If you’re a regular Web surfer, you likely have a Facebook account. And if you have a Facebook account, it’s likely you’ve been bombarded with friends requesting you to send them “25 Random Things” about yourself. The “25 Random Things” list has become a social networking phenomenon that thousands of Facebook “friends” have kept alive. A Google search for “25 Random Things About Me” yields 83,300 hits. But not everyone has embraced them. Time magazine recently ran an article titled “Facebook: 25 Things I Didn’t Want to Know About You.” Still, advocates say it’s a great way to find out strange and unusual details about the people you thought you knew.
Well, we thought we knew Wilmington. But when we “friended” our fair city, we discovered it’s own “25 Things” list, revealing a surprising, varied history.
Here’s what you might not know about your old buddy, Wilmington.
1. I’m semi-famous. One of my several nicknames is Wilmywood and more than 300 films have been produced here since the 1980s.2. I raised Henry Bacon, the architect of the Lincoln Memorial. And when he died, he was buried here.
3. I’m getting fatter. My population grew from 55,030 in 1990 to 90,330 in 2000. I’m expected to reach 99,781 next year.
4. I’m not going to tell you my age, but let’s just say George Washington dropped by one day and had supper with me.
5. I’m really into the arts, ever since I was little. Oscar Wilde, Charlie Daniels, Claude Howell, Robert Ruark and others are all buddies. And just recently I’ve decorated with some new sculptures downtown.
6. I love to go fishing. The state’s biggest flathead catfish was caught right here in the Cape Fear River. It was 78 pounds. The state’s biggest black drum was caught here, too. It weighed 100 pounds.
7. I’m athletic, too. I’ve been home to Michael Jordan, Meadowlark Lemon, Sonny Jurgensen, Roman Gabriel, Althea Gibson, Trot Nixon and other sports greats.
8. Sometimes I can be obsessive compulsive. Did you know there are exactly 19 seams in the bridge over Bradley Creek on Oleander Drive? Count them the next time you drive over. Ca-klump, ca-klump, ca-klump . . .
9. I’m super-smart. UNCW has 73 undergraduate degree programs and 32 graduate degrees. About 11,840 students attend the college. Cape Fear Community College’s student enrollment in credit programs topped 7,500 in the fall 2007 semester.
10. I don’t reveal my secrets to just anyone. Did you know miles of more than 100 year-old underground tunnels criss-cross the streets downtown? They were probably originally used as drainage, but who knows what else happened down there. :-) Oh, and that bee hive on my coat of arms? Yeah, nobody knows where that came from. Just ask around.
11. I don’t like to talk about my criminal past. But did you know Stede Bonnet, the “gentleman pirate” was captured here?
12. One of the proudest moments of my life happened just last year when the nuclear fast attack submarine, USS North Carolina, was commissioned at my port.
13. I love to party! Next time you get a chance, come on down to my N.C. Azalea Festival, Riverfest, Fourth of July Fireworks display over the battleship or lighting of the World’s Largest Living Christmas Tree. Those are good times, my friends.
14. My parents had a hard time deciding what to name me. Originally, they were going to call me New Carthage. Then they changed it to New Liverpool, New Town, Newton and finally, thank goodness, Wilmington. Can you think of me as anything else?
15. Years ago there was a rumor that I had more fast food restaurants per capita than any other city in the Union. Well, I don’t know about that. But I sure can cook. All the movie stars complement me on my restaurants including Caffe Phoenix and Deluxe.
16. I’m a tough old bird. I’ve survived a lot of hurricanes, held off German submarines during World War II, lived through race riots, doused huge fires and trudged through two feet of snow back in 1989. But I keep on truckin’.
17. Lately I’ve been socializing with a lot of Northern friends. But I’ve always kept my deep Southern ways – sweet tea, magnolia blossoms in June, Civil War re-enactments and some darn good oyster roasts.
18. I’m a pretty likeable city, but I’ve kicked out a few blow-hards like Hazel, Bertha, Fran, Diana, Floyd, the list goes on.
19. I’m super stylish. I’ve changed my looks a lot over the years, from dirt roads and buggies to brick streets and trolley cars, then asphalt and speedsters. I move with the times. I’m starting to get rid of those unsightly power lines, too, and put in some modern underground ones.
20. Don’t tell anybody. Sometimes I get dandruff. During the spring you’ll find everything covered in yellow-green pine pollen. It’s embarrassing.
21. I’m short but you’ll never guess how short. I only stand about 30 feet above sea level.
22. I’ve served our country. One of North Carolina’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence, William Hooper, lived here.
23. When it comes to love, I’m ruthless. Back in the 1700s I stole away the entire population of Brunswick Town. It’s just a State Historic Site now. They loved me better anyway.
24. Sometimes you might hear mysterious loud booms. Some people call it the Seneca Guns. But it’s really me having a tantrum.
25. I love to spill the beans, the Wilmington Star-News is the oldest continuously published newspaper in North Carolina.
For more information on Wilmington and Wilmington, NC Real Estate visit www.BrettKnowles.com
