The people of Brunswick County have always had a close relationship with the sea. Historically, the Atlantic Ocean has provided a livelihood, a method of transportation, and a means of recreation for residents and visitors alike.
For most of Brunswick’s history, the ocean has been an important source of food. Shrimp, oysters, clams, and both warm and coldwater fish have been plentiful. Seafood has also been a chief supplier of income.
Boats built in Brunswick County have sailed the Atlantic and weathered the dangers of the deep, to bring back shrimp for millions of kitchens and restaurants.
Prodigious quantities of succulent Brunswick oysters have elated the palates of America’s oyster lovers, and mountains of delicious fish have graced the tables of our country.
Until recent decades, the sea was also a principal means of transportation and communication because of the difficulties of movement by road.
Boats of all kinds ranged up and down the coast, carrying on all sorts of commerce. From most places in the large county, it was easier to get to the county seat by water than by land.
For generations, places like little Varnamtown near Holden Beach had craftsmen who built sturdy boats, some over one hundred feet in length, by hand, from lumber the builders cut and dried. As hard as it is to believe, these large boats were built without blueprints. Complex curves were cut by hand, and perfect fits were achieved by an experienced eye.
Unfortunately Brunswick County may have seen the last of these skilled boat builders whose craft was formerly passed on from generation to generation, going back many centuries.
Today the sea is still a source, directly or indirectly, of livelihood for a large part of the population. The attraction of the beaches and the shore has been the catalyst for Brunswick County’s thriving tourist industry. It has led to an ex- plosion of golf courses, restaurants, shops, recreational facilities, and new housing de- velopments.
Booming tourism and the vast influx of retirees and new businesses has greatly changed the patterns of employment in Brunswick County. Not only has the population grown at an impressive rate, but the median income has risen dramatically as well.
The people of Brunswick County now enjoy a plethora of services, shopping, and cultural opportunities. The county boasts a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema, a number of museums and art galleries, several bookstores, a system of libraries, numerous cultural associations, a community college, a conference center, and even a planetarium. The region is served by excellent hospitals in Southport and Supply as well as medical facilities in Shallotte and the considerable resources of New Hanover County. Many artists and writers have chosen to make their home in Brunswick County as well, further enriching long-established local traditions.
All of this commerce and activity is supplemented by the vast resources of the neighboring cities of Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, which flank Brunswick to the northeast and southwest.
The citizens of Brunswick are served by two small municipal airports, while the nearby international airports of Wilmington and Myrtle Beach open Brunswick County to the world.
Brunswick’s waterways are served by two public ferry routes. The vehicle/passenger ferry operated by the North Carolina Ferry Division from Southport to Fort Fisher is the most popular route in the state. The ferry takes about thirty minutes to make a pleasant crossing, providing riders with enjoyable views of marine life, passing watercraft from pleasure boats to oceangoing freighters, and all three of Brunswick’s lighthouses.
Passenger ferries are also the only way (besides private boat) to reach Bald Head Island. The privately operated Bald Head Island ferries depart from a terminal on the east side of Southport and take about 25 minutes to reach the island.
Progress, of course, comes at a price. Seafood—while still abundant—is much diminished from what it was in the past, and often threatened by such factors as bacterial runoff and boating traffic. The vast stretches of empty beach are only a memory (a notable exception is Bird Island, a mile-long coastal reserve accessible on foot at low tide from Sunset Beach)—unless you’re on the beach in February.
Fishermen of Brunswick still go out to sea in search of shrimp; oysters are still plucked from the shore; but the quaint speech of the past, tinged with Elizabethan accents, is seldom heard anymore, and the sight of a wooden boat or a tall ship rarer still.
From The Book:
Tales of the Silver Coast (Soft Cover)
By Miller Pope with Jacqueline DeGroot | Buy It Here: $24.95
In these pages you’ll read about Steve Bonnet, the “Gentleman Pirate,” who hid his ships in Brunswick’s moss-draped creeks but unfortunately underestimated the ebbing tide; “Mrs. Calabash,” who’s said to have lent her name to the famous sign-off for Jimmy Durante’s classic radio shows; and Topsy the Elephant, who swam for the Brunswick riverbank after breaking loose from circus handlers in the 1920s.
Follow the struggles and victories that shaped Brunswick County, from the first contact of Europeans with native Americans, to successive administrations of the Lords Proprietors, the royal governors, the British crown, and the leaders of a new nation—many at whom hailed from this small but influential corner of North Carolina. Discover Brunswick’s rich Civil War history, scenic roadways and waterways and current-day towns and townships.
Tales of the Silver Coast, recounts the tales of privateers and plantation owners, politicians and Prohibition rum-runners and the many colorful people and diverse places of southeastern North Carolina.
