A Multi-Decadal Investigation of Tidal Creek Wetland Changes, Water Level Rise, and Ghost Forests

Coastal wetlands play a vital role in protecting coastlines, which makes the loss of forested and emergent wetlands devastating for vulnerable coastal communities. Tidal creeks are relatively small hydrologic areas that feed into larger estuaries, are on the front lines of the interface between saltwater and freshwater ecosystems, and are potentially the first areas to experience changes in sea level. The goal of this study was to investigate wetland changes through time at two tidal creeks (Smith Creek and Town Creek) of the Cape Fear River estuary in southeastern North Carolina, USA, to determine if there is a spatial relationship between habitat change, physical geography characteristics, and the rate of wetland migration upstream. Historic aerial photography and recent satellite imagery were used to map land cover and compute change through time and were compared with derived physical geography metrics (sinuosity, creek width, floodplain width, floodplain elevation, and creek slope). The primary results were: (1) there was a net gain in emergent wetlands even accounting for the area of wetlands that became water, (2) wetlands have migrated upstream at an increasing rate through time, (3) land cover change was significantly different between the two creeks (P = 0.01) where 14% (67.5 ha) of Smith Creek and 18% (272.3 ha) of Town Creek transitioned from forest to emergent wetland, and (4) the transition from emergent wetland to water was significantly related to average change in creek width, floodplain elevation, and average water level. In conclusion, this research correlated habitat change with rising water level and identified similarities and differences between neighboring tidal creeks. Future research could apply the methodologies developed here to other coastal locations to further explore the relationships between tides, sea level, land cover change, and physical geography characteristics.

Wilmington Falls

The U.S. Army marches on Wilmington in two wings, one up the eastern peninsula and other up the west bank of the Cape Fear. Ironclad monitors provide artillery support form the river itself. Nine regiments of USCT attack the entrenched line at Sugar Loaf, but cannot breach it. Across the river, local blacks act as scouts, and under their guidance 6,500 troops commanded by Maj. Gen Jacob D. Cox are able to flank the rebel positions at Fort Anderson and Town Creek, forcing an evacuation of the Sugar Loaf position directly across the river as well. On Washington’s Birthday, Wilmington surrenders to US. troops.

Early Mississippian in the North Carolina Piedmont

The topic of Mississippian origins in the North Carolina Piedmont has received very little attention from archaeologists since the 1950s. This chapter pulls together information from multiple sites, especially the extensively excavated Town Creek site, to present an overview of Early Mississippian in the North Carolina Piedmont. The presence of Mississippian lifeways in the region is indicated by the appearance of complicated-stamped ceramics by around A.D. 1150-1200. Associated social changes include the appearance of archaeologically visible households and the development of a civic-ceremonial center at the Town Creek site. Public and domestic architecture as well as evidence for ritual activities suggests that social groups interacted and were integrated at multiple scales within the Early Mississippian community at Town Creek.

Community and Ritual Within the Mississippian Center at Town Creek

This article evaluates aspects of an occupational history that was developed for the Town Creek site, a small Mississippian center in the North Carolina Piedmont that was occupied sometime between A.D. 1150–1400. Town Creek’s occupational history suggests that its Mississippian community consisted of multiple, discrete household groups, and that these groups were important throughout the center’s existence. Analyses of architectural, mortuary, and ceramic data indicate that Town Creek began as a town with a substantial domestic population, but it evolved into more of a vacant center later in time. This decline in domestic population coincided with significant evidence for site-wide ritual activity that included the construetion of a platform mound and the use of cemeteries in former house locations. Parallels between the small center at Town Creek and some of the largest Mississippian centers, especially the persistence of household-group spaces and an emphasis on ritual activities later in time, suggest that interaction among discrete social groups within a ritual context was a salient part of being Mississippian.