The “Road to New Bern” followed the track of modern-day Market Street out of town “Road to the Sound” appears to have followed Oleander Drive “Road to Brunswick Ferry” paralleled what is now 17 th Street and “Road to the North East” roughly traced the path of the Martin Luther King Jr. On his map Wilmington is a tight cluster of buildings a few streets and a handful of roads out of town. We still have a Liverpool Street actually.”īy 1769 Wilmington hadnt grown much as a map by acclaimed French cartographer and illustrator C.J. “Plus the early spelling of Princess Street Princes Street is a match to Liverpool. “One of Wilmingtons names early on was New Liverpool ” Tetterton says. After much research into the matter Beverly Tetterton local history librarian at the New Hanover County Library has settled on Liverpool as the inspiration for Wilmington. By 1736 Wilmington had expanded and included Front Mulberry (now Grace) Chestnut Red Cross King Queen and Nun streets but still sat in the shadow of Brunswick Towns larger port.Īlthough Wilmingtons design was fashioned after Brunswick Town the street names and layout are also similar to two other citiesPhiladelphia and Liverpool Englandso much so there is an ongoing dispute among historians about the initial designs. Surrounding the heart of Wilmington were homes and businesses and further out farms and plantations. A central street with a market Market Street bisected the town and development didnt extend much beyond the area bordered by Princess and Dock streets on the north and south Water to Fourth Street on the west and east. In the early 1730s Wilmingtons streets were laid out much in the fashion of nearby Brunswick Town. Only Wilmington one-mile square a shadow of what it would become in a few short years. No Wrightsville Beach Castle Hayne or Kure Beach. Looking at New Hanover County today its hard to envision the tree-covered towns and undeveloped communities amid the tangled web of roads.
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