The
many historic sites like the old Southport Jail, St. Philips
Episcopal Church and Smithfield cemetery are all easily accessible
on foot. You can also learn about the colorful history of
Southport and real life legends of the famous pirate Stede
Bonnet at the Southport Maritime Museum. The Southport Visitor
Center provides maps, brochures and self-guided walking tours.
Southport
History
The first Spanish explorers to the region arrived in 1521,
but it was further up the Cape Fear River that the first settlement,
Brunswick Town was formed in the mid-1700s. Between 1745 and
1754 Fort Johnson was built as quarantine service for incoming
seamen and to protect settlements further up the river. Located
at the mouth of the Cape Fear, Fort Johnson attracted a small
community of river
pilots and fishermen and the area began to thrive.
In
1792, the NC General Assembly, at the request of Joshua Potts,
commissioned a new township and what is now known as Southport
was born. The new town was originally named Smithville, after
Benjamin Smith who served under George Washington in the revolutionary
war. Cool summer breezes soon made Smithville a popular summer
resort, and its strategic location made Fort Johnston important
in every United States war. In 1808, Smithville became the
county seat of Brunswick County.
After
the Civil War, entrepreneurial and visionary businessmen saw
opportunity to create a major southern port city by combining
the city’s river transportation with the new railroad
system which was changing the face of the United States. As
part of their strategy, Smithville was renamed Southport in
1887. Telegraph service and a coaling dock for steamships
were added. Although Southport never became the major port
city they dreamed of, railroads served the town from 1911
to World War II and it was on the river steamer routes until
1925.
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