Carolina Beach Area Info

Carolina Beach is on Pleasure Island, a barrier island at the southern edge of North Carolin’a New Hanover County. Pleasure Island didn’t actually become an island until 1930, though. Before 1930 the area was known as Federal Point and was connected to the rest of New Hanover County.

In 1927, Major William Snow of the Army Corps of Engineers was tasked with extending the Intracoastal Waterway from Beaufort to the Cape Fear River. Under Snow’s direction more than a million and a half cubic yards of earth was moved to create the waterway’s connection. The first bridge across Snow’s Cut was a temporary wooden one, which was replaced with a swing bridge, which itself was replaced with the current one in 1962.

The work came in $1.5 million under budget, which taxpayers particularly appreciated since the world was in the midst of the Great Depression. Major Snow was apparently a very charming and well-liked man, and the waterway separating Pleasure Island from the mainland was officially named Snow’s Cut in 1944.

Carolina Beaches roots go back further than that though. The first development on Carolina Beach was planned by a Wilmington merchant by the name of Joseph Winner in the 1880’s. Obviously a humble man, the community was named At. Joseph. While that community never came to be, there is still a road bearing the name. The town of Carolina Beach itself was not incorporated until 1925.