Airlie Gardens - Lake.

By 1910, Pembroke Jones (1858-1919) had acquired considerable acreage on the north shore of Bradley Creek. Jones was a wealthy man, who married Sadie Wharton Green (1859-1943). He named his property, "Airlie," after an English estate of the same name. After Jones' death in 1919, Mrs. Jones wed Mr. Henry H. Walters (1848-1931), another multi-millionaire and at the time of his death, the chairman of the board of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Soon, Mrs. Walters began to beautify the grounds with the aid of Rudolph A. Topel (1860-1937), a native of Danzig, Germany. His father was reputed to have served the German Kaiser as his landscape gardener. About 1948, and after the death of Mrs. Walters, the gardens were sold to Waddell A. Corbett, Sr. and were opened to the public. In January, 1999, New Hanover County purchased the property from the Corbett family for a public park.

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