By Jeannette Holland Austin
In the early pioneer days of North Carolina, Wilmington was a small port, mostly seasonable. Its history dates back to 1739 when it was incorporated and named after Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington. Its location on the Cape Fear River supported immigrants from Europe. Typically, Scotch-Irish, Irish, and French Huguenots.
The Cape Fear River offered access to other ports, such as Philadelphia and New York, and produce was brought inland to towns from the interior by land carriage and, from there, transported to Wilmington in large flat boats. In lower parts of the country, the transportation of timber was facilitated by navigating rafts down rivers and creeks. Cargoes of tobacco, flaxseed, cotton, rice, pork, bacon, lard, butted, tar, and livestock were produced for the markets in the West Indies.
Source: Wilmington, North Carolina, Past and Present: A History of its Harbor, with Detailed Reports of the Work for Improving and Restoring the Same, etc. (1872).
