This marker points out the nearby Brunswick Town historic site not far away which is well worth…read moreyour time if you're here already, yelp.com/biz/brunswick-t.... The marker reads, "Brunswick. Founded circa 1725, long a principal port of North Carolina, site of Spanish attack, 1748, and of Stamp Act resistance, 1766. Later abandoned. Was 2 miles southeast." Online, "Maurice Moore, the son of South Carolina governor James Moore, established himself in North Carolina in 1725 with a 1,500-acre grant from the Lords Proprietors. As a business venture, Moore laid out Brunswick Town, located in present-day Brunswick County, in 1726. It was named for King George I of England who was a member of the German House of Brunswick-Hanover. Situated on the Cape Fear River, the town became the colony's chief port for exporting naval stores and lumber to Europe and the West Indies." "Brunswick residents faced a series of hardships. On September 4, 1748, sailors from Spanish ships came ashore and attacked the town. Citizens drove out the Spaniards and ransacked their ship. They sold the ship's contents and even the sailors themselves, using the proceeds to finance the construction of St. Philip's Church. In February of 1766, residents rallied against the Stamp Act in one of the earliest acts of armed resistance to the Crown in America." "the Confederate Army constructed Fort Anderson on the site in 1862. After the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, Union troops captured the fort. In the 1950s and 1960s state archaeologists began uncovering the foundations of Brunswick. Today the walls of St. Philip's, dating back to 1754, and the foundation of Russellborough are visible. Brunswick Town is a state historic site operated by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources." [Review 13976 overall, 1298 of 2020, number 2616 in North Carolina.]

This is the right spot for this marker and refers to a spot about 7 miles upriver from the…read moreBrunswick Town historic site. This marker is across the street from a convenience store so there's a spot to stop. The marker reads, "Center of a colony from Barbados led by John Vassall, 1664. Abandoned by 1667. Was located 2 miles East on Town Creek." Online, "Sir John Colleton of Barbados, one of the eight Lords Proprietors, played a role in securing the Carolina Charter of 1663. John Vassall, a Barbadian merchant, in 1663 organized the "Corporation of Barbadian Adventurers" with Colleton as their chief advocate in England. The company selected William Hilton to make an exploratory voyage to Carolina. Hilton left Barbados on August 10, 1663, sailed to Port Royal and then up to coast to Cape Fear. He spent several weeks exploring and scouting the location for a colony. Hilton returned to Barbados in January 1664." " A rift developed within the company with some urging immediate settlement and with others holding out for the negotiation of better terms with the Lords Proprietors. John Vassall organized a rival group and sought rights from the Proprietors. Vassall sailed to Cape Fear in May 1664 and selected a settlement site for Charles Town on a high bluff on the west site of the Cape Fear River north of Town Creek. He erected a fortified compound with several buildings. Within two years about 800 people were living in the colony. Many chose to settle along the branches of the river, seeking out the higher ground, some as far as sixty miles from Charles Town." "Problems from within and from the outside led to its failure. These included stress, internal complaints and bickering, and fighting with nearby Indians. In London the government was distracted by fire, plague, and other domestic and foreign crises. In 1666 Sir John Colleton died removing from the scene their patron. The settlers drifted away from Charles Town beginning in the fall of 1666. By early 1667 John Vassall, who had invested much of his personal fortune to keep the colony in place, reported that it was abandoned. A second "Charles Town" backed by many of the same Barbadians arose on the Ashley River in 1670. This in time developed into present-day city of Charleston, South Carolina." [Review 13983 overall, 1305 of 2020, number 2623 in North Carolina.]

One of the most important documents of the United States and one of the very few people who signed…read moreit was born here. This marker points out his home. It reads, "William Hooper. One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Home was here." Online, "William Hooper, one of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Boston on June 17, 1742. He was the eldest child of William Hooper, Sr., rector of Boston's Trinity Church, and his wife Mary, the daughter of a prominent Boston merchant. At age eight he entered Boston Latin School, the nation's oldest public academy. Seven years later Hooper entered Harvard University, where he graduated in 1760 with an A. B. and eventually obtained an A. M. three years later." "In 1774, Hooper became a founding member of the first Committee of Correspondence formed in North Carolina. On April 26, 1774, he wrote to his friend James Iredell that it would not be long before the colonies "will build an empire on the ruins of Great Britain." When Boston's port was closed the following June, Hooper organized two shiploads of provisions to be sent to Massachusetts." "At the First Provincial Congress in North Carolina in August 1774, Hooper was elected as one of the colony's first three delegates to the Continental Congress along with Richard Caswell and Joseph Hewes. He remained in the Congress when war broke out in April 1775. The following February he left briefly to move his widowed mother from Cambridge, Massachusetts to North Carolina. In May 1776, Hooper joined John Penn and Hewes at the Third Continental Congress. With Hewes, Hooper served on the Marine Committee, and although absent when the Declaration of Independence was voted on, signed his name to the document on August 2. The following December he joined Hewes and Thomas Burke in devising the North Carolina state seal." His signature on the Declaration is the first in the second column, in line with the famous John Hancock. [Review 13998 overall, 1320 of 2020, number 2638 in North Carolina.]

This is a steel vertical-lift bridge that carries US 17/US 76/US 421 across the Cape Fear River…read morebetween Brunswick County and New Hanover County. Constructed between 1967 and 1969, it was repainted in 1986, received new decking in 1996 and a new control system in 2007. When the bridge is down and traffic is going across, it is 69 feet above the surface. When raised, it goes up to a total of 135 feet above the water. The lift span is 408 feet long. There are four lanes of vehicle traffic with a divider between each side. While I did cross the bridge a number of times going to and from Wilmington, I never did get a chance to see it raised. [Review 13965 overall, 1287 of 2020, number 2606 in North Carolina.]

As my brother served on the Kearsarge (the much more modern one), and Wilmington is the home of the…read moreUSS North Carolina, this was particularly cool. The marker reads, "John A. Winslow. Capt. U.S.S. "Kearsarge," which sank Confederate raider "Alabama," 1864, rear admiral United States Navy, 1870-1873. Birthplace was one block west." Online, there is more information. "A naval officer of some repute during the Civil War, John Ancrum Winslow (1811-1873) was born in Wilmington. He enrolled as a midshipman as early as 1827 and served in the Mexican War. As enthusiastic abolitionist, his allegiances were not in doubt with the outbreak of the sectional struggle in 1861." "As an officer in the Union Navy, he commanded the USS Kearsarge in 1863-1864. He was ordered to pursue the CSS Alabama and blockaded that vessel in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, June 14-19, 1864. Captain Raphael Semmes of the Alabama engaged Winslow's vessel and, after ninety minutes of fighting, raised the white flag of surrender. The victory was made all the more glorious by virtue of its European setting. The recipient of wide acclaim, Winslow was promoted to commodore and to rear admiral after the war. He died in Massachusetts." [Review 14517 overall, 14 of 2021, number 2762 in North Carolina.]

This historical marker denotes a local citizen who was born here and educated here then went on to…read moredo great things for the people and the State of North Carolina. The marker reads, "Thomas F. Wood, 1841-1892. Organizer & Secretary-Treasurer of State Board of Health, 1877-1892. Founded North Carolina Medical Journal in 1878. Home was 1 block west." Online, there is more information. "Thomas Fanning Wood, born in Wilmington, attended public schools in that city and upon completion went to work in a drugstore. He studied medicine with several local physicians, a common way of gaining a medical education at the time. Wood's volunteer service for the Confederate army gave him the opportunity to attend classes at the Medical College of Virginia while serving as a hospital steward in Richmond. While in service he passed a medical exam and in 1863 was appointed an assistant surgeon." "After the war Wood returned to Wilmington where he established a private practice. There was a devastating smallpox epidemic in Wilmington from 1865 to 1866, during which time Wood ran a hospital for indigent blacks stricken with the disease. His experiences there led him to promote Edward Jenner's smallpox inoculation in North Carolina. Wood recognized the need for state involvement in public health issues and would be engaged in that form of politics for the rest of his life." "The General Assembly passed a bill establishing the North Carolina Board of Health in 1877 and increased its authority and funding in 1879 and again in 1885. Wood was elected secretary-treasurer of the initial board in 1877 and held that position until his death in 1892. The successful launching of the board was due in large part to the efforts of Wood, who wrote as many as 200 letters per month on behalf of the organization. In 1878 he co-founded the North Carolina Medical Journal, the publication of the North Carolina Medical Society. He was the principal editor of the journal for the remainder of his life. He was active as a public health administrator in many organizations and his contributions to medical literature are significant." [Review 14560 overall, 58 of 2021, number 2795 in North Carolina.]

This marker notes an important event during the Colonial Era. There is a small spot to stop here if…read moreyou wish and the marker is in excellent condition. It reads, "Stamp Act. Armed citizens led a protest in Feb. 1766 at Brunswick, seat of royal power, 2 miles southeast." The spot is the nearby Brunswick Town historic site, https://www.yelp.com/biz/brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site-winnabow?hrid=-SdScFPXQAgnBgruEnXR1w Online, "As England was having difficulty maintaining order in the colonies, Parliament turned to economic measures such as the Stamp Act of 1765. The law placed taxes on most forms of paper in the colonies, including newspapers, letters, pamphlets, and wills. While Parliament intended to defray costs incurred from stationing British troops in the colonies at critical sites such as Boston, the imposition of the tax drove many colonies to the brink of rebellion." "A collective shudder raced through the colonies at the news of the approval of the Stamp Act. On October 19 1765, angry mobs collected in the streets and alleys of Wilmington to burn the likeness of "a certain honorable gentleman," most likely the state tax collector, William Houston." "A series of events unraveled in North Carolina that illustrated the colony's stern resistance to the tax. In February of 1766, Speaker John Ashe, Cornelius Harnett, James Moore, and Col. Hugh Waddell, led several hundred citizens through Brunswick, arresting key royal officials and forcing the comptroller to resign. Other similar acts of defiance in North Carolina and elsewhere took their toll on British resolve. Within a few months, the colonies learned that Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act." I knew that there was rebellion in Boston, of course. I did not know that there was so in North Carolina so this was interesting to learn. [Review 14027 overall, 1349 of 2020, number 2666 in North Carolina.]

This marker is alongside River Road between Wilmington and the Caswell/Oak Island beaches. It is in…read moregood condition and there is a grassy area where you can stop. Probably not legally, but I was only here for a minute. The marker reads, "Major General Howe was the commander of Southern Department of the Continental Line, 1776-78, and North Carolina's highest ranking officer. Lived 4 1/2 miles east." Online, there is more information. "Robert Howe, Continental army general, was born in 1732 in New Hanover County. Howe inherited a considerable fortune from his parents and grandparents, owning several large plantations in the New Hanover and Bladen counties. He served in several minor public posts in Bladen County, including as a militia captain and magistrate in the 1750s and 1760s. After Brunswick County formed, Howe was elected to the colonial assembly, a post he held for six consecutive terms. He also served as a militia officer for Brunswick County, and commanded Fort Johnston from 1769 to 1773. During the War of the Regulation, Howe commanded that artillery of Governor William Tryon at the Battle of Alamance." "At the outbreak of the Revolution, Howe served as a member of the Wilmington Committee of Safety and led the local militia that took control of Fort Johnston. On September 1, 1775, Howe was appointed colonel of the 2nd North Carolina Continental regiment. After the death of James Moore in 1777, Howe was appointed to succeed him as commander of the Southern Department and was promoted to major general on October 20, 1777." "Howe returned home in 1783 at the war's end, intent on resuming his life as a planter. In 1786 he was elected to the House of Commons, however he died on December 14, while traveling to the meeting of the body. He was the highest-ranking officer from North Carolina to serve in the American Revolution." [Review 14233 overall, 1556 of 2020, number 2676 in North Carolina.]