New Hanover County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 225,702. Though the second-smallest county in North Carolina by land area, it is one of the most populous, as its county seat, Wilmington, is one of the state's largest communities. The county was created in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct and gained county status in 1739. New Hanover County is included in the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes neighboring Pender and Brunswick counties.
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the principal city of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties. Its metropolitan statistical area had an estimated population of 467,337 in 2023.
WECT is a television station in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television, which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WSFX-TV under a shared services agreement (SSA) with American Spirit Media. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in Wilmington; WECT's transmitter is located near Winnabow, North Carolina.
Interstate 140 (I-140) and North Carolina Highway 140 (NC 140) is a 25.4-mile (40.9 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway and state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Officially designated the John Jay Burney Jr. Freeway, it serves as a bypass of Wilmington. The western terminus of the highway is at U.S. Route 17 (US 17) near Winnabow. It heads north in western Leland before turning to the east north of an interchange with U.S. Route 74 (US 74)/U.S. Route 76 (US 76). I-140 crosses the Cape Fear River north of Navassa and the Northeast Cape Fear River northwest of Wrightsboro. I-140 ends at Interstate 40 (I-40), and the route number changes to NC 140. NC 140 continues to the east, ending at US 17 in Kirkland.
Wilmington International Airport is a public airport located just north of Wilmington, North Carolina, in unincorporated Wrightsboro. ILM covers 1,800 acres.
Cape Fear Academy is a private, coeducational PK3–12 school in Wilmington, North Carolina, that was established on September 11, 1967, as a segregation academy. It was named for Cape Fear Military Academy, an independent school for boys in Wilmington that operated from 1868 until 1916. The present school's first class graduated in 1971.
New Hanover High School is a high school located in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. New Hanover High is the oldest existing high school in Wilmington. The original building was designed by William J. Wilkins. Construction started in 1919, and was completed in 1922. New Hanover High underwent a complete renovation at the start of the 21st century. It is a part of New Hanover County Schools.
Connor Thomas Barth is a former American football placekicker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) is a public community college in Wilmington, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 23,000 students each year. The service area of Cape Fear Community College includes New Hanover and Pender counties with a main campus located in downtown Wilmington and satellite campuses in Castle Hayne, Burgaw, and Surf City.
Miller-Motte College, formerly Miller-Motte Technical College, is a system of private for-profit technical colleges throughout the southeastern United States. Its parent company is Ancora Education.
Kristen Jeannine Dalton-Wolfe is an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 2009 and represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant.
Bill Saffo is an American politician and real estate businessman serving as the current mayor of Wilmington, North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the Wilmington City Council in November 2003, serving in the role until his appointment as mayor in December 2006.
John Rinka is an American former college basketball player best known for his high-scoring offensive ability and accurate jump shot while at Kenyon College from 1966 to 1970. A 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) shooting guard, Rinka is in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) top ten in all-time scoring despite playing before the advent of the three–point line and the shot clock. He once scored 69 points in a game, which is tied for the 21st-highest single game output in NCAA history; his 41.0 points per game average in 1969–70 as well as his 3,251 career points are also the eighth-highest average and total, respectively.
Derek Brunson is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). He is most notable for his long career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Middleweight division.
Mark Scalf is an American college baseball coach and former player. He served as head coach of the UNC Wilmington Seahawks baseball program from 1992 to the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Williston School is a school in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was first founded in 1866 by the abolitionist American Missionary Association after the Union army occupied the city during the civil war. It was intended for freed slaves and initially had 450 pupils divided into five departments: primary, intermediate, advanced, normal and industrial. As it developed, it became known by a variety of names including Williston Graded School, Williston Primary and Industrial School and Williston High School. The original site was on Seventh Street but in 1915, the institution moved to a new campus on Tenth Street and new buildings were constructed in 1933, 1937 and 1954. The institution was closed as a high school in 1968 as part of desegregation and this caused disturbances resulting in the Wilmington Ten. The remaining school on the site is now Williston Middle School of Math, Science & Technology.
New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) is a school district headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It operates public schools in New Hanover County. It is the 12th-largest school district in North Carolina and is estimated to be the 311th-largest in the United States.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, United States.
Lethia Sherman Hankins was an educator, civic leader, and politician who was active in Wilmington, North Carolina. In 2005 she received national award from the YWCA, the Dorothy I. Height Racial Justice Award, and in 2020 her portrait was one of five commissioned to hang in Bellamy Mansion in honor of North Carolinian women who impacted women, as part of the centennial celebrations of the League of Women Voters for the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Film and television shot/produced in Wilmington, North Carolina, are usually independent and/or low-budget films, mainly due to Wilmington being relatively more affordable than other cities to film in. Other reasons for Wilmington's appeal include its local university (UNCW), its location on the coast, the presence of many historic buildings/sites, and vast swamps and waterways outside of Wilmington. It has remained the largest film and television production area in North Carolina since the 1980s, when the first major productions started to be made in the region.
