Throwback Thursday: Remembering Babcock and Wilcox’s Wilmington plant

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — More than four decades after hundreds of workers walked out of Babcock and Wilcox’s Wilmington plant for the final time, former employees are still coming together to remember the people and the workplace they shared.

Babcock and Wilcox came to Wilmington in 1951 and eventually employed more than 1,200 people, making the facility one of the area’s largest manufacturers.

That changed in 1983, when the company said it did not have enough work to keep three plants operating.

About 660 workers in Wilmington were affected by the closure.

WWAY cameras were there as employees left the facility for the final time.

“This is a sad occasion,” one longtime employee said. “I just took my final walk through the shop. I spent 31 years of my life out here, and it’s a sad occasion for everyone.”

The closure marked the end of an era for hundreds of workers, but not the end of the relationships they formed there.

Last month, former Babcock and Wilcox employees held their 43rd annual reunion, continuing a tradition that has lasted since the Wilmington plant closed.

The gathering gave former workers another chance to reconnect with old friends and coworkers and remember their years at B&W.

This segment is part of a weekly Throwback Thursday series that features stories from WWAY’s historical news archives. That archive can be accessed here.