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Holden Beach is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Holden Beach is located at 33°54′55″N 78°17′11″W  /  33.915271°N 78.286459°W  / 33.915271; -78.286459 .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.9 km ² ).3.0 square miles (7.7 km ² ) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km ² ) of it (13.95%) is water.

Government

The Holden Beach Mayor is J. Alan Holden and the Mayor Pro-Tem is Sandy Miller. Commissioners are Ray Lehr, Don Glander, Ken Kyser and Gary Staley.

History

Before the American Revolution, early settlers seeking land near Lockwood's Folly River applied for patents and received warrants for surveys of selected tracts. Upon payment of fifty shillings for each 100 acres (400,000 m ² ), the warrantee could receive a permanent grant for Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs.

Benjamin Holden in 1756 bought four mainland tracts and the island between his plantation and the ocean. This island extended from Lockwood's Folly Inlet west six miles (10 km) to Bacon Inlet. Benjamin and his sons used the island for fishing and cattle grazing.

John Holden, Benjamin's grandson, started a commercial fishery on the island and in 1924 surveyed a section which he called Holden Beach Resort, the plat of which represented the first subdivision of beach property in Brunswick County (NC). In 1925, he built the Holden Beach bridge; it was subsequently destroyed by the Inland Waterway construction. "Mr. Johnny" negotiated with the state of North Carolina for the institution of a public ferry to reach the island, but he did not live to see the ferry begin operation in 1934.

Luther S. Holden, John's son, operated the old hotel that his father had built, started development of the property nearby and became a permanent resident in 1946. Soon afterwards, Luther S. Holden's son (John F. Holden) began building other homes and renting them to vacationers. Soon afterwards, smaller other developments were started west of the ferry location. Back in the early 1940s one could buy an oceanfront house with the land for about $600 dollars. John F. Holden and his wife Johnsie M. Holden actually began the development of Holden Beach that would slowly become a resort area. John and Johnsie Holden had two sons who are named Lyn Holden and J. Alan Holden. Lyn has four children and Alan one son. Lyn and Alan are the 7th generation of Holden's to live on Holden Beach. Alan's son, and his family live on the island today as well.

In 1954, the island had about 300 homes and a turnbridge. After that year's destructive Hurricane Hazel, which hit on Oct. 15, 1954, the rebuilding was slow. On February 14, 1969, the island was incorporated and, on May 13, 1986, the Town of Holden Beach dedicated a new high-rise steel and concrete bridge, allowing better access to the more than 1900 homes on the island.

The one church on the island, the interdenominational Holden Beach Chapel, began as a Bible study in the home of Luther S. Holden and several other resident families on the island. Eventually land was donated and the church was erected in the 1940s. It was destroyed by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, but was rebuilt shortly thereafter. Today the chapel serves the many hundreds who vacation on the island during Summer.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 787 people, 379 households, and 272 families residing in the town. The population density was 265.3 people per square mile (102.3/km ² ). There were 2,062 housing units at an average density of 695.2/sq mi (268.1/km ² ). The racial makeup of the town was 98.73% White, 0.38% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.25% Asian, and 0.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.13% of the population.

There were 379 households out of which 11.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.3% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.43.

In the town the population was spread out with 11.9% under the age of 18, 1.7% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 44.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $59,583, and the median income for a family was $70,000. Males had a median income of $45,833 versus $41,094 for females. The per capita income for the town was $35,114. About 4.4% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau . http://factfinder.census.gov . Retrieved 2008-01-31 .  
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25 . http://geonames.usgs.gov . Retrieved 2008-01-31 .  
3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03 . http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html . Retrieved 2008-01-31 .  

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