The foundation of the Cape Fear region can be traced to Brunswick Town, the area's first enduring settlement founded in 1726. But Brunswick's story isn't just defined by being the first.

It was the site of one of the first instances of the rebellion that sparked the American Revolution, the home of two royal governors and the battleground for struggles with the Spanish and the wrath of Mother Nature.

On this week's extended episode Jim McKee, site manager of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson Historic Site stops by to talk the history of the town, just how important it was to North Carolina's early rebellion and why only 20 percent of Brunswick's story has yet to be uncovered today.

Cape Fear Unearthed is written, edited and hosted by Hunter Ingram. Additional editing by Adam Fish.

Season three is sponsored by Northchase Family Dentistry and Tidewater Heating & Air Conditioning.

Sources:

-- "Archaeology at Colonial Brunswick," by Stanley South

-- "The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days," by Lawrence Lee

-- "The Story of Brunswick Town," by Franda D. Pedlow

-- "To Forge a Thunderbolt: Fort Anderson and the Battle for Wilmington," by Chris E. Fonvielle Jr.

-- "Chronicles of the Cape Fear: 1660-1916," by James Sprunt 

-- "Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region," by Louis T. Moore

-- "Land of the Golden River, Vol. 2," by Lewis Philip Hall