Postcards from the Past: The Dudley Mansion
Hunter Ingram @HunterIngramSN
The latest in the Cape Fear Unearthed series looks at the home once owned by a N.C. governor
On Thursdays through the end of 2019, Cape Fear Unearthed will tell the stories behind vintage postcards from Southeastern North Carolina's past. Listen to the Cape Fear Unearthed podcast for more local history stories at CapeFearUnearthed.com.
The Dudley Mansion may bear the name of its first resident, but he was not the only illustrious figure to call the famous downtown Wilmington estate home in its nearly 180 years.
In fact, if you look at postcards produced in the first quarter of the 20th century, they don't mention N.C. Gov. Edward Dudley at all. The mansion, which sits at the corner of Front and Nun streets, is instead dubbed the home of James Sprunt.
But its originator was Dudley, who was an officer in the War of 1812 before moving to Wilmington and climbing the political ladder one rung at a time, including two years serving as the region's representative in the state's House of Commons.
Dudley became the first state's governor elected by popular vote in 1836, a two-term reign that he used to advocate for Wilmington as the new home of what would become the Wilmington-Weldon railroad line. When it debuted in 1840, the last year of Dudley's governorship, it was the longest railroad line in the world.
While in Wilmington, Dudley inherited a stunning piece of property overlooking the Cape Fear River, on which he is said to have begun building his namesake mansion around 1825. By 1843, the home was complete and Dudley's influence and reputation quickly made it a popular spot. That year, a fire ripped through the home and claimed the roof and furniture.
Within the decade, Dudley had grown ill and started to rent out the massive home. He died in 1855, leaving his wife with the home, which she had already sold by the time of his passing.
It would change hands several times over the next 50 years, including half a decade under the ownership of J. Pembroke Jones, a very wealthy rice mill owner.
This is when the first known photograph of the home was taken, showing a cupola in the front of the home and two one-story wings on either side of the home, according to local historian Beverley Tetterton.
However, in 1895, however, James Sprunt moved in.
Sprunt is often referred to as the Chronicler of the Cape Fear, having been a pioneer in preserving and sharing the region's history in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In several postcards made around the turn of the century, he was notable enough that people wanted to share they had been to the town where he lived.
It was under Sprunt that the house was given a major facelift. He added a towering portico with tall, slender columns and raised the wings to two stories.
It dramatically altered the look of the home, which had been a staple of Front Street for going on a century at this point – so much so that postcards had to capture the grandeur of the renovated home.
Sprunt knew a thing or two about grand residences. At the time, he also owned Orton Plantation, the lavish estate built in 1726 near Brunswick Town, the first permanent settlement in the region.
It was under Sprunt's ownership that President William H. Taft visited the mansion during his stop in Wilmington in 1909.
He passed down the home to J. Lawrence Sprunt after his death in 1923, after which the columns and portico were removed, shaping up the facade to what it looks like today. Over the years, the home would host famous guests, enormous parties and remain a fixture of the historic downtown district.
It was a restaurant in World War II, and served as a headquarters for the Wilmington Elks Lodge No. 532 and the Historic Wilmington Foundation at various points. It fell into disarray around the new millennium, but was purchased by a historic preservationist at heart, who renovated the home to its former glory.
It now has three main living floors, six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, formal dining and living rooms, a wet bar, a gourmet kitchen, a library, a smoking room, office and access to a rooftop's observation deck with 360-degree views.
Nearly two centuries after it was first envisioned, the home is back on the market for a cool $2.595 million. But carrying this home into its next century will take a heart for history.
For its entire life, the Dudley Mansion has sat at the southern start of the Wilmington Riverwalk, an appropriately stoic and storied beginning to any tour of historic downtown.
Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com
Check out the rest of the Postcards from the Past series:
The Orton Hotel
The USO Club