Because rapid growth in Wilmington has led some to argue against development, or at least a better way to manage it, voters had little difficulty saying yes to expansion more than sixty years ago.
Amid sad days following the assassination of President John Kennedy, Wilmington residents went to the polls in a special election to enact several bond measures that would effectively more than double the size of the city.
According to an article in the Sunday StarNews of November 24, 1963, voters were still days away from deciding whether to issue “$3.8 million in bonds to finance the costs of expanding city services to the areas to be annexed become.”
The bonds include construction of two new fire stations, more vehicles for fire, police, sanitation and street departments, as well as water and sewer lines.
The old waterfront along the Cape Fear River in downtown Wilmington, NC, on January 27, 1965. Also pictured is Fergus' Ark.
Turnout was expected to be high after the city saw “an additional 816 names on the poll books during the special registration period leading up to the election.” This gave the Port City almost 14,000 registered voters.
Several polling places included Hemenway Hall, Atlantic Motors, Sunset Park Junior High School, Shew's Credit Store and the New Hanover County Courthouse.
More than half of urban voters turned out as the six bond measures received overwhelming approval.
“This is a real victory for the citizens of Wilmington,” said Herb McKim, president of the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. “The community is really ready to move forward.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: When Wilmington, NC, voted to expand city limits in 1963
