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September 11, 2005
Wilmington, North Carolina
We went to a wedding in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., this past weekend. Like moths to a flame, we were drawn to the nearby historic downtown and houses of Wilmington...
My initial reaction to downtown Wilmington was that it felt similar to Petersburg, Virginia, except with a lot more gentrification/restoration having happened. The size of the downtowns are the same and both are on rivers. The major obvious difference is that Wilmington is surrounded by an enormous prosperous suburban sprawl that looks to have exploded over the past 10 years, and is only miles away from the kinds of beaches that draw tourists and their $$$.
Just north of the commercial district is a large neighborhood of mid- to late 19th century houses that seem to have almost all been restored. This is where the pictures below are from. There were other neighborhoods just to the west that looked interesting as well that look maintained but a little ragged, and we saw a stretch of bungalows out of the car window on the way out that looked like an interesting place to walk around and gawk at houses.
There were so many fantastic houses; there was something about each and every one worth taking a picture of. Click any photo to view larger.
Posted by john m at September 11, 2005 5:45 PM
Comments
Wowsers! What a lovely bunch of homes! My favorite is the charcoal with white trim and the trained ivy that form a swag on the brick below. Super. I must remember to take my camera with me on my little day-trips, so many great houses to see.
Posted by: Patricia W. at September 11, 2005 7:00 PM
Wowsers is right! Those are fabulous. It is so nice to see old houses so well taken care of. It is hard to believe that building a house like that was common place at one time. Thanks for the pictures.
Posted by: Greg at September 11, 2005 7:58 PM
Gorgeous! Thanks for all the pics!
Posted by: Kristin at September 12, 2005 10:58 AM
Hey John. Those houses are great! Any neighborhood with all that class is worth a trip with the camera. Thanks for sharing - makes me wanna take a road trip!
Posted by: Leah at September 12, 2005 11:10 AM
My sister and brother-in-law lived on Nunn St. in that Wilmington neighborhood in a pink bungalow-type house about 10 years ago.
Posted by: Tim at September 14, 2005 2:15 PM
I vacation in Oak Island each year and always take a jaunt to Wilmington. It is a nice town but has some rough spots too. It is like any urban area, but its housing stock is amazing and its downtown area is great for catching a brew or taking a walk along the river.
Posted by: BillC at September 14, 2005 3:22 PM
Bill -- I love the rough spots, they remind me of home :)
Posted by: john at September 14, 2005 5:14 PM
In Wilmington, the roughest section is called " ugly town"- but even ugly town has some amazing buildings and is struggling to make a comeback- hopefully it will do better than Willywood's favorite son, Michael Jordan.
Posted by: BillC at September 19, 2005 12:47 PM
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