March 23, 2024 Bellamy Mansion Museum

Around Our Town with Gene Merritt
Blog # 28
March 23, 2024

I am very pleased to feature the Bellamy Mansion Museum in my blog today. The museum is an historic and architectural iconic treasure of our city. The museum house itself is one of my favorite structures in downtown, and for that matter, the entire City of Wilmington. To me, it is a beautiful building, constructed with wonderful architecture.

To quote Wikipedia: “ The Bellamy Mansion, built between 1859 and 1861, is a mixture of Neoclassical architectural styles, including Greek Revival and Italianate and is located at 503 Market Steet in the heart of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. It is one of North Carolina’s finest examples of historic antebellum architecture.”

You may not know this, but the museum is not owned locally. It has been owned by Preservation North Carolina, Inc. since 1993. A local 15-member board of directors directs and manages the facility.

April, 2024 will mark 30 years since it opened as a museum.

The purpose of the museum is to interpret social history relating to the people who lived and worked here.

The slave quarters building is one of approximately 12 you can visit as a museum in the USA.

The buildings were occupied until the last of the original family, Ellen, died in 1966. A fire in 1972 badly damaged the main house. Renovations occurred from 1989-1993. It opened as a museum in 1994.

Except for holidays, the museum is open for tours from 10-4 every day of the week.

Bellamy has averaged 22,000 visitors per year for the last 10 years.

The museum is managed by four full time employees and five part-time weekend employees. Over 80 volunteers also contribute to the operations. A number of the volunteers do not live in Wilmington.

Gareth Evans is the Executive Director of the museum and has served in that role since 2010.

If you have never toured the Bellamy House, you are missing a treat. I encourage you to visit soon.

Following are current photos of the Bellamy House over the years. The history postcard photos were provided by Elaine Henson.