History with ‘Hud’: How a quarantine station near Southport helped block deadly diseases from Wilmington
SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — In August of 1862, a Yellow Fever outbreak struck the Port City, killing residents by the dozen. It’s believed the feared and highly contagious disease arrived aboard the steamship ‘Kate’ which floated into Wilmington from the Bahamas and docked at the base of Market Street.
With a total of 654 people dying from the Yellow Fever epidemic, officials vowed to do everything in their power to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
An on-land quarantine hospital near Southport was set up over the next two decades, but burned down in 1882. Leaving the area again volnurable to disease, a new, 10 building Quarantine Station was constructed in 1895 on a foundation above the Cape Fear River. It immediately began stopping vessels near Southport as they entered from the Atlantic Ocean.
Each ship would tie up to the 600-foot dock at the Quarantine Station, being inspected for sick passengers. People who were found to have a disease were forced to stay on the platform, which had a contagious hospital. Ships were disinfected with sulfur from pressurized hoses before being allowed to continue with the remaining non-sick passengers upriver into the Port City.
The station was operated under the same standards for decades until 1937 when new methods of disease control were introduced. The site was declared surplus property in the years to follow. Disposal of the structures was deemed not practical so it was left to deteriorate. Fire destroyed many of the buildings in 1951, with Hurricane Hazel wiping the rest away in 1954.
The only remaining piece of the once-vital Quarantine Station was a large concrete foundation base which once held up a 12,000 gallon water tower. Despite being 600 feet outside of the main shipping channel, tragedy struck in 2012.
A 20 foot boat carrying four people crashed into the concrete base, killing a Wilmington woman. Calls quickly followed for the base to be removed, but the Coast Guard deemed it out of their jurisdiction. Instead, the base was illuminated with lights to make it easier to spot.
There have been no deadly accidents since, with ships now coming up the Cape Fear River from their long journeys on the ocean without having to stop until they reach the Port of Wilmington.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each evening on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.
To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.
