In its glory days, Freeman Beach was often called “Bop City.” People came from miles around for clam fritters, wooden dance floors, jukeboxes, and good times. Located on the southeastern coast of North Carolina, Freeman Beach was the only beach available to African-Americans in North Carolina for more than 50 years. Blacks were not permitted to swim at nearby Carolina Beach or at other beaches in the Wilmington area. Thus, Freeman Beach became the place the black community congregated to vacation, relax, and play.
Freeman Beach is the namesake of the Freeman family, African-Americans who lived across the intercoastal waterway in a town called Seabreeze. The original 99 acres near Myrtle Beach Sound were bought by Alexander Freeman, a freed slave, in 1855 and grew to 180 acres by the time of his death.
Many of the current members of the Freeman family can trace their lineage back to Alexander Freeman. Robert Bruce Freeman, Sr. inherited his father’s land, and in 1876 he procured additional land that was formerly Busy Hill Plantation and the Gander Hall Plantation. Land records from the New Hanover County Register show that ten acres of the land from the Gander Hall Plantation were donated to be used “for purposes of a [religious] campground.”1 This began the camp meetings that allowed the Black population to enjoy outdoor space without the intrusion of Jim Crow. In 1887, 24 acres was sold by Robert Bruce Freeman Sr. to W.L. Smith to create what is now Carolina Beach.2
Racially integrated at first, the attitude toward this arrangement began to change in early 1898 after a period of increasing racial tension in the area. Marketing for Carolina Beach began to exclusively target the white population. Black patrons of Freeman Beach had to be ferried over from Seabreeze; they were no longer welcome at Carolina Beach.3
In 1924 a multi-racial group of Wilmington professionals built a resort for African-Americans on Shell Island, across the Queen’s Inlet from Wrightsville Beach. This area preceded Freeman Beach as a popular beach for black North Carolinians. It was thought to be a physical manifestation of the displeasure felt regarding the inequality of opportunity for blacks in the social and recreational arenas.4 In 1926, three years after its founding, the resort on Shell Island was destroyed by a fire; at the time many believed the fire was set intentionally.
Soon after, tourism grew rapidly in Seabreeze, juke joints, dance halls, and new hotels were established – many with small beach huts where patrons could enjoy privacy. Hurricane Hazel caused erosion and heavy damage to the beach in 1954, as did subsequent storms in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Because Freeman Beach was not listed as a Wilmington-area beach, it did not receive aid to rebuild. This damage was exacerbated by the Carolina Beach Inlet Development Corporation’s establishment of an inlet from the Atlantic Ocean to the intercoastal waterway, claiming it would make access to the Atlantic Ocean easier.5
Visitors to Freeman Beach today can see the remnants of the businesses that provided the vibrant entertainment life enjoyed by the many visitors to Freeman Beach. The members of the Freeman family and other residents of nearby towns still share their recollections of parties on the beach, water baptisms on the shore, and fun family times in Bop City.
[1] Jennifer J. Edwards, “A Color Line in the Sand: African American Seaside Leisure in New Hanover County, North Carolina,” (University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003) 8.
[2] Deed Book YYY, Page 578, New Hanover County Register.
[3] William M. Reaves, Beverly Tetterton ed. Strength through Struggle: The Chronological and Historical Record of the African-American Community in Wilmington, North Carolina 1865-1950. 394
[4]) Strength through Struggle, 322.
[5] Jennifer J. Edwards, “A Color Line in the Sand: African American Seaside Leisure in New Hanover County, North Carolina,” (University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2003) 43.