Walk of Fame adds a real Champ

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Walk of Fame added another champion this afternoon. Champ McDowell Davis was a railroad pioneer and a health care philanthropist.

Celebrate Wilmington honored Davis as the newest addition to the Walk of Fame outside the Cotton Exchange in downtown Wilmington.

Heralded as “Mr. Coast Line,” Davis later started Champions Assisted Living, which has since expanded.

“He was probably a man with great vision of where he thought the railroad could go and how he could improve it, and I think he also felt that same way about his homes for the elderly and the care he felt that they deserved,” Celebrate Wilmington president Polly Sweyer said.

Davis passed away in 1975 at the age of 95. His star is the 20th added to the Walk of Fame.