History with ‘Hud’: The story behind the growth of two local lake towns

CAPE FEAR, NC (WWAY) — Spring is officially upon us, meaning warmer days, later sunsets and lots of time spent outdoors. While the miles of beaches along our coast will be the most popular spots over the next six months, there are two area lake towns further inland which will receive their fair share of guests.

Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County and White Lake in Bladen County have only been tourists towns for the last century or so. But they’ve existed far longer than that.

The third-largest natural lake in North Carolina, Lake Waccamaw is estimated to be around a quarter of a million years old. People have called the region home for thousands of years, with the first mention of it by Europeans to the area by the 1600s. The lake’s name comes from the Waccamaw Siouan people who still call the area home.

As people continued to move to the area, the region really took off in January of 1869 when Charles Oscar Beers started a shingle industry along the southern shore of Lake Waccamaw. A second company founded by Henry Bascom Short arrived a few months later, with the two eventually merging into the Short and Beers company which subsequently became the North Carolina Lumber Company.

A local group formed the Waccamaw Club around 1910, which served as a gathering place for hunting and house parties. The club later disbanded and the building became the Waccamaw Hotel.

The Waccamaw Dam was built in 1926 by the state to prevent the lake from shrinking in extreme drought conditions. By October of 1964, the Board of Conservation and Development tried to obtain land on the lakeshore to establish a state park. But it wasn’t until May of 1976 that a state park was formed on the lake when a 273 acre tract of land was purchased by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation.

15 years later in 2001, three teenagers playing in the lake happened to find a 22-foot canoe built by the Waccamaw Siouan hundreds of years prior by burning out the middle of a log. Archaeologists have recently discovered evidence of civilization at Lake Waccamaw dating back thousands of years, in addition to artifacts from the Waccamaw-Siouan tribes.

Less than an hour up the road is White Lake, one of thousands of Carolina Bays dotting the east coast from Delaware to Florida.

Ralph Melvin opened the first public beach property there in 1901. The area became a one stop source for entertainment, dancing, food, and a comfortable place to sleep. By the 1920s, the town was booming, with a small hotel, arcade and rides.

That’s when Goldston’s Beach came about, with the property still the most popular attraction for White Lake to this day.

But on July 2, 1957, a huge fire on Crystal Beach took over Goldston’s Beach and engulfed most of the waterfront buildings on both properties. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the town to pick the pieces up and continue on. People from as far away as Myrtle Beach reportedly came the very next day and helped rebuild some temporary bath houses and shelters and pier access.

Both beach facilities were back up and running just in time for the Fourth of July.

The area was coined the ‘Nation’s Safest Beach’ in the late 1960s, due to having no tides, current and being relatively shallow. The white sand bottom attracts boaters, kayakers and fishermen looking to land a prize catch.

Water sports of all kinds were a growing sport on White Lake by the 1970′s. That’s when the White Lake Ski Heels began. The team traveled all over the state performing shows at various events and eventually went national, performing at Disney World and Sea World.

Campsites, motels and condos along with neighborhoods circle the lake today, with the town itself still having an arcade and restaurants. Additional excitement includes triathlons, summer concerts, antique car shows, and the acclaimed White Lake Water Festival.

Two days full of dances, car shows, a parade, local food, and much more, the festival is still the busiest, most anticipated weekend in White Lake.

So if you have a lake trip planned in the coming months, you’ll be far from alone. Our local lake communities will likely continued to attract people by the hundreds each warm summer day for decades to come.

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.