At 814 Market Street in downtown Wilmington, you'll find the Cape Fear Museum. Founded in 1898, it is the oldest history museum in the state. The museum began when the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy set out to preserve artifacts relating to the Civil War; today it is owned and operated by New Hanover County.
The building you see is a layered story: the museum moved to this location in 1970, and the structure is a combination of an historic 1930s Works Progress Administration armory and a 1990s expansion. Inside, the collection tops more than fifty two thousand artifacts, though the vast majority remain in storage, and the museum actively collects items that tell the history, science, and cultures of the Lower Cape Fear — defined here as a 50-mile radius around the city of Wilmington. That region includes New Hanover and the adjacent counties of Brunswick and Pender, and reaches into portions of Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Duplin, and Onslow counties.
On the first floor you can explore The Michael Jordan Discovery Gallery. Picture the 1930s Works Progress Administration armory blending into its 1990s expansion, wing by wing.