Blockade Runner Beach Resort

Original Plaque Text:

Blockade Runner Beach Resort

1964

Oliver & Smith, Norfolk, VA

Architects

Originally called The Blockade Runner Motor Hotel, the 120-room building was constructed for Lawrence Lewis, Jr. (1918-1995), native of Wilmington, resort developer, founder of Flagler College and preservationist. Named for the blockade running business that made Wilmington famous during the Civil War, the hotel has been enlarged several times. It was purchased in 1971 by Four Seasons Management, Inc., led by Dr. Joseph Baggett (1916-2005), native of Fayetteville, NC. The hotel management continues with his heirs.

The Blockade Runner Beach Resort is comprised of two large mid-century modern buildings that feature clean, straight lines and uniformity across the windows, balconies, and other features. The exterior is boxy, with one building taller than the other, each longer in width than height, and the longer side facing parallel to the shorelines of Wrightsville Beach. The 7-story, 120-room original building built in 1964 was expanded in 1968 by 30 more rooms, bringing the total to 150 rooms and two dining rooms. The original 7-story building features vertical brick 'stripes' between the large, square windows, while the expansion features large balconies with an exterior staircase. The Blockade Runner Beach Resort, originally called the Blockade Runner Motor Inn, officially opened on March 22^nd, 1964, and is still in operation today.

The land that the Blockade Runner Beach Resort currently sits on was previously the site of two other hotels. The Seashore Hotel was a colonial-style hotel built in 1897 and which burned down in 1918.¹ The Seashore Hotel was located at "Station Three" of the railway that connected Wilmington to Wrightsville Beach.² The railroad, constructed ten years before The Seashore Hotel, replaced an 1880 road made of marl, oyster shells, and limestone nicknamed "Shell Road" as the primary method of reaching Wrightsville Beach.³ While Shell Road had three toll booths on it, limiting travelers to Wrightsville Beach to the wealthy, the Wilmington and Sea Coast Railroad allowed those with a moderate income to visit the beach for a day trip.

The Ocean Terrace Hotel opened in 1935 on the site of the former Seashore Hotel; however, it too burned down in 1955.⁴ The mayor of Wrightsville Beach at the time, Michael C. Brown, then purchased the site from the town for $40,000 and deeded it to Mr. Lawrence Lewis, president of the East Coast Hotel Company of Richmond, Virginia, to build a new hotel on.⁵ Lewis was a native Wilmingtonian and had previously successfully built a resort in the Bahamas. In developing what would come to be called the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, Lewis planned to build a two-story hotel with 100 rooms and a yacht basin.⁶ 

Lewis gave the Blockade Runner Motor Inn its name after the popularity of blockade runners in Wilmington during the Civil War.⁷ Additionally, at the time that Lewis was beginning construction on the resort in 1962, America was coming up on the centennial of the Civil War. The resort's lobby originally had a model of the blockade runner Hope and a map of the Lower Cape Fear during the Civil War.⁸ 

Soon after developing the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, Lewis established Flagler College in the former Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine, Florida, and funded much of the renovations for the college. Lewis also went on to join a number of historic preservation organizations, including the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board and the Virginia Historical Society.⁹ 

Lawrence Lewis owned the Blockade Runner Motor Inn until 1971, when he sold it to the Four Seasons Management Services, a corporation owned by a group of doctors, including Dr. Joseph Baggett, a gynecologist and obstetrician from Fayetteville, North Carolina.¹⁰ Dr. Baggett ultimately became the sole owner of the hotel and passed his ownership down to his children. In April 1984, Dr. Baggett's daughter, Mary Baggett Martin, took over management of the resort. Baggett Martin remained the owner and manager of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort for fifty-one years until it was sold to Castle Peak Holdings, a hospitality investment company, in 2022.¹¹ 

While Lewis should be credited for the construction and development of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, the Baggett family, particularly Mary Baggett Martin, should also be credited for operating the resort for over fifty years. During Baggett Martin's tenure as the manager of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, she emphasized sustainability and implemented measures to make the resort have a more positive environmental impact. Some of these measures include reducing the use of single-use plastic at the resort, creating a 'green team' of volunteers, and a stormwater diversion project.¹² Additionally, during Baggett Martin's management, the Blockade Runner Beach Resort presented the "Comedy Zone," which hosted rising comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres.¹³ 

Less than six months after Baggett Martin took over Blockade Runner, Hurricane Diana landed on North Carolina's coast as a Category 2 hurricane. Diana caused immense destruction to the resort, which had to close until 1985 for repairs. Since then, the Blockade Runner Beach Resort has withstood multiple hurricanes and storms, with Baggett Martin recalling nine hurricanes in which the resort was affected since her ownership.¹⁴ While the exterior of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort remains in the original midcentury-modern style, the interior has been updated continuously since 1964 and no longer reflects the midcentury style.

Despite the setbacks, the Blockade Runner Beach Resort has remained a Wrightsville Beach icon. It is one of the tallest buildings on the island and is the only resort in North Carolina to have direct access to both the ocean and the sound.¹⁵ As the longest-standing hotel on Wrightsville Beach, its historical journey signifies the dramatic growth experienced by the island.¹⁶ While Lawrence Lewis began the Blockade Runner Beach Resort’s history, the Baggett family played a pivotal role in shaping the resort over five decades, emphasizing sustainability and working to preserve the resort in the face of natural disasters.