History with ‘Hud’: How the New Hanover County Public Library has grown over the last century
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The downtown branch of the New Hanover County Public Library is a popular destination for avid readers. But it took until the early 20th century for the collection of books to gain any progress.
An offer to build a library in Wilmington first arrived in 1901, from an organization sponsored by steel baron Andrew Carnegie. The group had constructed hundreds of libraries since 1883, but the Port City’s Board of Alderman turned the proposal down, saying the $2,500 in predicted annual operating expenses would be too much for taxpayers.
In stepped the North Carolina Sorosis, founded just six years prior, who began a public campaign for a library. They started collecting books and money themselves, and opened a temporary library in the Masonic Temple building on Front Street.
The library remained there for five years, before the Board of Aldermen reversed their no-library decision, setting aside $1,200 a year for the maintenance of a public library. A new library was opened on December 1, 1906 inside Thalian Hall, in what is now a ballroom on the second floor.
North Carolina Sorosis came through again in 1908, donating 1,700 books to the small collection. It would take another 17 years before the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners began funding the library in 1925.
Another location change took place in 1956, when the New Hanover County Public Library moved into the former Wilmington Light Infantry Building on Market Street.
But the public space hit a road block a few years later.
Following the closure of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad offices in 1960, County Commissioners claimed they could longer fund the library with the loss of the major business.
They later reverse course again, funding all but $5,000, which was to go for air conditioning. The City of Wilmington itself was forced to kick in the missing amount to get AC.
Unfortunately, the library was white-only until 1962, when the state threatened to cut off local funding if all people weren’t allowed inside.
Nearly two decades later, the library moved into the former Belk-Beery department store at the corner of Third Street and Chestnut Street in March of 1981 following its move to Independence Mall.
The turn of the century brought an expansion to the library’s third floor in 2000. With the expansion also came a rise in ghost stories, with some people telling stories of noises and movement in the library’s research rooms.
Spirits and books have remained in the same spot ever since. But it was announced in 2017 the collection would be moving to a site at Third Street and Grace Street, known as Project Grace. The current library building will be demolished to make way for new, multi-use development on the site.
Over the years, the New Hanover County Public Library has grown in size and sophistication, with the catalogue now being completely computerized. There are now four total branches with thousands of people enjoying the offerings each week, with it all tracing back to a small selection of books more than 100 years ago.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning 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.
