Self-guided walking tours provide a wealth of discovery. Stroll down Moore Street and visit the many colorful gift shops, art galleries and antique dealerships. Stop and rest at Waterfront Park where you may see huge cargo ships making their way up the Cape Fear River to the port city of Wilmington. Enjoy fresh seafood overlooking the Southport Yacht Basin and Marina where sailing vessels stop on their way along the Inter-coastal waterway.

Southport, NC - History

The first Spanish explorers to the region arrived in 1521, but it was further up the Cape Fear River that the first settlement occurred, 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.

After the Civil War, entrepreneurial and visionary businessmen saw an 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.