Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Mystery of the Suicide Club

Have you ever heard of the Suicide Club in Colonial Wilmington? If you haven't, you aren't alone. According to Louis T. Moore, the bizarre and grim story would have sent shockwaves through a young Wilmington. But the strange tradition also reveals the intricacies of the culture of religion at the …

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Timeless Tune of Thalian Hall

Wilmington is known for many things, but perhaps one of its most unique features is its historic performing arts center that doubles as city hall. The harmonious convergence of entertainment and government inside an iconic building has been among the Cape Fear's most impressive traits over the pas…

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A Colonial Con Artist

Do you think you could spot a con artist in the Colonial era? It might have been harder than you think in the days before lightning-fast technology. In 1771, Sarah Wilson was certainly counting on it when she impersonated a member of King George III's family in the American Colonies. She traveled …

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Midnight Ride of Polly Slocumb

The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge is a storied moment in American history, but many people learn about the lesser-known battle through the heroic feat of a woman who didn’t fight in it. Polly Slocumb is said to have rode her horse into the night of February 26, 1776 to save her husband from dying i…

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A Duel of Passion

In Colonial America, a duel at ten paces could defend something the law couldn't – a man's honor. But history doesn't look fondly on those who chose to serve justice with a bullet. Especially in the case of two young men in the British Navy in 1765, who fought a vicious and bloody duel at Brunswic…

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: The Old Dram Tree

When it comes to icons of the Cape Fear, few stand as sturdy as the Old Dram Tree. Although it has long since been lost to progress, the story of the Dram Tree is one that charts the entire developed history of the Wilmington area. The bald cypress tree served as a "a grim sentinel," as it has bee…

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: What Lies Beneath Wilmington

Have you heard of the tunnels underneath Wilmington, where pirates supposedly smuggled their treasure and slaves escaped on the Underground Railroad? Perhaps the most enduring legend in Wilmington's history is ripe with salacious and fictitious stories, the passages under the city have a far more …

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: A John Canoe Christmas

What did Christmas look like for the enslaved people of Colonial Wilmington? While no holiday celebration was guaranteed, the port city's streets were often a stage granted to enslaved communities for a display of their culture known as John Kuners or John Canoe. With the help of special guest Dr.…

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: Wilmington in the Time of Cornwallis

The new season, "Burgwin-Wright Presents... Cape Fear Legends & Lore," begins with a story right in our backyard – the myth of Cornwallis Headquarters in Wilmington. During the American Revolution, did Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British army, stay at the Burgwin-Wright House will he was in …

Cape Fear Legends & Lore: Prologue

For the new season of "Burgwin-Wright Presents...," we are cracking open the chapters of Louis T. Moore's "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region" for a season titled "Cape Fear Legends & Lore." First published in 1956, the seminal local history book is a collection of legends and traditions …