This one-way street in Wilmington once welcomed drivers with a sign of an Eskimo girl
Today, there are not many one-way roads in Wilmington. Some of them have roots near or in the downtown area.
One of those is Dawson Street.
Dawson Street was named after John Dawson, who was born in Ireland. Dawson was magistrate of police in 1851 and again in 1853. He was mayor of Wilmington when the city was surrendered to Union troops after the Civil War on Feb. 22, 1865.
Dawson died at age 80, Sept. 28, 1881, and is buried in Oakdale Cemetery.
Coming east off the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is where Dawson Street stretches from the intersection of South Third Street off the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge to Wrightsville Avenue.
Most of the street runs parallel to one-way Wooster Street, which takes traffic west to Dawson's traffic moving east.
Dawson Street was known for a Dairy Queen location, which featured a sign with an Eskimo girl holding an ice cream cone. It was a Wilmington landmark for 48 years until 1998, when the old Dairy Queen at the corner of 17th and Dawson streets was sold.
Dairy Queen then built a location across the street, which recently closed.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: What's behind the name of Dawson Street in Wilmington, NC
