Wilmington Water View
by Geri Glavis
Title
Wilmington Water View
Artist
Geri Glavis
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Photography by Geri Glavis, copyright 2014.
Wilmington is a port city in- and is the county seat of- New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.[2] The population is 112,067; according to the 2010 Census it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that includes New Hanover and Pender counties in southeastern North Carolina,[3] which has a population of 263,429 as of the 2012 Census Estimate.
Wilmington was settled by European Americans along the Cape Fear River. Its historic downtown has a one-mile-long Riverwalk, developed as a tourist attraction. It is minutes away from nearby beaches. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Wilmington, North Carolina, as one of its 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations.[4] City residents live between the river and the ocean, with four nearby beach communities: Fort Fisher, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and Kure Beach, all within half-hour drives from downtown Wilmington.
In 2003 the city was designated by the US Congress as a "Coast Guard City".[5] It is home port for the USCGC Diligence, a United States Coast Guard medium endurance cutter.[6] The World War II battleship USS North Carolina is held as a war memorial. Located across from the downtown port area, the ship is open to public tours. Other attractions include the Cape Fear Museum, the Wilmington Hammerheads United Soccer Leagues soccer team, and the training camp site for the Charlotte Hornets. The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) provides a wide variety of programs for undergraduates, graduate students, and adult learners, in addition to cultural and sports events open to the community.
Wilmington is the home of EUE Screen Gems Studios, the largest domestic television and movie production facility outside of California. "Dream Stage 10," the facility's newest sound stage, is the third-largest in the US. It houses the largest special-effects water tank in North America. Since the studio's opening in 1984, Wilmington has become a major center of American film and television production. Numerous movies in a range of genres and several television series, including Iron Man 3 and NBC's Revolution, have been produced there.
The area had long been inhabited by various cultures of indigenous peoples; at the time of European encounter, historic Native Americans were tribes belonging to the Algonquian languages family.
The ethnic European and African history of Wilmington spans more than two and a half centuries. Giovanni da Verrazano is reportedly the first European to observe the area, including the city's present site, in the early 16th century. The first permanent European settlement in the area came in the 1720s when English colonists began settling the area. In September 1732, a community was founded on land owned by John Watson on the Cape Fear River, at the confluence of its northwest and northeast branches.[7] The settlement, founded by the first royal governor, George Burrington, was called "New Carthage," and then "New Liverpool;" it gradually took on the name "New Town" or "Newton".[8] Governor Gabriel Johnston soon after established his provincial government there for the North Carolina colony. In 1739 or 1740, the town was incorporated with a new name, Wilmington, in honor of Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington.[9]
Some early settlers of Wilmington came from the Albemarle and Pamlico regions, as well as from the colonies of Virginia and South Carolina, but most new settlers arrived from the northern colonies, the West Indies, and the British Isles.[10] Many of the settlers were indentured servants, mainly from the British Isles and northern Europe. As the indentured servants gained their freedom, the colonists imported an increasing number of (permanent and much less expensive) African slaves as laborers into the port city.[8] By 1767, slaves accounted for more than 62% of the population of the Lower Cape Fear region.[11] Many worked in the port as laborers, and some in ship-related trades.
Naval stores and lumber fueled the region's economy, both before and after the American Revolution. During the Revolutionary War, the British maintained a garrison at Fort Johnson near Wilmington.
Uploaded
December 7th, 2014
Statistics
Viewed 801 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/07/2024 at 7:57 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet