Carolina Beach - Street scene.
Carolina Beach is located on the Federal Point peninsula, bounded on the west by the Cape
Fear River, and on the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean. An attempt was made to settle
the area in the early 1880s by Joseph Winner (1843-1902) and his wife, Anna. The
development of the Town of St. Joseph failed largely because of a very poor roads to the
coast. By the mid 1880s, the New Hanover Transit Company was operating a steamship line
from Wilmington to Southport and the company bought property on the peninsula for
development. With the river steamers providing easier access to the area, the Transit
Company built a quaint little railroad (later known as the "Shoo Fly") to take
passengers from the wharf on the river to the beach. It was then that Carolina Beach
became a popular destination for people from Wilmington and across the state. The Town of
Carolina Beach was incorporated in 1925.
Hotel Royal Palm, located on Harper Avenue, was built in 1935, by W. G.
Fountain, an oil distributor in Wilmington. In recent years, the hotel's name was changed
to the Hotel Astor.