Editing Wilmington, North Carolina (section)

==History==
{{See also|Timeline of Wilmington, North Carolina}}

===Colonial beginnings===
[[File: Mitchell-Anderson House.jpg|thumb|left|Mitchell-Anderson House (built 1738)]]
The city was founded in the 1730s. After going through a series of different names (New Carthage, New London, Newton), its name became Wilmington.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |first=Lawrence |last=Lee |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/865969052 |title=The Lower Cape Fear in colonial days |date=1990 |publisher=Library of Congress Photoduplication Service |pages=119–125 |oclc=865969052}}</ref> In 1739, Col. [[William Bartram (North Carolina politician)|William Bartram]], the uncle of [[William Bartram|the naturalist]], introduced a bill to establish Wilmington, named for one of his patrons, [[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington]].<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hotz|first=Amy|url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2003/10/03/riverfest-celebrates-centuries-of-commerce-beauty-and-history/30526843007/|title=Riverfest celebrates centuries of commerce, beauty and history|website=Star-News|date=October 3, 2003}}</ref>

The area along the river had been inhabited by various successive cultures of [[indigenous peoples]] for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, historic Native Americans were members of tribes belonging to the [[Eastern Siouan]] family.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Wilmington, NC History - Wilmington-NC.com |url=https://www.wilmington-nc.com/wilmington-nc-history.html |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=www.wilmington-nc.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

In the early 16th century, Italian explorer [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], commissioned by the king of France with a French crew, was reportedly the first European to see this area, including the city's present site. The first permanent colonial settlement in the area was established in the 1720s by [[Colonial history of the United States|European settlers]].<ref name=":1"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr03-0129|title=Documenting the American South: Colonial and State Records of North Carolina}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Watson">Alan D. Watson ''Wilmington, North Carolina, to 1861''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2003.</ref> [[Gabriel Johnston|Governor Gabriel Johnston]] soon after established his government there for the [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina colony]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bcbrooks.blogspot.com/2014/01/historical-execution-of-gov-george.html|title=B.C. Brooks: A Writer's Hiding Place: Historical Execution of Gov. George Burrington of North Carolina|author=B.C. Brooks|date=January 7, 2014}}</ref>

Some early settlers of Wilmington came from the [[Albemarle Sound|Albemarle]] and [[Pamlico Sound|Pamlico]] regions, as well as from the colonies of [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] and [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]], but most new settlers migrated from the [[northern colonies]], the [[West Indies]], and [[Northern Europe]].<ref name="Lennon">Donald R. Lennon and Ida B. Kellam, eds. ''The Wilmington Town Book, 1743–1778''. Raleigh, NC: Division of Archives and History, 1973.</ref> Many of the early settlers were [[Indentured servitude|indentured servants]] from Northern Europe. As the indentured servants gained their freedom and fewer could be persuaded to travel to North America because of improving conditions back home, the settlers imported an increasing number of [[Slavery in the colonial history of the United States|slaves]] to satisfy the labor demand.<ref name="Watson"/> By 1767, African slaves accounted for more than 62% of the population of the Lower Cape Fear region.<ref>Marvin Michael Kay and Lorin Lee Cary. ''Slavery in North Carolina, 1748–1775,'' Chapel Hill: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1995.</ref> 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 Johnston (North Carolina)|Fort Johnston]] near Wilmington.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fort Johnston |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/fort-johnston |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=NCpedia}}</ref>

===Revolutionary era===
[[File:Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington, NC IMG 4280.JPG|thumb|The [[Bellamy Mansion]] draws many tourists annually to downtown.]]
[[File:U.S. Courthouse, Wilmington, NC IMG 4357.JPG|thumb|[[Alton Lennon Federal Building and Courthouse]], the backdrop of [[Andy Griffith]]'s ''[[Matlock (1986 TV series)|Matlock]]'' [[television series]]]]
Due to Wilmington's commercial importance as a major port, it had a critical role in opposition to the British in the years leading up to the revolution. The city had outspoken political leaders who influenced and led the resistance movement in North Carolina. The foremost of these was Wilmington resident [[Cornelius Harnett]], who was serving in the [[General Assembly of North Carolina|General Assembly]] at the time, and where he rallied opposition to the [[Sugar Act]] in 1764. When the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]] passed the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] the following year, designed to raise revenue for [[the Crown]] with a kind of tax on shipping, Wilmington was the site of an elaborate demonstration against it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Stamp Act Crisis in North Carolina |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/stamp-act-crisis-north |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=NCpedia}}</ref>

On October 19, 1765, several hundred townspeople gathered in protest of the new law, burned an effigy of one town resident who favored the act, and toasted to "Liberty, Property, and No Stamp Duty." On October 31, another crowd gathered in a symbolic funeral of "Liberty". Before the effigy was buried, though, Liberty was found to have a pulse, and celebration ensued.<ref name="Saunders">William L. Saunders, ed. ''The Colonial Records of North Carolina'', 10 vols. Raleigh, NC: P.M. Hale, 1886–1980. 7: pp. 124–25, 131, 143.</ref><ref>E. Lawrence Lee. ''The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days''. Chapel Hill, NC: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1965. p. 245.</ref>

William Houston of [[Duplin County, North Carolina|Duplin County]] was appointed stamp receiver for Cape Fear. When Houston visited Wilmington on business, still unaware of his appointment, he recounted,

<blockquote>"The Inhabitants immediately assembled about me & demanded a Categorical Answer whether I intended to put the Act relating [to] the Stamps in force. The Town Bell was rung[,] Drums [were] beating, Colours [were] flying and [a] great concourse of People [were] gathered together." For the sake of his own life, and "to quiet the Minds of the inraged {{sic}} and furious Mobb...," Houston resigned his position at the courthouse.<ref name="Saunders" /><ref>Donna J. Spindel. "Law and Disorder: The North Carolina Stamp Act Crisis"''North Carolina Historical Review'', 56: 1981. p. 8.</ref></blockquote>

Governor [[William Tryon]] made attempts to mitigate the opposition, to no avail. On November 18, 1765, he pleaded his case directly to prominent residents of the area. They said the law restricted their rights. When the stamps arrived on November 28 on [[HMS Diligence (1756)|HMS ''Diligence'']], Tryon ordered them to be kept on board. Shipping on the Cape Fear River was stopped, as were the functions of the courts.<ref name="Saunders" />

Tryon, after having received his official commission as governor (a position he had assumed only after the death of [[Arthur Dobbs]]), was brought to Wilmington by [[Constantine Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave|Captain Constantine Phipps]] on a barge from the ''Diligence'', and "was received cordially by the gentlemen of the borough." He was greeted with the firing of seventeen pieces of [[artillery]], and the New Hanover County Regiment of the North Carolina [[militia]], who had lined the streets. This "warm welcome" was spoiled, however, after a dispute arose between Captain Phipps and captains of ships in the harbor regarding the display of their colors. The townspeople became infuriated with Phipps and threats were made against both sides. After Tryon harangued them for their actions, the townspeople gathered around the barrels of punch and [[ox]] he had brought as refreshments. The barrels were broken open, letting the punch spill into the streets; they threw the head of the ox into the [[pillory]], and gave its body to the enslaved population. Because of the unrest, Tryon moved his seat of government to [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]] instead of Wilmington.<ref name="Watson" /><ref>Paul David Nelson. ''William Tryon and the Course of Empire''. Chapel Hill, NC: Univ of North Carolina Press, 1990. pp. 42–43.</ref>

On February 18, 1766, two merchant ships arrived without stamped papers at [[Brunswick Town, North Carolina|Brunswick Town]]. Each ship provided signed statements from the collectors at their respective ports of origin that no were stamps available, but Captain Jacob Lobb of the British cruiser ''Viper'' seized the vessels. In response, numerous residents from southern counties met in Wilmington. The group organized as the [[Sons of Liberty]] and pledged to block implementation of the Stamp Act. The following day, as many as a thousand men, including the mayor and aldermen of Wilmington, were led by Cornelius Harnett to Brunswick to confront Tryon. The governor was unyielding, but a mob retrieved the seized ships. They forced royal customs officers and public officials in the region to swear never to issue stamped paper.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Hunter |title=Revolution came early in the Cape Fear with Stamp Act rebellion |url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2020/07/01/revolution-came-early-in-cape-fear-with-stamp-act-rebellion/113363348/ |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=Wilmington Star-News |language=en-US}}</ref> The Westminster Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766.

===Antebellum period===
[[File:U.S. Post Office, Wilmington, NC IMG 4277.JPG|thumb|left|[[U.S. Postal Service|U. S. Post Office]] in downtown Wilmington]]

In the 1830s, citizens of Wilmington became eager to take advantage of [[rail transport|railroad transportation]]. At this time, the shipping tonnage registered at Wilmington was 9,035.<ref>''The American annual register.'' (1827-35). New York : G. & C. Carvill, 8v., p. 593.</ref>  Plans were developed to build a railroad line from the capital, [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]], to Wilmington. When Raleigh citizens declined to subscribe in sufficient number to [[share capital|stock]] to raise money for the project, organizers changed the terminus to [[Weldon, North Carolina|Weldon]]. When the railroad line was completed in 1840, it was the longest single line of [[railroad track]] in the world. The railroad also controlled a fleet of steamboats that ran between Wilmington and [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]]; these were used both for passenger travel and freight. Regular boat lines served [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]], and packet lines traveled to northern ports. The city was a main stopover point, contributing greatly to its commerce.<ref name="Watson" />

By mid-century, the churchyard of [[St. James Episcopal Church (Wilmington, North Carolina)|St. James Episcopal Church]] and other town cemeteries had become filled with graves. On November 16, 1853, a group of citizens, organized as "the Proprietors of the Wilmington Cemetery", was formed to develop a new [[cemetery]]. Sixty-five acres of land around Burnt Mill Creek were chosen as the site for what would be called [[Oakdale Cemetery (Wilmington, North Carolina)|Oakdale Cemetery]]. It was the first rural cemetery in North Carolina. The cemetery's first interment, on February 6, 1855, was six-year-old Annie deRosset.<ref>Janet L. Seapker [http://www.oakdalecemetery.org/history.asp "History of Oakdale Cemetery"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227081346/http://www.oakdalecemetery.org/history.asp |date=December 27, 2011 }}, Oakdale Cemetery. Retrieved February 13, 2012.</ref> Many remains from St. James churchyard were relocated to the new cemetery.

The Wilmington Gas Light Company was established in 1854. Soon after, streetlights were powered by gas made from lightwood and [[rosin]], replacing the old street oil lamps. On December 27, 1855, the first cornerstone was laid, and construction began on a new city hall. A grant from the Thalian Association funded the attached opera house, named Thalian Hall. In 1857, the city opened its first public school, named the Union Free School, on 6th Street between Nun and Church Streets, serving White students.<ref name="Howell">Andrew J. Howell, ''The Book of Wilmington''. Wilmington, NC: Wilmington Printing Company, 1930.</ref>

Wilmington had a Black majority population before the Civil War.<ref name="Commission"/> While most were slaves, the city had a significant community of [[free people of color]], who developed businesses and trades. For a period up to [[Nat Turner]]'s rebellion, they had been allowed to vote, carry arms, and serve in the militia. Fears after the rebellion resulted in the state legislature passing laws to restrict the rights of free Blacks.

===Civil War===
{{Main|Wilmington, North Carolina, in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Canon fire at the Battle of Forks Road.jpg|thumb|Cannon firing at a re-enactment of the Battle of Forks Road near the [[Cameron Art Museum]]]]
[[File:Another glimpse of Wilmington National Cemetery IMG 4396.JPG|thumb|[[Wilmington National Cemetery]] has markers dating to the [[American Revolution]] and the [[American Civil War]].]]
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the port was the major base for [[Blockade runners of the American Civil War|Confederate and privately owned blockade runners]], which delivered badly needed supplies from England. The Union mounted a blockade to reduce the goods received by the South. The city was captured by Union forces in the [[Battle of Wilmington]] in February 1865, about one month after the fall of [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher|Fort Fisher]] had closed the port. Wilmington was the last Confederate port to be captured.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Judith H. |year=1978 |title=Wilmington, NC and the Lower Cape Fear Area During the Civil War |url=https://archivesspace.uncw.edu/resources/sc-ms-026 |access-date=September 6, 2023 |website=archivesspace.uncw.edu}}</ref> As nearly all the military action took place some distance from the city, numerous [[antebellum period|antebellum]] houses and other buildings survived the war years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Battle of Wilmington |url=http://www.thomaslegion.net/battleofwilmington.html |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=www.thomaslegion.net}}</ref>

In mid-August 1862, Wilmington was devastated by a deadly outbreak of [[yellow fever]]. This fever outbreak was brought about by a blockade runner named ''Kate.'' Sources suggest that the runner had crew members who were sick before the ship landed, but Dr. W.T. Wragg would later write an article in the ''New York Journal of Medicine'' that there were at least five cases in the city before the ship arrived. Dr. Wragg treated many of the yellow fever victims during the outbreak and claimed that the dirtiness of the city and the fumes of the dirty water left by heavy rains caused the disease. By the end of the outbreak at least 1,500 and perhaps as many as 2,000, contracted yellow fever. Of those, between 650 and 800 died, a mortality rate approximately 40 percent. [[Walter Reed]] would later discover in 1900 that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes, so Wilmington's outbreak had to be introduced by a third party and spread by mosquitoes in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yellow Fever in Wilmington |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/history/health/yellow-fever |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=NCpedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brisson |first=Jim D. |date=April 30, 2010 |title=City of the Dead: The 1862 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Wilmington, North Carolina |url=https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=mhr |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=JMU Scholarly Commons}}</ref>

===Reconstruction era and 1898 insurrection===
{{Main|Wilmington Insurrection of 1898}}
[[File:Wilmington 1898.jpg|thumb|Wilmington {{circa|1898}}]]
During the [[Reconstruction era]], former free Blacks and newly emancipated [[freedmen]] built a community in the city. About 55% of its residents were Black people.<ref name=Star>{{cite news|author=Angela Mack|title=Over a century later, facts of 1898 race riots released|url=http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20051216/over-a-century-later-facts-of-1898-race-riots-released|date=December 16, 2005|newspaper=Star-News|location=Wilmington, NC}}</ref><ref name=Pop>{{cite news|title=The Commercial & Financial Chronicle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDNOAAAAYAAJ&q=lending+rates+north+carolina+1898+per+cent&pg=RA2-PA165|year=1899|publisher=William B. Dana Company}}</ref> At the time, Wilmington was the largest city and the economic capital of the state.

Three of the city's aldermen were Black. Black people were also in positions of justice of the peace, deputy clerk of court, street superintendent, coroners, policemen, mail clerks, and mail carriers.<ref name=BlackNCpols>{{cite news|title=NORTH CAROLINA'S NEGROES: Offices Which They Hold in Several Counties of the State|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1898/11/06/archives/north-carolinas-negroes-offices-which-they-hold-in-several-counties.html|date=November 6, 1898|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref>

At the time, Black people accounted for over 30% of Wilmington's skilled craftsmen, such as mechanics, carpenters, jewelers, watchmakers, painters, plasterers, plumbers, stevedores, blacksmiths, masons, and wheelwrights. In addition, they owned 10 of the city's 11 restaurants and were 90% of the city's 22 barbers. The city had more Black bootmakers/shoemakers than White ones, and half of the city's tailors were Black. Lastly, two brothers, [[Alexander Manly|Alexander]] and Frank Manly, owned the ''[[Daily Record (Wilmington)|Wilmington Daily Record]]'', the only Black-owned newspaper in the state, and one of the few in the country at that time.<ref name=Betrayed2>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bpMAgAAQBAJ&q=Wheelwrights |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Cecelsi |editor-first2=Timothy |editor-last2=Tyson |first=Leon H. |last=Prather Sr. |chapter=We have taken a city |title=Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy |year=1998 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=0807824518 |location=Chapel Hill |pages=15–41}}</ref>

In the 1890s, a coalition of Republicans and [[People's Party (United States)|Populists]] had gained state and federal offices. The Democrats were determined to reassert their control. Violence increased around elections in this period, as armed White [[paramilitary]] insurgents, known as [[Red Shirts (Southern United States)|Red Shirts]], worked to suppress Black and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] voting. White Democrats regained control of the state legislature and sought to impose [[white supremacy]], but some Blacks continued to be elected to local offices.<ref>{{Citation|title=When white supremacists overthrew a government| date=June 20, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQomlXMeek| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/LVQomlXMeek| archive-date=October 30, 2021|language=en|access-date=September 8, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The [[Wilmington Insurrection of 1898]] (also known as the Wilmington Race Riot) occurred as a result of the racially charged political conflict that had occurred in the decades after the Civil War and efforts by White Democrats to re-establish white supremacy and overturn Black voting. In 1898, a cadre of White Democrats, professionals, and businessmen planned to overthrow the city government if their candidates were not elected. Two days after the election, in which a White Republican was elected mayor and both White and Black aldermen were elected, more than 1500 White men (led by Democrat [[Alfred M. Waddell]], an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate in 1896) attacked and burned the only Black-owned daily newspaper in the state and ran off the new officers. They overthrew the legitimately elected municipal government. Waddell and his men forced the elected Republican city officials to resign at gunpoint and replaced them with men selected by leading White Democrats. Waddell was elected mayor by the newly seated board of aldermen that day. Prominent Black Americans and White Republicans were banished from the city in the following days.<ref name="Commission"/> This is the only such ''[[coup d'état]] ''in United States history.<ref name="Commission">[http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/1898-wrrc/report/Chapter5.pdf "Chapter 5"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321002041/http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/1898-wrrc/report/Chapter5.pdf |date=March 21, 2009 }}, ''1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission Report'', North Carolina Dept. of Cultural Resources</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sugar Hill Neighborhood Walking Tour|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?424635-1/sugar-hill-neighborhood-walking-tour|author=Islah Speller|publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|date=March 19, 2017}}</ref>

Whites attacked and killed an estimated 10–100 Blacks; no Whites died in the violence. As a result of the attacks, more than 2100 Blacks permanently left the city, leaving a hole among its professional and middle classes. The demographic change was so large that the city became majority White, rather than the majority Black it was before the coup.<ref name="Commission"/>

Following these events, the North Carolina legislature passed a new constitution that raised barriers to [[Voter registration in the United States|voter registration]], imposing requirements for [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] and [[literacy tests]] that effectively [[Disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era|disfranchised]] most Black voters, following the example of Mississippi. Blacks were essentially excluded from the political system until after the enactment of the federal [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref name="Commission"/>

===20th century===
Wilmington is home to the Bijou Theater, which began as a tent in 1904 and progressed to a permanent structure in 1906.  It operated until 1956, making it the oldest movie theater in the state and one of the oldest, continuously running theaters in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twentieth-Century North Carolina Timeline |url=https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/learning/educators/timelines/twentieth-century-north-carolina-timeline |access-date=April 13, 2022 |website=www.ncmuseumofhistory.org}}</ref>  In 1910, [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] passed Wilmington to become North Carolina's largest city.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmhpf.org/S&Rs%20Alphabetical%20Order/Surveys&rmeckcourthouse.htm |title=Survey and Research Report on the Mecklenburg County Courthouse|publisher=Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission|access-date=February 1, 2018}}</ref> In the mid-20th century, efforts to preserve many historic building began. Due to this, many historic buildings were listed as [[National Register of Historic Places listings in New Hanover County, North Carolina|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Wilmington {{!}} From the Colonial Era to Today |url=https://www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com/about/area-information/historical-overview/ |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com}}</ref> Since the 1980s, Wilmington has remained the largest film and television production area in the state;<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 25, 2022 |title=North Carolina's History in Film |url=https://islandlifenc.com/north-carolinas-history-in-film/ |access-date=June 3, 2022 |website=Island Life NC |language=en-US}}</ref> many locations in and outside the city have been [[Films and television shows produced in Wilmington, North Carolina|used for filming]].<ref name="ILMFilm"/><ref name="ILMTelevison"/> In 1990, the extension of [[Interstate 40 in North Carolina|Interstate 40]] to New Hanover County was opened and officially connected the region to the [[Interstate Highway System]].<ref name="WilmNCpedia"/>

[[File:Wilmington 1918.jpg|thumb|800px|center|A 1918 panorama of downtown Wilmington]]
[[File:Waterfront - Wilmington, North Carolina.jpg|thumb|800px|center|A 1918 panorama of Wilmington's waterfront]]

During [[World War II]], Wilmington was the home of the [[North Carolina Shipbuilding Company]]. The shipyard was created as part of the U.S. government's [[Emergency Shipbuilding Program]]. Workers built 243 ships in Wilmington during the five years the company operated.<ref name="WWII Heritage City">{{Cite web |title=America's First "World War II Heritage City" |url=https://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/departments/housing-and-neighborhood-services/world-war-ii-city |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=www.wilmingtonnc.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Three [[prisoner-of-war]] (POW) camps operated in the city from February 1944 through April 1946. At their peak, the camps held 550 [[Germany|German]] prisoners. The first camp was located on the corner of Shipyard Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road; it was moved downtown to Ann Street, between 8th and 10th Avenues, when it outgrew the original location. A smaller contingent of prisoners was assigned to a third site, working in the officers' mess and doing groundskeeping at Bluethenthal Army Air Base, which is now [[Wilmington International Airport]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilmington's World War II German POW Camp sign dedication |url=https://www.wect.com/story/9034747/wilmingtons-world-war-ii-german-pow-camp-sign-dedication |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=WECT |date=September 19, 2008 |language=en}}</ref>

===21st century===
Starting in the 1990s, Wilmington began to grow rapidly, partially due to the film industry and the completion of I-40.<ref name="WilmNCpedia">{{Cite web |title=Wilmington |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/wilmington |access-date=June 2, 2022 |website=NCpedia}}</ref> The city successfully annexed the areas of [[Seagate, North Carolina|Seagate]] in 1998 and [[Masonboro, North Carolina|Masonboro]] in 2000. The annexation of [[Monkey Junction, North Carolina|Monkey Junction]] was stopped in 2012 by the [[North Carolina House of Representatives]] after local backlash.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2012 |title=ONLY ON 3: 12 years after annexation, some Masonboro residents still waiting for city services |url=https://www.wwaytv3.com/only-3-12-years-after-annexation-some-masonboro-residents-still-waiting-for-city-services/ |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=WWAYTV3 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 30, 2012 |title=North Carolina stops annexation of Monkey Junction |url=https://www.wwaytv3.com/north-carolina-stops-annexation-of-monkey-junction/ |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=WWAYTV3 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Seagate Neighborhood Plan |url=https://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/1306/635976323002300000 |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=www.wilmingtonnc.gov}}</ref> In 2017, a chemical compound called [[GenX]], discharged by a [[Chemours]] plant near [[Fayetteville, North Carolina]], was first found to be present in the [[Cape Fear River]]; a major [[water source]] for the region. It was also revealed that the same plant had been discharging the chemical compound since 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GenX Investigation |url=https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/genx-investigation |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=NC Department of Environmental Quality}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PFAS |url=https://capefearriverwatch.org/genx/ |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=Cape Fear River Watch |date=September 20, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wagner |first1=Adam |last2=Buckland |first2=Tim |author3=GateHouse Media |date=June 15, 2017 |title=Chemours: GenX in river since 1980 |url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/environment/2017/06/15/chemours-genx-polluting-cape-fear-since-1980/20557529007/ |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=StarNews Online |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2020, then-President [[Donald Trump]] designated Wilmington as the first [[World War II Heritage City]] in the country due to the city's contributions during the war.<ref name="WWII Heritage City"/>

===National Register of Historic Places===
The [[Audubon Trolley Station]], [[Brookwood Historic District]], [[Carolina Heights Historic District]], [[Carolina Place Historic District]], [[City Hall/Thalian Hall]], [[Delgrado School]], [[Alton Lennon Federal Building and Courthouse|Federal Building and Courthouse]], [[Fort Fisher]], [[Gabriel's Landing]], [[James Walker Nursing School Quarters]], [[Market Street Mansion District]], [[Masonboro Sound Historic District]], [[Moores Creek National Battlefield]], [[Sunset Park Historic District]], [[USS North Carolina (BB-55)|USS ''North Carolina'' (BB-55) National Historic Landmark]], [[Westbrook-Ardmore Historic District]], [[William Hooper School (Former)]], [[Wilmington Historic District]], and [[Wilmington National Cemetery]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>