Progress is a contradictory term, one that inherently means an improvement of luxury and an advancement of technology, yet usually at the expense of a community's identity, traditions, and history. Though many buildings survived Civil War skirmishes and Northern occupation during Reconstruction, these same structures did not escape the plans of ambitious entrepreneurs and thus disappeared from Wilmington's landscape, only to be replaced, over time, by shopping plazas and nationally recognizable commercial facades. Cape Fear Lost celebrates places that have vanished from presentday Wilmington. In this volume of more than 200 photographs, you will be able to explore the Wilmington of a bygone era, one punctuated by unpaved tree-lined streets and architecturally diverse dwellings. As you thumb through these pages, you will experience firsthand the beauty of many former mansions scattered throughout the downtown area, familiar churches, civic buildings and schools that once dotted the cityscape, the many businesses that utilized the pedestrian, horse-and-wagon, and shipping traffic along Market Street, and the transformation of Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach from humble summer bungalows into major tourist retreats.
Susan Taylor Block was born in Wilmington, NC in 1951. She attended public schools, went to UNCW, then graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973. She began publishing poetry, mostly light verse, in 1976. Soon, she began researching and writing about her hometown's history. Today, she continues to enjoy writing poetry and history, but spends most of her time on biographical projects.
Susan has two daughters. Taylor, 32, lives in Wilmington. Catherine, 25, lives in Manhattan. Susan enjoys long daily walks with girlfriends, Seinfeld reruns, some gardening chores, not cooking, reading ancient poetry, and watching Taylor roller skate and Catherine tap dance.
