Local historian Elaine Henson bought a 1940s house in Carolina Beach, one of two towns on New Hanover County’s Pleasure Island, in 2003.
A survivor of 1954’s Hurricane Hazel, the now six-bedroom, four-bedroom house near the oceanfront is included in a book by Henson on Carolina Beach’s history, told with the help of photos and postcards.
Carolina Beach has come a long way since it was incorporated in 1925, Henson said. These days, the town has been celebrating the 100th anniversary of its official birth with events and a virtual history tour.
And while the Carolina Beach Boardwalk is a tourism staple today, it wasn’t always a savory place to be, particularly in the ’90s, what Henson calls “the dark, dark days” of the oceanside landmark. The presence of some sketchy bars and a strip club called Honey Bare’s is an example.
“But it amazes me how quickly it got turned around,” Henson said, who remembers how the Courtyard Marriott Hotel on the oceanfront opened not long after she bought her house in Carolina Beach. “The Marriott, I think, was a big shot in the arm for down there.”
A $1.5 million boardwalk makeover took place in 2013.
Fast forward to this year, and the town hosts fireworks along the boardwalk. But Carolina Beach still has its challenges, including parking and growth woes, locals say.
“It’s something that people have to do because they have to get there somehow,” Henson said of parking. “And then when they get there, what do they do with the car? It is very controversial.”
But parking was a hot topic in the 1930s too, she said.
As for growth, Henson echoes a familiar refrain among some residents of Carolina Beach, saying, “We don’t want to become another Myrtle Beach,” specifically referring to the town’s general maximum height limit – 50 feet – that she considers too high.
“And we’ve had some people lately that have asked for even higher,” she said.
Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee identified an issue the town government and residents are coping with.
“I think stormwater is a huge challenge for us,” he said. “I don’t think it’s new; I just think it’s intensified.”
The mayor said the town has “probably put more money (into stormwater projects) in the last four or five years than ever. But there’s some big-ticket items in there. One of the things we’re doing now is we’re putting additional pumping capacity at the lake because the lake doesn’t drain naturally. We have to pump the water out there.”
Barbee was talking about Carolina Beach Lake, an 11-acre freshwater lake with swings and other gathering areas.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, he heard complaints about how crowded the beach was.
“That’s a blessing, but at the same time, it’s a problem we’re going to have to deal with because we want to keep our quality of experience both for residents and for guests,” Barbee said.
Barbee’s family moved to the town in 1971. He said what he loves about Carolina Beach is its culture and vibe.
“I don’t think that’s changed in my lifetime,” Barbee said. “Is there more traffic? Yes. Are things more congested? Yes. Is there more competition for resources and getting into restaurants? Yes. There’s some additional stressors, but the underlying sort of warm, cozy feeling is the same as it was when I was a child.”
Barbee said for the town’s centennial celebration, a centennial committee worked to make the events coinciding with the milestone appealing to a variety of folks, including retirees, families and business owners.
He said, “They really went out of their way to be inclusive in those events because they wanted everyone to celebrate our centennial.”
Read more about Pleasure Island:
Town’s history stretches a century
Beach hotel sails into new chapter
Town aims to buy boardwalk-area parcels
