one of my oldest, closest, and dearest friends, dating back to our days as undergraduates at UNC Wilmington in the 1970s. Were it not for Paul Laird, I may not have become a professional historian.

He was responsible  for getting me the job of curator of the former Blockade Runner Museum in Carolina Beach, N.C. in 1979 and, as it turned out, the last curator of the museum.  When New Hanover County purchased the Blockade Runner Museum's collection and moved it to the Cape Fear Museum in 1983, I decided to attend graduate school and pursue a career as an academic historian.

Rose O'Neal Greenhow Diorama At Carolina Beach Town Hall

If you visit the Carolina Beach, North Carolina, Townhall on US-421 (right next to the Federal Point Historical Museum) you can see a diorama of the death of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, as her longboat from the blockade runner Condor overturned in heavy surf and she drowned.  There are several other Civil War Cape Fear dioramas as well.

The Greenhow diorama and the other ones were originally in the Blockade Runner Museum which closed in the 1980s and were stored until a few years ago at the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington.

I used to spend a lot of time at the Blockade Runner Museum and it is good to see the dioramas again.  The Cape Fear Museum also has the diorama of Fort Fisher and the Wilmington riverfront during the war which are on display..

--Old B-Runner

Construction Crews Unearth Old Cannon in Downtown Wilmington, N.C.

From the March 22, 2016, WNCN CBS News "Construction crews uncover apparent cannon in downtown Wilmington."

The cannon was found near the federal Courthouse on Walker Street.  Looking at the accompanying pictures, it is definitely a cannon.  It was found at about 4 p.m. as the crew was working at the Riverside Park renovation project.

They found it between 6-8 feet underground.  The bomb squad was called to make sure it wasn't loaded with a shell, but they will leave the final word to archaeologists from Fort Fisher.

Experts from the Cape Fear Museum and Fort Fisher will be on site from 8:30 a.m. March 23.  City officials say the site has been secured.

The Republic out of Columbus, Indiana, says the cannon may be centuries old and was found in front of the Alton Lennon Federal Building.  UNC-Wilmington professor Chris Fonvielle says it may be a Colonial or Revolutionary War cannon.

Wonder How It Got There?  --Old B-R'er

Local Woodworking Company Selected to Build Fort Fisher Exhibit Cases

From the March 18, 2016, PR.com.

Anchor Wood Products has been selected by the Friends of Fort Fisher, Inc. to provide custom built exhibit cases for the Fort Fisher State Historic Site.  It is a local Wilmington-area company and will use local craftsmen to make them.

They will be providing five cases to house dioramas that were originally in the long-gone Blockade Runner Museum in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, which opened in the 1960s and closed in the 1980s.  When it closed, the entire collection was purchased by New Hanover County for the Cape Fear Museum on Market Street.

The diorama of the Wilmington waterfront during the war and Fort fisher were displayed, but there was not enough space for five other dioramas and they remained in storage until acquired recently by the Fort Fisher site in Kure Beach.

This Is Great News!  --Old B-Runner

Fragments of the War

From the Oct. 2, 2012, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Museum to display 'Fragments,' of Civil War" by Ben Steelman.

Among items on display will be three little stars indicating the rank of a Confederate colonel from Fort Fisher's Col. William Lamb's uniform.

Also, scraps of British-made fabric carried into Wilmington aboard a blockade-runner.

A commission signed by Abraham Lincoln.

The Cape Fear Museum has assembled a lot of little pieces for their next exhibit "Fragments of War" which will be on display from now to May 5th.  They are doing this for to commemorate the war's 150th anniversary and they are showing items that haven't been on display for awhile.

You can also see General W.H.C. Whiting's uniform tunic (also at Fort Fisher).

There is also a 34-star U.S. flag that flew over Wilmington before the war.

A Confederate Second National flag sewn by the ladies of Wilmington for Col. Lamb.

And, a flask carried by an officer of the United States Colored Troops at Fort Fisher.

I've never been to this museum, but understand they received a lot of the material from the old Blockade-Runner Museum in Carolina Beach.  Now would be a good time to see it.

Going to the Museum.  --Old B-Runner

Whiting's Uniform One of Three Conserved Artifacts

From the July 2010 WECT TV.

The Cape Fear Museum in 2010 received a $27,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services over a two-year period.  That money and other money will be used to preserve the uniform (expected to cost $17,000) and two flags: a 34-star US and a Second National Confederate.

The US flag was shipped off first in July where it is expected to take six months to a year to treat it.  The Confederate flag was shipped off in Jan. 2011 and the uniform in July 2011.  The museum expects to display all three items in 2012.

Great to Save Stuff Like This.  --Old B-R'er

General Whiting's Uniform On Display in Wilmington, NC

From July 23rd WWAY 3 ABC News  "Cape Fear Museum unveils Confederate general's uniform.

 The museum has had W.H.C. Whiting's uniform since it was established in the late 1800s.  It was one of three Civil War artifacts conserved recently with money from a grant, donations and county funding.

I would like to know how they got Whiting's uniform and was it the one he was wearing when wounded at Fort Fisher.  Was it on display before this?  This ties in nicely with tomorrow's entry on my 1982 vacation to Carolina Beach.

I have never been to the Cape Fear Museum and need to get there one of these days.  Going back to yesterday's post, I have heard this is where many of the Blockade Runner Museum's items ended up.

Quite an Interesting Character, This Whiting.  --Old B-Runner