From folklore to reality: Uncovering Wilmington’s buried history
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — As ghouls and goblins prepare to roam ahead of Halloween, the Historic Wilmington Foundation is shining a light on the truth behind some popular ghost stories.
The Historic Wilmington Foundation is hosting sold out ‘Lantern and Lore’ Tours to celebrate the Halloween season.
Travis Gilbert, the executive director of the foundation, says the tours are meant to share popular ghost stories and legends in the area, and discuss the history behind them.
“Legends, folklore, myths: these are critical, irreplaceable historic resources. We might not be able to touch them but they are just as important as a historic building to a community’s culture and its character,” Gilbert said. “The message tonight isn’t to boohoo any of the ghost stories, it’s to unpack that little kernel of truth then celebrate and add to this great fabric of historic resources we have here in Wilmington.”
While some of the lore and legends may not be tangible, Gilbert says there is something very real buried beneath the City of Wilmington.
“There are absolutely un-marked graves in the City of Wilmington. Most recently when New Hanover County was rehabilitating a property on Chestnut Street, they uncovered several graves from the colonial era in Wilmington, North Carolina,” he said. “There are so many other graves out there in our historic streetscape. So it is really important that anytime people discover something doing work in their backyard that might look like human remains, we want you to reach out to the appropriate officials to ensure you have not uncovered an irreplaceable historic resource.”
The Historic Wilmington Foundation partners with community advocate Kathy King to maintain the formerly abandoned Maides Cemetery. Volunteers meet every other Saturday to work in the historic African-American cemetery, preserving the graves and cleaning the area.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done in reclaiming our sacred, historic burial places across the county and we encourage folks to go to historicwilmington.org to learn how they can get involved in preserving these historic cemeteries,” Gilbert said.
