Historical marker in downtown Wilmington has had some rough years, but should soon return

Since it was first cast in 1949, a historical marker honoring the 1812 war hero Capt. Johnston Blakeley has stood outside the historic New Hanover County Courthouse at Third and Princess streets in downtown Wilmington.

The marker has had a rough few years, though, and if you go looking for it today, you won't find it. But that should change soon.

After standing more or less unmolested for decades, the marker was destroyed by Hurricane Florence in 2018.

According to Michele Walker, public information officer with the N.C. Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources, "The marker was replaced in 2019 and then was struck by a car in 2021."

The marker was then sent for repairs, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing and other issues, that process took much longer than it had in the past.

"We believe it has been repaired and shipped back to our partners at (the N.C. Department of Transportation) and we’re waiting for an update on getting it reinstalled," Walker said.

Who was Blakeley, and what was his importance to Wilmington? It's quite the story.

According to a history of Blakeley's life on NCPedia, a North Carolina history site maintained by the N.C. Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources, Blakeley was born in Ireland in 1781, then moved with his family to Charleston, South Carolina, when he was just 2 years old. After his mother and younger brother died, Blakeley moved to Wilmington with his father, who became a merchant and operated a series of warehouses.

Blakeley spent his childhood in Wilmington in the 1780s at a home on the corner of Front and Princess streets before being sent to private school in Long Island, New York in 1790. He returned to Wilmington after his father's death in 1796.

Blakeley attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1797 to 1799 but was left destitute when a fire in Wilmington destroyed the warehouses that were his source of income.

Blakeley then entered the U.S. Navy, eventually commanding a boat called the USS Enterprise, about two centuries before "Star Trek" became a thing. His fame came during the War of 1812, when he fought several successful battles against the British and destroyed a number of British ships.

In 1814, his ship, The Wasp, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. It's possible the ship was sunk by a British vessel, but it most likely was swamped by a storm.

At any rate, though his time in Wilmington was relatively brief, Blakeley's story is an early example of, if you grew up in Wilmington and go on to some fame, we will claim you, in this case, for the rest of history.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Historical marker to Capt. Johnston Blakeley in Wilmington, NC