Wilmington’s Sunset Park is a residential neighborhood located south of the historic downtown area in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. As of 2003, it had been classified as a national historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Submitted by Montrose Bain, circulation editor of the Wilmington Star, the name Sunset Park was chosen as the winning proposal for a new 600-acre (2.4 km2) development located about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina along the Federal Point Road (Carolina Beach Road). His contribution was awarded a $10.00 cash reward.

On March 9, 1912, the Fidelity Trust & Development Company purchased the 600-acre (2.4-kilometer-square) plot of land. The land was originally owned by T.F. Boyd, who lived in Hamlet, North Carolina, and was sold for $35,000.00. The first day of the public sale of parcels in Sunset Park was Monday, September 16, 1912, according to historical records. The date was later changed to Monday, October 7, 1912, due to a scheduling conflict.

A high-class planned neighborhood with vistas across the Cape Fear River and scenic Greenfield Lake, Sunset Park was envisioned by the Fidelity Development & Investment Company as a high-end development.

FD&I would ensure that all of the city’s amenities and modern enhancements were provided. Among the many services provided are street car service, electric lights, natural gas, sewage, walkways, and tree-lined Macadam-type streets and plazas, to name a few. The area is reported to be inspired after Atlanta, Georgia’s Ansley Park and Westland Estates, which are both residential neighborhoods.

The majority of the resources were constructed between the years 1910 and 1960 and combine Queen Anne, Bungalow/American Craftsman, Tudorbethan, Colonial Revival, Cape Cod (home), Ranch-style house, and Commercial building styles of architecture into their construction. The earliest homes are distributed along Northern and Central boulevards, while Cape Cod and Ranch style homes built in the 1940s to 1950s line the cross streets.

Architecturally, the first designs date back to the early 1910s and are in the Queen Anne style. The two-story residences have hipped or gabled roofs, wraparound porches, corner towers, bay windows, projecting wings, wood or imitation siding, shingles, ornate brickwork, and a variety of window styles, among other features. The neighborhood is primarily residential.

When the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company extended its facilities on property intended for Sunset Park residences along the eastern border of the Cape Fear River from 1940 to 1943, a huge number of homes were completed in a very short period of time.

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