trending
Waterways
Banks Channel, the waterway separating The Hammocks from
the barrier island, has a debated backstory. Some people say it
received its name from the original name of the barrier island,
The Banks, or New Hanover Banks. Others say it was named after
the Banks family.
The origins of Lees Cut and Motts Channel are less debated.
They were both named after two influential families. The Mott
family were early settlers of New Hanover County. Wilmington
historian and Citadel professor Lawrence Lee became president
of Shore Acres, which developed North and South Harbor Island.
“They’re much bigger in the later ’20s and ’30s,” Cole says.
“They come onto the scene a little bit later, and they are the sec-ond
wave of development.”
Of Men and Islands
Harbor Island’s original name, The Hammocks, came from the
small hardwood trees that grow on elevated areas in wetlands.
“It wasn’t until the Tidewater Power Company set up a stop
there that they renamed it Harbor Island,” says Joseph Sheppard,
a librarian at the New Hanover County Library’s North Carolina
Room.
Across Moore’s Inlet at Wrightsville’s northern end, Shell Island
received its name from the mounds of shells found in the sand.
“People would go up there to get shells,” Cole says. “If you
wanted to get away, go off by yourself, you would go to Shell
Island.”
Money Island, just south of Bradley Creek Point and immedi-ately
east of Shandy Hall, opposite the mainland shoreline, has a
name rooted in pirate lore. Local legend says that Capt. William
Kidd buried treasure there in about 1699.
“Its kind of a mystery place,” Sheppard says. “There are all
those wild stories about pirates and buried treasure. But, you
know, it’s always possible.”
Piers and People
Wrightsville’s iconic concrete pier was originally
wooden and called Atlantic View Fishing Pier
before longtime owner Johnnie Mercer bought
it in 1939. Singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer was
very popular around the time, which led to some
confusion.
Waynick Boulevard was constructed during 1935
and 1936 from sand dredged next to Banks Channel
on the west side of Lumina Avenue. The name was
bestowed to honor the department of transporta-tion
engineer who designed the project.
The Heide Trask Drawbridge, connecting
Wrightsville to the mainland, was completed
in 1958, replacing the original drawbridge con-structed
in 1928. The bridge was named for North
Carolina highway commissioner C. Heide Trask.
Wynn Plaza is a memorial to firefighter Lt. Robert
M. Wynn, who lost his life battling the blaze that
destroyed the Doak Apartments in 1981.
The John Nesbitt Loop, the 2.47-mile paved
trail that circles Wrightsville Beach Park along
Causeway Drive and Salisbury Street and is a
favorite for runners and walkers, is named for the
town’s former public works director. John Nesbitt
saw the need for residents to be able to walk to
and from the post office safely, and he and his
employees began construction of a sidewalk dur-ing
their slow months, using undedicated funds.
trending
ALLISON POTTER
february 2018 28
WBM