The last of the old hotels: This downtown Wilmington skyscraper has stories to tell

It's one of the most imposing buildings in downtown Wilmington: The nine-story Cape Fear Hotel Apartments on Chestnut Street between Front and Second streets.

Built 100 years ago and opened on Jan. 10, 1925, it's the only surviving pre-World War II hotel downtown.

In his 1984 book “Wilmington, North Carolina: An Architectural and Historical Portrait,” Tony Wrenn wrote that the hotel, originally called the Hotel Cape Fear, "Is the last reminder of an era when guests arrived in Wilmington by passenger train, private railroad car, steamer, private yacht, or airplane, by automobile and even, occasionally, by chauffeured limousine."

Wilmington was booming when the hotel was built to handle overflow business from older hotels like the Orton (across from the current-day post office) and the Hotel Wilmington, which was near Front and Red Cross streets. Both the Orton (fire) and the Wilmington (razed) are gone, as are other, smaller hotels from back in the day like the Carolina at Third and Market streets and the Brunswick Hotel at Front and Grace streets next to the current-day Cotton Exchange.

The push for a hotel at Second and Chestnut streets began in 1919, when the lot was first acquired. Initial plans fell apart and a new ownership group came in in 1922. The hotel immediately became a focal point of civic life in Wilmington.

Wrenn's book notes that in 1926 a new Stutz automobile was put on display in the lobby, attracting more than 1,000 visitors. Legendary newsman and Wilmington native David Brinkley recalled covering various civic meetings once held at the hotel for the StarNews (then located downtown) in the 1930s and '40s.

The hotel originally had 150 rooms, though 35 were added in a 1938 addition.

When World War II began, the building was called into service. In 1942, its rooftop became an official Aircraft Warning Service observation post and was manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week by volunteers looking for any approaching aircraft.

Also in 1942, the U.S. Army took over the hotel's cafe in order to use it as a Women's Army Corps (WAC) mess hall, according to Wrenn's book.

In the '50s the hotel was still a prominent destination, and in 1958, Wilmington resident and author Nan Graham recalled to the StarNews in 2007, members of the Azalea Festival queen's court, college students like herself and pageant winners from around North Carolina, were put up there during the festival.

Exactly when it stopped being a hotel isn't clear, but probably in the 1960s or certainly by the 1970s. By the 1980s it had been transformed into affordable housing for seniors, which it remains.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Cape Fear Hotel in downtown Wilmington, NC was built 100 years ago in 1924