Southport, North Carolina Relocation Guide
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Jim GoodmanREALTOR®Personalized, Not Franchised! Intracoastal Realty
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Population: 2,369 Located in Brunswick County
Southport, North CarolinaStanding at the waterside in Southport, today one can easily imagine the town in its beginning -- nothing but the Cape Fear River flowing broadly in the foreground, the heavily green oaks behind, the sky alternately bright blue or grimly gray and the overall impression of space and freshness. Among the earliest of New World territories explored (1524 by the Spanish) and earliest settled (around 1725 by the English), a town formed here with the establishment of the English Fort Johnston in 1750 and remained even after angry colonists burned the British out in 1775. Strong roots abide from that time: river pilots who carry ocean-going vessels upriver now to Wilmington; commercial fishermen whose current catches include shrimp, shellfish and foodfish both from river and remote ocean waters; and the old fort itself, still used as a military residence even though its role as a guardian of the harbor has long played out. Surrounding Fort Johnston's "garrison" now is a town of 2,500 that actively serves retirement and commercial fishing interests as well as tourists and beach vacationers. Southport is also home for Within a stroll of Fort Johnston are several old and historic churches, picturesque cemeteries and Franklin Square -- the live oak-shaded "grove" -- which is the location each year of arts festivals, egg hunts, chili cookoffs and other entertainments. The whopping N. C. Fourth of July Festival spreads all over the community, and over most of a week. A visit to downtown Southport should include a stop at the Maritime Museum on Howe Street which features exhibits on local history -- storms, wrecks, industries, battles -- as well as displays of general interest on maritime history and marine life. Several excellent eating establishments are located downtown while more are scattered along the shore. Moore and Howe streets have many genuine antique outlets, as well as a number of gift shops. Visitors are welcome at several motels and guest houses in the historic district. Transient yachts and ocean-going vessels bound to and from upriver docks are routinely on view along the shore, and boating and fishing buffs (as well as photographers and painters) enjoy both the older Southport yacht basin and the Southport Marina which are moorings for both pleasure and working craft. The town is served by a hospital with sizable medical staff, an elementary school (with middle school and high school nearby), a public library, community playground and a capable administration. Standing at the waterside in Southport one can see the ocean eastward over Bald Head Island, almost see the ocean southward over Oak Island, and imagine how many of the good things about this place have been immutable, and will always be. |
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