Southport, North Carolina | |
|---|---|
_06.jpg) South Howe Street | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Motto: "The Home of Salubrious Breezes" | |
  Southport Location within the state of North Carolina | |
| Coordinates:33°55′31″N78°01′10″W / 33.92528°N 78.01944°W /33.92528; -78.01944 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Brunswick |
| Established | 1792 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Rich Alt |
| Area | |
• Total | 4.04 sq mi (10.47 km2) |
| • Land | 4.00 sq mi (10.37 km2) |
| • Water | 0.035 sq mi (0.09 km2) |
| Elevation | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 3,971 |
| • Density | 991.7/sq mi (382.89/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern Time Zone (North America)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 28461 |
| Area codes | 910, 472 |
| FIPS code | 37-63400[3] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2405498[2] |
| Website | www |
Southport is a city inBrunswick County, North Carolina, United States, near the mouth of theCape Fear River. Its population was 3,971 as of the2020 census.[4] The current mayor, Rich Alt, was elected to a two-year term in November 2023.
Southport is the location of the North Carolina Fourth of July Festival, which attracts 40,000 to 50,000 visitors annually.
The Southport area was explored in the 1500s by Spanish explorers. During the 18th century, British settlements along the Carolina coast lacked fortifications to protect against pirates and privateers, and numerous Spanish attackers exploited this weakness. In response to these attacks, GovernorGabriel Johnston in 1744 appointed a committee to select the best location to construct a fort for the defense of the Cape Fear River region. It was determined that the fort should be constructed at a site at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. During the same year,France declared war againstBritain, later known asKing George's War, increasing the fort's need. Further, increasingly bold Spanishprivateer raids led the North Carolina General Assembly to authorize the construction of "Johnston's Fort" in April 1745, which would come to be known asFort Johnston. The governor of South Carolina agreed to lend ten small cannons for the fort, and the legislature, in spring 1748, appropriated 2,000 pounds for construction costs, and construction finally began. Southport developed around Fort Johnston.[5]
Southport was founded as the town of Smithville in 1792.[6] Joshua Potts had requested the formation of a town adjacent to Fort Johnston, and theNorth Carolina General Assembly formed a commission of five men to administer its founding. The town was named afterBenjamin Smith, a colonel in theContinental Army during theRevolutionary War and latergovernor of North Carolina.[6] Smithville grew as a fishing village and through supporting military activity. Smithville was the county seat ofBrunswick County from 1808 to 1977.[7] In an effort to promote the town as a major shipping port, Smithville was renamed Southport in 1887.[6]Smithville Township, in which Southport lies, and other local landmarks, such as the cemetery, retain the Smithville name.
Interest in making Southport a major commercial port then prompted efforts to connect it via rail toWilmington and theAtlantic Coast Line/Seaboard Air Line Railroad systems. After some 25 years of failed effort by various entrepreneurs, the Wilmington, Brunswick and Southern Railroad began operation in 1911. Running northwest out of Southport toBolivia, the line then turned northeast towardsNavassa where it joined the existing rail network. Poorly constructed, beset with continued revenue shortfalls and facing intense and growing competition from trucks/automobiles, the 30 mile long railroad ceased operation in 1945. Ten years later, the U.S. Government constructed the rail line from theMilitary Ocean Terminal Sunny Point just north of Southport to the interior rail system along a different, more direct path.[8]
On September 27, 2025,a person opened fire from a boat in theIntracoastal Waterway at the American Fish Company in the Yacht Basin area of the city. Three people were killed and a further six were injured.[9] The suspect was arrested while loading his boat inOak Island a short time later.[10]
Southport is located in southeastern Brunswick County on the northwest bank of the tidalCape Fear River, approximately 2 miles (3 km) inland from theAtlantic Ocean.North Carolina Highway 211 enters the city from the north as North Howe Street and travels south to one block north of the waterfront, where it turns east as East Moore Street, leading northeast to the city limits, where it turns east again as Ferry Road on its way to the western terminus of the Southport–Fort Fisher ferry across the Cape Fear River.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2), of which 3.7 square miles (9.7 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.73%, is water.[11]
Southport has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa). Summers in Southport are very hot and humid while winters are very mild by North Carolina standards. Southport is the warmest place in the state of North Carolina, with a yearly average temperature of 65.0 °F (18.3 °C), with annual temperatures more similar to that of coastal Georgia or the northern Gulf Coast of Florida than the rest of North Carolina.
| Climate data for Southport 5 N, North Carolina (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1892–2016) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 82 (28) | 81 (27) | 90 (32) | 94 (34) | 97 (36) | 103 (39) | 102 (39) | 102 (39) | 101 (38) | 94 (34) | 88 (31) | 81 (27) | 103 (39) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 71.7 (22.1) | 74.6 (23.7) | 78.8 (26.0) | 84.3 (29.1) | 89.1 (31.7) | 94.3 (34.6) | 96.2 (35.7) | 95.2 (35.1) | 90.8 (32.7) | 86.1 (30.1) | 81.1 (27.3) | 74.2 (23.4) | 98.1 (36.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 60.0 (15.6) | 62.5 (16.9) | 68.2 (20.1) | 75.8 (24.3) | 82.5 (28.1) | 88.4 (31.3) | 91.6 (33.1) | 90.4 (32.4) | 86.5 (30.3) | 78.9 (26.1) | 69.9 (21.1) | 62.9 (17.2) | 76.5 (24.7) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 47.8 (8.8) | 50.1 (10.1) | 55.5 (13.1) | 63.3 (17.4) | 71.2 (21.8) | 78.7 (25.9) | 82.2 (27.9) | 80.8 (27.1) | 76.3 (24.6) | 66.6 (19.2) | 57.1 (13.9) | 50.5 (10.3) | 65.0 (18.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 35.5 (1.9) | 37.6 (3.1) | 42.7 (5.9) | 50.9 (10.5) | 60.0 (15.6) | 69.0 (20.6) | 72.8 (22.7) | 71.2 (21.8) | 66.0 (18.9) | 54.4 (12.4) | 44.3 (6.8) | 38.0 (3.3) | 53.5 (11.9) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 16.0 (−8.9) | 19.9 (−6.7) | 25.7 (−3.5) | 33.3 (0.7) | 43.8 (6.6) | 54.8 (12.7) | 62.7 (17.1) | 60.7 (15.9) | 51.9 (11.1) | 36.3 (2.4) | 27.7 (−2.4) | 18.2 (−7.7) | 12.2 (−11.0) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 0 (−18) | 1 (−17) | 8 (−13) | 25 (−4) | 36 (2) | 45 (7) | 46 (8) | 53 (12) | 35 (2) | 23 (−5) | 16 (−9) | −3 (−19) | −3 (−19) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.70 (94) | 3.32 (84) | 4.03 (102) | 3.08 (78) | 3.44 (87) | 4.02 (102) | 5.55 (141) | 6.77 (172) | 8.16 (207) | 5.41 (137) | 3.42 (87) | 3.74 (95) | 54.64 (1,388) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 8.2 | 8.7 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 7.7 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 8.6 | 101.5 |
| Source:NOAA (mean maxima/minima 1981–2010)[12][13] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 810 | — | |
| 1880 | 1,008 | 24.4% | |
| 1890 | 1,207 | 19.7% | |
| 1900 | 1,336 | 10.7% | |
| 1910 | 1,484 | 11.1% | |
| 1920 | 1,664 | 12.1% | |
| 1930 | 1,760 | 5.8% | |
| 1940 | 1,760 | 0.0% | |
| 1950 | 1,748 | −0.7% | |
| 1960 | 2,034 | 16.4% | |
| 1970 | 2,220 | 9.1% | |
| 1980 | 2,824 | 27.2% | |
| 1990 | 2,369 | −16.1% | |
| 2000 | 2,351 | −0.8% | |
| 2010 | 2,833 | 20.5% | |
| 2020 | 3,971 | 40.2% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[14] | |||
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 3,422 | 86.17% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 286 | 7.2% |
| Native American | 16 | 0.4% |
| Asian | 24 | 0.6% |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 0.03% |
| Other/Mixed | 116 | 2.92% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 106 | 2.67% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 3,971 people, 1,434 households, and 942 families residing in the city.
As of thecensus[3] of 2000, there were 2,351 people, 1,095 households, and 676 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,059.0 inhabitants per square mile (408.9/km2). There were 1,292 housing units at an average density of 582.0 per square mile (224.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 76.61%White, 21.78%African American, 0.43%Native American, 0.17%Asian, 0.09%Pacific Islander, 0.21% fromother races, and 0.72% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 1.45% of the population.
There were 1,095 households, out of which 19.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% weremarried couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. Of all households, 35.3% were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.65.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 17.9% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 21.0% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 24.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,714, and the median income for a family was $45,714. Males had a median income of $34,167 versus $22,857 for females.
Theper capita income for the city was $23,059. About 7.1% of families and 12.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.
Built in the 1970s on 1,200 acres (490 ha) at 20 feet (6.1 m) above sea level and about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Atlantic Ocean near Southport,Duke Energy Carolinas operates the 1,870-megawattBrunswick Nuclear Power Plant which has two nuclear reactors. This plant is the same generation and design as theFukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Following theFukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, temporary flood prevention updates, called "cliff edge barriers" to make doors at the facility water tight, were installed at Brunswick to prevent flooding from Hurricane Florence from causing a disaster similar to Fukushima Daiichi. These temporary barriers are designed to stop flooding from a storm surge of up to 26 feet (7.9 m). On Thursday, September 13, 2018, beforeHurricane Florence made landfall atWrightsville Beach, Duke Energy shut down the first reactor in the early morning and the second reactor in the afternoon, approximately two hours before tropical storm-force winds at the plant.[16][17][18]
The city is serviced by the newspaperThe State Port Pilot. Radio stationsWAZO/107.5 & WJSL-LP/100.7 are licensed to Southport.
The city of Southport has been the location the TV series[citation needed]Revenge andUnder the Dome. Films made in Southport includeI Know What You Did Last Summer,Summer Catch,Domestic Disturbance,Crimes of the Heart,Mary and Martha,Nights in Rodanthe,The Waterfront,A Walk to Remember andSafe Haven.[19]Greedy People filming took place between May 9 and June 11, 2022.[20]
The school district for the entire county is theBrunswick County Schools school district.[21]
Municipalities and communities ofBrunswick County, North Carolina,United States | ||
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