A June 10th Wilmington Star News article "Across the Cape Fear from Wilmington sits more than 30 wrecks-- and valuable land" by Gareth McGrath.
One of those wrecks is that of the steamer Waccamaw which saw service in the NC sounds during the Civil War as the USS Commodore Hull.
Eagle Island has served as boatyards as well as a junkyard for unwanted vessels since the 1800s. Some of the named vessels in the mud of the island are the iron tugboat Argonauta dating to 1876 and the tug Isco.
Historians regard it as a "historical viewscape." A slice of history preserved just as it was (unless the vessel was salvaged). Along with numerous barges, there are more than 30 wrecks, docks, and dockyards. In the mid-1980s, these wrecks and other Eagle Island nautical remnants were placed on Wilmington's National Register of Historic Places.
However, these days there is a near insatiable developer appetite for any and all things waterfront, so the days of Eagle Island's sleeping repose are probably near an end.
More to Come. --Old B-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
