Columbus County NORTH CAROLINA VISITOR & RELOCATION GUIDE WHITEVILLE / TABOR CITY / CHADBOURN / LAKE WACCAMAW / FAIR BLUFF / BOLTON SMALL BUSINESS, FARM TO TABLE, RELAXED LIFESTYLE e 2| The News Reporter’s 15 Under 40 | July 2018 FESTIVALS, FITNESS, FAITH, FAMILY & MORE 2e :: thecolumbuschamber.com Lumber River Visitors Center Coming 2019 Visit Beautiful Fair Bluff CALLING ALL COOKERS! 7th Annual SAVE THE DATE! April 26-27 2019 Presented by the Greater Fair Bluff Chamber of Commerce For More Information, go to fairbluff.com/bbq-on-the-bluff or call 910-649-7202 2 :: thecolumbuschamber.com The Lumber River Visitors Center, opened January 3, 2011 as a place where locals as well as visitors can get information Lumber River about Fair Bluff and the Lumber River. Information and brochures are foundWelcome in the Visitors Center telling about great places to Welcome Visitors Center visit in Fair Bluff, like our River Walk and our Depot Museum. Established through a grant from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Commission, operated under LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF the Guidelines of the N.C. Department of ETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF HE OLUMBUS Transportation, aided by the Town of Fair L T HE C OLUMBUS C THAMBER C OF Bluff and the Greater Fair Bluff Chamber CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND TOURISM. of Commerce, the Visitors Center is located COMMERCE AND TOURISM. at 1140 Main Street, right in the middle of town. Two main Highways pass by the Center making up Fair Bluff's Main Street, N.C. 904 and US Hwy 76. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC. The Visitors Center is set up for meetings Whether you are planning to visit relocate and special events. Tours of the River Walk are featured and history of the City and the THANK YOU FOR YOURhere INT ERESor justT passIN C throughOLUMBUS you CwillOUN findTY that. N C. Lumber River. Whether you are planningour county toand visit, towns relocateare unique, here, quaint, orand just pass through, Please stop and visit us as you come through welcoming communities. Our small-town our beautiful town at 1140 Main St., Fair Bluff, N.C. Call us at 910-649-7202, or you will find that ouratmosphere county isand ideal towns for raising are a family or set- email us at [email protected] . Join us on unique, quaint, andtling welcoming in for retirement. communi Don’t let- our size fool Facebook at Facebook/Fair Bluff N.C. ties. Our small-townyou. atmosphereWe have a lot going is ideal on in Columbus County! Throughout the pages of this guide, for raising a family you’llor settling get a glimpse in for of whatretire makes- Columbus Visit Beautiful Fair Bluff ment. But, don’t letCounty our special.size fool Whether you, you we are an outdoor enthusiast looking to have a lot going onkayak in Columbus down our rivers, County! or enjoy the sights and sounds of one of our many cultural festivals, or simply desire to stroll “Mayberryesque” Throughout the pagesstyle throughof this the guide, downtown you’ll of one of our beautiful communities, get a glimpse of whatColumbus makes County Columbus has much to offer. I hope you will enjoy your CALLING ALL COOKERS! County special. Whethertime here, youwhether are for an a day, out a- week, or a lifetime. door enthusiast looking-Jennie to kayak Holcomb down our rivers, or enjoy the sights and sounds of one of our many cultural festivals, or simply desire to stroll 6th Annual “Mayberryesque” style through the downtown of one of our beautiful communities, Columbus County has much to offer. I hope you will en- joy your time here, whether for a day, a week, or a lifetime. SAVE THE DATE! April 28-29 Jennifer Holcomb 2017 Presented by the Greater Fair Bluff Chamber of Commerce For More Information, go to http://www.fairbluff.com/bbq-on-the-bluff or call 910-649-7202 2 | thecolumbuschamber.com #KeepItColumbus | 3 #KeepItColumbus :: 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Photo credits: On the cover: Fuller Royal ecotourism...p.5 Siouan Pow Wow Les High things to do & see...p.6 // A slice of Doug Sasser fun at the Fair Bluff Watermelon Jennifer Holcomb hunting & fishing...p.8 Festival // Tabor Grant Merritt accommodations...p.9 City Centennial Janis Creech festivals & events...p.10 Carillon Clock // Stuart Rogers Organic gardener Sarah Crutchfield healthcare...p.14 at the farmer’s Becky High business & industry...p.16 market // Lake Matt Watkins Waccamaw take me out to the ballgame...p.21 sunset // Black water kayaking need to know numbers...p.23 // Cape Fearless education & childcare...p.24 Extreme aerial park adventure columbus county map...p.26 //Chadbourn’s finest berries // our communities...p.33 Columbus County arts & culture...p.34 Fair // famous names & faces...p.36 faith & worship...p.39 food & fun...p.40 day tripper...p.42 preferred business directory...p.44 4 :: thecolumbuschamber.com Lake Waccamaw State Park hiking trail // Cypress tree cave // Venus fly trap in the Green Swamp // Kayaking at Lake Waccamaw // ecotourism COLUMBUS COUNTY IS ONE OF THE SOUTHEAST’S premier hunting and fishing locales. Covering 954 square miles, major swaths of the county are forested or intertwined with fertile fields. Beautiful Lake Waccamaw, one of the largest natural lakes between Florida and New York, is well known for its schools of white perch. Three wild and scenic rivers, the Lumber, Waccamaw and Cape Fear, wind their way through scenic lowlands on the way to the Atlantic Ocean and provide bass, catfish, crappie and bream fishing. #KeepItColumbus :: 5 things to do andsee Reuben Brown House // Reuben Brown House Preservation Society Federal era event // NC Museum of Natural Sciences on Madison Street // Face painting at Bug Fest at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences // Reuben Brown House Reuben Brown was a school master and this is his home, which is a late Federal - era farmhouse built between 1830 and 1840. It houses the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society which is a organization of concerned citizens preserving local history with period music and lit- erature events, as well as sponsoring the A.R. Ammons poetry contest in honor of the renowned American poet originally from Columbus County. The poetry contest has been the inspiration for area school children for 25 years and in 2018 hosted Tracy K. Smith, the Pulitizer prize winning National Poet Laureate. NC Museum of Natural Sciences The museum experience in Whiteville is modeled after proven inter- active programs at the museum’s Raleigh-based Nature Research Cen- ter, Nature Education Center and the Prairie Ridge Ecostation. The Whiteville museum features an Investigation Lab, Naturalist Center, Outdoor Nature PlaySpace and Discovery Forest. It offers education and inspiration to visitors free of charge. 6 :: thecolumbuschamber.com things things to do to do andsee andsee The NC Museum of Natural Sciences // Lake Waccamaw State Park Lake Waccamaw State Park things Face painting at Bug Fest at the Museum of Natural Sciences // Bug Fest at the Museum of Natural Sciences // encompasses Lake Waccamaw, a shallow, Carolina Bays lake that’s to do NC Museum of Natural Sciences one of the largest natural bodies of and The museum experience in Whiteville is modeled after waters from New York to Florida, The Fair Bluff River Walk see plus more than 2,000 acres of proven interactive programs at the Museum’s Raleigh-based The Fair Bluff River Walk offers beautiful lowland scenery and the Nature Research Center, Nature Education Center and the forest and shoreline. The lake is access is located in downtown Fair Bluff. Over time, the quiet com- munity has had a relationship that has ebbed and flowed with the river. Prairie Ridge Ecostation. The Whiteville museum features an home to several rare species of Outdoor enthusiasts are lured by black water kayaking and canoeing. Investigation Lab, Naturalist Center, Outdoor Nature PlayS- fish and mollusks, and the park Also available are trail hikes as well as a casual stroll down the Fair Bluff River Walk. pace and Discovery Forest. It offers education and inspiration contains naturally growing carniv- to visitors free of charge. orous plants such as the Venus flytrap. The park has a boat ramp, primitive campsites, hiking trails, a long boardwalk that extends into the 3X5-mile lake, and a visitor’s center with regular programs. Lake Waccamaw State Park Lake Waccamaw State Park encompasses Lake Waccamaw, a shallow, Carolina Bays lake that’s one of the largest natural bodies of waters from New York to Florida, plus more than 2,000 acres of forest and shoreline. The lake is home to several rare species of fish and mollusks, and the park contains naturally growing NORTH CAROLINA carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap. The park has a boat ramp, primi- NATURALIST CENTER tive campsites, hiking trails, a long boardwalk that extends into the 3X5-mile DISCOVERY FORESTMUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES lake, and a visitor’s center with regular programs. NATURE PLAYSPACE Historic Railroad Depots INVESTIGATE LAB AT WHITEVILLE Columbus County has six Historichistoric Railroad Depots railroad depots, four of whichColumbus are County has six historic railroad depots, four of which are museums. The museums. The depots in Lakedepots in Lake Waccamaw, Chadbourn (shown here), Fair Bluff and Tabor City Waccamaw, Chadbourn (shownhave artifacts and exhibits that represent here), Fair Bluff and Tabortheir City respective towns’ history and the his- tory of the railroad. The Riegelwood depot naturalsciences.org/whiteville • 910.914.4185 have artifacts and exhibits servesthat as that community’s library, and the represent their respective towns’Whiteville depot, known as Vineland Sta- tion, is the town’s civic center and hosts a history and the history of thelarge railnumber- of events.