As its new logo reads, the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History serves to “tell the story of Wrightsville Beach,” and it is implementing new programs and exhibits to successfully narrate the tale. 

In early June, the museum held its 20th anniversary where it revealed new exhibits, walking tours and summer initiatives.  

An easy destination to miss, the 1909 cottage off of West Salisbury Street sits nestled in shrubbery and grand artifacts, including old railroad tracks, a lifeguard stand and a boat in the yard. It is a quaint spot that boasts a 1,100-square-foot interior and 900-square-foot exterior. 

Inside, the museum mimics a historical beach shack with strategically modeled bedroom, kitchen and living areas. Old photographs and flyers adorn the rustic, painted walls while old Wrightsville Beach memorabilia fill every room. 

Each year, about 6,000 patrons visit the museum, said Madeline Flagler, executive director of the museum.

During the anniversary event, the museum presented two fliers to announce its new self-guided walking tours. 

The first walking tour highlights the historical landmarks along the beach. From the old Oceanic Hotel to the Lumina Pavilion, the pamphlet details driving directions along with in-depth historical descriptions of each place it highlights. 

The second, self-guided tour focuses on The Loop around Wrightsville Beach and features destinations such as Johnnie Mercers Pier and info on the Great Fire of 1934. 

The two tours were the first to be revealed in a three-part series.

The third walking tour is yet to be released and will be a family-oriented, scavenger hunt featuring historical destinations, Flagler said. The museum plans to release the final part of the new tours in time for July Fourth, she added.

The three tours mark the first step in the ultimate goal of generating an app that will digitally detail historical Wrightsville Beach, Flagler said. There is no finalized date on the production of the app, but these tours serve as the background research needed for the app’s development. 

In addition to tours, the museum revealed three new exhibits.

The first attraction is a Wrightsville Beach Lifeguard Stand, which was donated and delivered by the town of Wrightsville Beach and placed in the museum’s play area.

The second is a donated, aurora fossil rock that contains shark teeth, accompanied by an extensive chart of different shark teeth types for children to identify.

For the adults, the museum also released a “Small Treasures” art exhibit featuring locally painted scenes of historical Wrightsville Beach. The art is displayed in the front room of the cottage where the works are available for sale, with half of the proceeds going to the museum and the other half to the artist. 

Among the many updates also is an addition of a “Rocking Chairs and Lemonade” campaign, encouraging visitors to sit and hang out on the museum’s porch.

“As we approached our 20th anniversary, we really wanted to think of what aspects are most important to this museum. We are community orientated, and we wanted to honor that,” Flagler said. “The idea of the rocking chairs on the porch is to provide a place for conversation because we are not here just to display artifacts; we are here to tell a story. We are here to show and tell what makes this place unique.”