African-Americans left their mark on city's landmarks, culture.
African-Americans literally built Wilmington.
Most of the Port City's antebellum landmarks, from Thalian Hall to the Bellamy Mansion, were constructed largely by skilled artisans who were either slaves or free blacks. Other sites mark strides in the struggle for civil rights. After the Civil War, many African-American builders, including Henry Taylor, Alfred A. Howe and Frederick C. Sadgwar, became contractors; many of the houses they built still stand.
Here is a brief guide to some of the highlights:
1. 1898 Memorial and Park, 1081 N. Third St. Dedicated in 2008 by the city and the 1898 Memorial Foundation, the sculpture and park commemorate the victims of Nov. 10, 1898. On that date, an armed band of white men burned the black-owned Wilmington Record and forced Wilmington's biracial Republican-Fusionist government to resign en masse, replacing them with white Democrats. An unknown number of people were killed. Artist Ayokunle Odeleye has said the 16 structures represent African paddles and refer to the voyage from this world to the afterlife.
2. Bellamy Mansion. 503 Market St. Originally the townhouse of the Bellamy family, the mansion was built on the eve of the Civil War, largely by slave and free black carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers and other skilled workers. The signature of one of them, William B. Gould, has been found in the plaster. The slave quarters behind the mansion have been restored and are open for tours.
3. Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St. Also built with skilled black labor before the Civil War. Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington both spoke here; Marian Anderson sang here.
4. Orange Street Landing, Orange and South Water streets. From this spot, eight slaves (including William B. Gould) escaped in a skiff on the night of Sept. 21, 1862, and rowed down the Cape Fear River, reaching Union blockade ships in the Atlantic. A number of these slaves, including Gould, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Gould, who became a contractor in Massachusetts, kept a diary, published in the 20th century as "Diary of a Contraband."
5. Wilmington National Cemetery, 2011 Market St. Buried here are more than 550 U.S. Colored Troops who served during the Fort Fisher and Wilmington campaigns of the Civil War..
6. Pine Forest Cemetery, 815 N. 16th St. Since 1860, the property was reserved for African-American burials. It is now maintained by a private, non-profit corporation. Among famous people buried here are Robert R. Taylor, architect and first black graduate of MIT; Dr. Francis Shober, first black physician in N.C.; and James Mabson, first black attorney in North Carolina.
7. Giblem Lodge, 720 Princess St. Built between 1871 and 1873, the building houses several lodges of Prince Hall Masons and related African-American Masonic bodies. In the 1800s, it housed the first library in Wilmington open to African-Americans and a thriving market.
8. Wilmington Daily Record, 713 N. Seventh St. On this site stood the offices of an African-American newspaper edited and published by Alex Manly. Manly angered whites with his powerful editorials during the 1898 political campaign, and the building was burned and the press destroyed during the Nov. 10, 1898, uprising.
9. The Wilmington Journal, 412 S. Seventh St. Longtime offices of an African-American owned weekly newspaper which traces its origins to the 1920s.
10. N.C. Mutual Insurance Co. 510 1/2 Red Cross St. For many years, this site housed the local offices of the the Durham-based N.C. Mutual, at one time the largest black-owned enterprise in the world. Co-founded by John H. Merrick, whose family came from Columbus County.
11.Shaw Funeral Home, 518-520 Red Cross St. Black-owned mortuary dating to 1895. Herbert Bell Shaw, a son of the founder, later became an elder and bishop in the AME Zion church and was a vice president of the National Council of Churches.
12. St. Stephen AME Church, 501 N. Fifth Ave. Founded by black Methodists who withdrew from segregated Front Street Methodist Church after Wilmington fell to Union forces in 1865. Built over a period of years in the 1880s by the members themselves. During the Jim Crow years, the building also housed a circulating library and even a swimming pool. President Taft spoke here during his 1909 visit.
13. Williston Middle School, 319-401 S. 10th St. During the Jim Crow era, the building was home to Williston High School, a source of pride for the local black community. The Williston Tigers were frequent state sports champions and the alumni chorale performed at the White House. Meadowlark Lemon, jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath and Althea Gibson were among its many notable graduates.
14. Hubert Eaton home, 1406 Orange St. Home of Dr. Hubert Eaton, Wilmington physician and a lead plaintiff in most of New Hanover County's major desegregation cases. A champion in segregated tennis, Eaton served as coach and mentor to Althea Gibson, who lived with the Eatons while attending Williston High School.
15. David Walker, North Third and Davis streets. David Walker (1796-1830), son of a free black mother and slave father, was born near this site. The self-taught Walker, who emigrated to Boston, wrote and published "An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World," one of the most important and incendiary abolitionists tracts before the Civil War. Owning a copy was a crime in antebellum North Carolina. A state highway historical marker is located near the site.
16. Caterina Jarboro, 214 Church St. Childhood home of Katherine Lee Yarborough. Adopting the stage name Caterina Jarboro, she became an operatic soprano active for many years in Europe; in 1933, in Chicago, she became the first African-American singer to perform with an American opera company.
17. Airlie Gardens, 300 Airlie Road. For many years, the gatekeeper at Airlie was Minnie Evans, who was recognized years later as one of the nation's foremost self-taught visionary artists. Her paintings and drawings are in museums across the country. Sculptures near the entrance to the gardens honor her memory.
18. Battle of Forks Road, 3201 S. 17 St. Near this spot, on the grounds of the Cameron Art Museum, regiments of U.S. Colored Troops battled entrenched Confederate forces in the last stand before Wilmington fell in February 1865. The city was abandoned and Union forces entered on Feb. 22, 1865.
19. Community Hospital, originally located at 415 N. Seventh St.; moved to 511 S. 11th St. in 1939. The first hospital for African-Americans opened in 1921 in an old drug store building. It was founded by Dr. Foster Burnett. In 1939, it moved into its own building on 11th Street. The building fell into disrepair and was later demolished. The 11th Street site also housed a nursing school.