With visitors expected to flock to Wrightsville Beach this weekend for the activities surrounding the annual North Carolina Holiday Flotilla, families will have a new way to take in the town’s rich history while walking around the John Nesbitt Loop.
The Wrightsville Beach Museum of History is presenting a new “Loop through History” walking tour, with 25 markers along the two and one-half miles of sidewalk along Salisbury Streets, Lumina Avenue and Causeway Drive commemorating several of the town’s historical highlights.
Museum board member Donna Starling created the exhibit, believing it to be a great activity for families while they visit Wrightsville Beach for Friday’s tree lighting or Saturday’s boat parade, which often bring in visitors early to beat the traffic.
“With all the families coming to the beach early in the day and coming to the park, it’s a great way to take a walk with their families, get exercise and learn some of the town’s history while waiting for the parade to start,” Starling said.
The markers will feature historical photographs that may be familiar to many, like those of the famous Lumina Pavilion, and others that some may not know about, like the bathing suit inspectors who once enforced modesty on the beach’s female visitors.
In addition to the vintage photographs, the signs will direct users to a website that gives more information about the stop.
Stop topics will include Carolina Yacht Club, Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, Crystal Pier, the old “steel pier,” Wrightsville Beach School, Harbor Island, the great fire, Hurricane Hazel and the town’s bridges and hotels. Another piece of overlooked history will be the two scientific and industrial plants that once occupied Wrightsville Beach, one focused on saline and the other studied nickel. Starling said the plant made the cross at Wrightsville Beach United Methodist Church.
The exhibit will live on past flotilla weekend, Starling said, and be featured on Dec. 10 to go with the museum’s Jingle Bell 5K Run and Walk. It will also be set up as many as eight times during the coming year, with future showings possibly becoming more elaborate, including oral histories or actors in costumes. The signs will be up from dawn to dusk and taken down at night.
With more showings planned, the museum, funded entirely by donations, is soliciting sponsors for each sign, at $150 each.
“It’s a great Christmas gift for someone who loves Wrightsville Beach,” Starling said. “We hope the sponsorships will generate more funding and allow us to add even more signs in the future.”
