Friday, February 14, 2025

Pender County Library to host history of steamboats

Everett Ward will host a presentation in Pender County next month on the history of steamboats. (Courtesy Pender County)

PENDER COUNTY — A presentation on the history of steamboats will be hosted in Pender County next month.

The Pender County Historical Society, in collaboration with the Pender County Library, will hold a free event that delves into the story of vessels with engines powered by steam.

The presentation, hosted by Everett Ward, will be held at the main library, 103 S. Cowan St. in Burgaw, at 10:30 a.m. July 22. Ward, born in Savannah, Georgia, was raised in Caswell, Pender County.

A former high school teacher, firefighter, and Wrightsville Beach fire chief, Ward will share tales on four steamboats: Lisbon, Frank Sessoms, Thelma, and Charles M. Whitlock. These are just a sample of the many steamers that once navigated the Black River, the Cape Fear, the Northeast Cape Fear, Moores Creek and Long Creek.

Steamboats represent an era from around 1866 to 1923, and illustrates a story of changing order, political transformation, and a new economy that emerged from the Civil War.

For more information, contact the Pender County Library at 910-259-1234.


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