WILMINGTON – Take a stroll through downtown Wilmington and you're bound to encounter history in every block.
Even if you aren't looking for it, the stories of the Cape Fear region stand out from the modernity of the ever-changing downtown district. Nowhere is this more true than on the front porch and lower level entrance of the Burgwin-Wright House, where striking sapphire-colored plaques are now fixed beside the doorways.
The hard-to-miss blue plaques are the first debuted in a new initiative by the Historic Wilmington Foundation to better signify a historic place's age and role in the city's larger history.
The new plaque's color signifies the structure it is found on is more than 200 years old. In fact, the Burgwin-Wright House itself is 250 years old (completed in 1770) and the stone structure it was built on – remnants of the city's first jail – is more than 270 years old.