Why Wilmington
Wilmington is a coastal port city situated in New Hanover County, North Carolina, set between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. Serving as the county seat, it acts as the primary urban center for a broader regional metropolitan area that encompasses New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties. It ranks as the eighth-most populous municipality in North Carolina.
First established in the 1730s, the community cycled through several early names—including New Carthage, New London, and Newton—before officially taking the name Wilmington in 1739 after Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington. It grew into a major commercial port during the colonial era and later served as a primary base for blockade runners in the Civil War, allowing many of its historic antebellum structures to survive. By the late 19th century, it was the state's most populous city and featured a prosperous, majority-Black population. In 1898, white supremacists carried out a violent coup that overthrew the elected local government, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 60 to more than 300 people, the expulsion of opposition leaders, and the destruction of Black-owned businesses, including Wilmington's only Black newspaper.
Visitors to modern Wilmington can walk along a 1.75-mile downtown riverwalk bordering the Cape Fear River, developed near the end of the 20th century. Designated as a Coast Guard City and named the country's first World War II Heritage City, the area features significant naval history. Moored across from the downtown waterfront is the World War II battleship USS North Carolina, which operates as a public war memorial available for tours. Additional local cultural points of interest include the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science and the Children's Museum of Wilmington.
The city serves as an educational and entertainment hub, housing the University of North Carolina Wilmington alongside Cinespace Wilmington. Established in 1984, this studio complex is the largest movie and television production facility in the United States outside California. The venue contains the continent's largest special-effects water tank and the third-largest sound stage in the nation, making Wilmington a notable filming location for numerous feature films and television series.
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