Society Publications

The following books have been published by or in conjunction with the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society and are available through the Society. To order with a Visa or Mastercard, call (910) 762-0492, or visit our order page for alternative ways to order.

Historic Wilmington & the Lower Cape Fear, An Illustrated History
Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr.
(96pp, hardcover, color plates)
$49.95 - members $39.95

Printed in celebration of the Society's 50th Anniversary this book contains many never before seen images of the Cape Fear Region. Dr. Fonvielle's writing embraces the diversity of the area and continues the story of the region up through modern day. A must for collectors of Wilmington history. Cover art by Mary Ellen Golden.

Modern Recipes from Historic Wilmington
Edited by Ann Hertzler and Merle Chamberlain
(186pp, paperback, b&w photos)
$20.00

This cookbook features around 70 historic buildings — from homes to restaurants — with short histories of each building and historically authentic recipes appropriate to each building. From Sally White cake to Grandma's collards, you'll find recipes for every occasion. This book is a trove of information for both the historian and the gourmet and an invaluable reference to downtown Wilmington's sights, drawing on the expertise of Dr. Ann Hertzler, nutritionist, and Merle Chamberlain, long-time Society archivist.

Wilmington Through the Lens of Louis T. Moore
Susan Taylor Block
(336pp, clothbound, b&w photos)
$45.00

Louis Toomer Moore (1885-1961) was an intensely focused local historian and an impassioned champion of his hometown, Wilmington, North Carolina. While serving as director of the Chamber of Commerce, he took roughly 1000 panoramic photographs. Though the primary target of his camera was New Hanover County, the images also form a summary of life in a southern coastal town during the 1920s and '30s: the hilarity of the Roaring 20s, stealth of Prohibition, tragedies of the Great Depression and the creativity of rebuilding lives and livings. The timeless beauty of subjects like little girls in white dresses, cherubic babies on the beach and rippled water dappled in sunlight are merely red-eye gravy.

Using facts and identifications gleaned from interviews, publications both well-known and rare, and extensive newspaper research, author Susan Taylor Block has provided text that brings the old photographs to life. Wilmington Through the Lens of Louis T. Moore is a vehicle to the past, a time machine that invites the passenger back, again and again.

The Bank of Cape Fear of Wilmington, North Carolina
Robert S. Neale
(130pp, softcover, color plates)
$15.00

A complete history of North Carolina's first antebellum bank, this comprehensive book covers everything from currency, branches, key personnel, and common practices to embezzlements, fires and the Black Death. In addition to its value as a reference on Wilmington's history, this book contains a wealth of information on the antebellum economy and financial world.

The Latimer House: A Living Museum
Barbara and James Bush
(48pp, softcover, full color)
$1.00

Written by two of our most experienced docents, this book is an indispensible reference on the history of the Latimer House, home of the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society. From the Introduction:

"The material in this booklet is designed to provide both the tourist and serious student of history information about this grand antebellum home; and in so doing perhaps to whet the appetite for more details about the fascinating history of this beautiful part of our great country ... The book mirrors what you see and feel on a tour of the Latimer House."

The Character Factory: The Story of the Boys' Brigade
Susan Taylor Block
(46pp, paperback, b&w photos)
$6.00

The Wilmington Boys' Brigade, from its beginnings on Valentine's Day, 1896 in a Sunday School classroom at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church to its present incarnation as the Brigade Boys' Club with over 1000 members (boys and girls), has been providing support and encouragement to the youth of Wilmington for over a century. Says Walker Taylor IV, past president of the Brigade, "Susan Block has provided a valuable service in chronicling the club's journey."

Headstrong: the Biography of Amy Morris Bradley
Diane Cobb Cashman
(251pp, clothbound)
$25.00

A noted educator and reformer in Wilmington in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Amy Morris Bradley's was "a life of noblest usefulness." From the Introduction:

"Amy's journals are typical of many spirited, provincial women of her time who chafed at the deprivations imposed by modest means, limited opportunity, and the inferior position imposed on the softer sex. What made Amy original was that she was not content to just pour out her frustrations in a journal, but had the spunk to break out of the mold of what society believed should be the destiny of her sex."

Cape Fear Adventure: An Illustrated History of Wilmington
Diane Cobb Cashman
(120pp, paperback, color and b&w photos)
$20.00

A rich and detailed history of the city of Wilmington, this book is packed full of maps, woodcuts, drawings, and photographs of people, places, buildings, artifacts, and more. From the Age of Exploration to the Space Age, from pirates to parades to plagues, this book brings Wilmington's past alive with a fresh and unprecendented immediacy.

Harnett, Hooper & Howe: Revolutionary Leaders of the Lower Cape Fear
Alan D. Watson, Dennis R. Lawson, and Donald R. Lennon
(106pp, clothbound, illus. by Claude Howell)
$20.00

Cornelius Harnett, William Hooper (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), and Major General Robert Howe — these are three of the most distinguished men of the Revolution to come out of the Lower Cape Fear region.

"That one small area of the country should produce three Revolutionary leaders of the calibre of Cornelius Harnett, William Hooper, and Robert Howe is remarkable; and that their importance should remain obscure for two centuries is a measure of the influence of New England historians of the nineteenth century. If the "Three H's" had lived in Boston, their names might be as familiar in history textbooks as those of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. Happily, these essays will help correct an imbalance in the history of the Revolution as written by sectionally biased historians of earlier generations."

H.G. Jones, Curator
North Carolina Collection
University of North Carolina Library

Plantation Memories (of the Cape Fear River country)
Fanny C. Watters
(48pp, softcover, illus.)
$10.00

"When she would tell about fun she and her brothers had on a rice plantation, people would say, 'Cousin Fanny, you ought to write a book.'

One day when she was getting near ninety years old, she showed a blue-back composition book and said, 'Here's my book.'

Neatly written on each page was a seperate story. Not a word wasted. And the words made bright pictures of childhood before the civil War.

So to please Cousin Fanny we published her book — just in time for her to smile at it during her last days.

The first printing was soon all gone. Still people kept asking for it.

To make this new edition more interesting, a few pages about rice planting and a map of the old Cape Fear River plantations have been added, together with acknowledgments of generous help in making this edition useful for history study."

George M. Stephens

History of the Lower Cape Fear: 1524-1900
Isabel M. Williams and Leora H. McEachern
(12pp, softcover, illus.)
$2.50

This information-packed booklet covers the broad history of the Lower Cape Fear region from the early days of its exploration by Giovanni da Verrazano ("... the open Countrey rising in height above the sandie shoare with many faire fields and plaines, full of mightie great woods, some very thicke, and some thinne, replenished with divers sorts of trees, as pleasant and delectable to behold, as it is possible to imagine") to its position in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a major industrial and shipping center for the entire Southeastern United States.

Violet and Gold: The Story of Artistic Activity on Cottage Lane in Wilmington
Henry Jay MacMillan
(26pp, softcover, illus.)
$3.00

The Lower Cape Fear Historical Society is pleased to present this account of the busy art world in Wilmington during the 1920s. Letters to Henry Jay MacMillan depict two remarkable women: Elisabeth Augusta Chant, artist and teacher, and Jane Mears Williams MacMillan, who encouraged her children to enjoy the arts, and gave her friendship to artists. Family, friend, scenes, and events create a colorful picture of Wilmington during an exciting year in the life of the author.

Stories Old and New of the Cape Fear Region
Louis T. Moore
(261pp, clothbound)
$15.00

This book by prominent local historian Louis T. Moore is a portrayal in narrative form of the history of the Lower Cape Fear Region — fact, fancy, humor, personalities, and at times, tragedy. It is an effort, in storied form, to bring to the present generation the objectives, deeds and accomplishments of their progenitors — without whose efforts and accomplishments this area might lack sadly its present enterprising spirit and attitude. Included are true stories of romance, intrigue, and history, with a background of North Carolina's Southeastern area — rich in lore of the past and great in promise for the future.

This book has been approached with the purpose of combining local history with stories, tradition and fact in a way not heretofore attempted. It is submitted with the desire that it may persuade loyal Wilmingtonians to have a deeper appreciation of the fascinating lore of their city and county. Is it too much to express the hope that parents will inculcate in the minds of their children a proper conception and appreciation of the inexhaustible and interesting historical facts possessed by the community in which they reside, and which many of them expect, in future, to make their permanent homes?

Wilmington-New Hanover Safety Committee Minutes: 1774-1776
Leora H. McEachern and Isabel M. Williams, Editors
(147pp, clothbound)
$22.50

From the Introduction:

"The minutes of the Wilmington-New Hanover Committee of Safety which are contained in this volume constitute an important segment of the political records of the community, because the Committee was its governing body for a brief period. As such, it was one of many like organizations throughout the colonies. During the early stages of the American Revolution, when old institutions were toppling, temporary expedients were called into being from time to time to fill the resulting voids. The committees of safety were one such expedient. These committees played an important role in a most critical period of our history."

Salt: That Necessary Article
Isabel M. Williams and Leora H. McEachern
(190pp, clothbound)
$20.00

In 1775 the Minutes of the Continental Congress described salt as "that necessary article" — as necessary as arms and ammunition to the survival of the emergine nation. Salt was absolutely essential for the preservation of food, and the health of men and livestock. If salt could not be imported, it must be manufactured. "If there is no salt made, it will require but little force to subdue and starve the province," a gentleman wrote to Cornelius Harnett, Chariman of the North Carolina Council of Safety. Along the coast in North Carolina men set to work extracting salt from ocean water.

This history deals particularly with the salt industry in the Lower Cape Fear from Hilton's exploration in 1662, when Indians brought him a gift of salt, until the end of the Civil War in 1865. When the blockade restricted salt imports, Governor Vance encouraged salt manufacture. "Our people cannot live without salt," he wrote. Salt was always economically important to the Lower Cape Fear; in 1863 it was an 8 million dollar buisness with a vast State Salt Works and well over 100 private works in the area.

Research for this study has covered every possible source, manuscript and printed, and frequent quotations illustrate the circumstances in the different period and the personalities of the men involved. Eight maps show pertinent areas and the locations of salt works in the Lower Cape Fear at various times.