Beery's and Cassidy's [Cassidey's] Shipyards Marker, Wilmington
The marker is a simple stone slab, approximately three feet tall, featuring an angled face and inscribed on the front. It commemorates the contribution of two local shipyards, Beery's and Cassidey's, to the manufacture of Confederate naval vessels during the Civil War. The marker backs up to a companion marker memorializing William Tryon and William Houston.
Images: Facing waterfront boardwalk | Facing South
ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE RIVER / A LITTLE SOUTH OF THE CAUSEWAY / WAS BEERY’S SHIPYARD, WHERE THE / CONFEDERATE IRONCLAD NORTH CAROLINA / WAS BUILT IN 1862 FOR THE PROTECTION / OF THE PORT. THE IRONCLAD RALEIGH / WAS CONSTRUCTED AT CASSIDY’S SHIPYARD, / NEAR THE FOOT OF CHURCH STREET, IN 1864. / NEW HANOVER HISTORICAL COMMISSION / A.J. HOWELL E.S. MARTIN / JAMES SPRUNT W.A. McGIRT
City of Wilmington
January 1920
34.235260 , -77.949700 View in Geobrowse
“All Markers Now in Place in County,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), January 28, 1921
"Beery's Shipyard," The American South (South Atlantic), The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed May 27, 2013) Link
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. "Beery's Shipyard," North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program, http://www.ncmarkers.com, (accessed May 27, 2013) Link
Steelman, Bennett L. 2006. "Cassidey's Shipyard," NCpedia.org, (accessed May 27, 2013) Link
Tuther, T. "Kelley's Wilmington Directory, To Which Is Added A, Business Directory, For 1860-61," (Wilmington, NC: Geo. H. Kelley, 1860), 27, (accessed June 18, 2013) Link
“Exercises Held at Historic Markers,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), June 10, 1919
“Historic Spots Will Be Marked,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), January 15, 1920
“Site of Tryon’s House Is Marked,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), May 9, 1919
Yes
Granite
New Hanover Historical Commission. Members of the commission sponsoring the monument, A.J. Howell, E.S. Martin, James Sprunt, and W.A. McGirt, were prominent Wilmington politicians and businessmen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
During the Civil War Wilmington was home to two shipyards important for the manufacture of Confederate naval vessels, Beery's and Cassidey's. The Confederate ironclad warship the CSS Raleigh, referenced in the monument's inscription, was manufactured at Cassidey's. The ironclad steamer CSS North Carolina, also honored in the inscription, was built at Beery's. Following the war, Beery's, the larger of the shipyards, bought Cassidey's. Beery's Confederate Navy Yard was located on Eagle's Island, across the river from Wilmington, and Cassidey's was located at the Wilmington waterfront at the end of Church Street.
The monument sits at the end of Market Street where it meets North Water Street, just across from the waterfront boardwalk.
The monument is located in the cobblestone median dividing Market Street, shaded by a small tree.