Jacob's Run, North carolina
There are several legends associated with a downtown tunnel called Jacob's Run connecting historic buildings to the river. Some say it was a path for slaves during the Civil War, others say it served as a way out for persons fleeing the British invasion of Wilmington during the Revolutionary War, and, more unfavorably, an escape route for prisoners fleeing the old jail on Fourth and Princess streets. Though the legends cannot be proven, the tunnels do exist, and they are an interesting part of Wilmington's history.Wilmington is often called the Port City. Founded before America signed her Constitution, our lovely town sits on the East bank of the Cape Fear River. As the Cape Fear flows into the ocean, so creeks and streams flow into the Cape Fear. One of those streams was named Jacob's Run, after the man who owned the property the stream flowed through. Jacob's Run ran right through what is now downtown Wilmington, and as the city expanded in the early 1800's, the sides of the stream were reinforced with brick, and rot resistant wood was laid to seal the bottom. Later, as streets and buildings were constructed, the top of the stream was covered with brick, effectively sealing off the stream from the city above. And so Jacob's Run went underground, becoming the stream of legend and speculation.
Jacob's Run was named for Joseph Jacobs, an architect who lived at the South East corner of North Fourth and Princess Streets in the late 1700's and early 1800's. The stream starts at the Von Glahn house on North Fifth Avenue and flows, under our streets and buildings, to the foot of Dock Street and the Cape Fear River.
Dock Street hides the mouth of Jacob's Run under a wooden deck overlooking the Cape Fear River. There are seven manhole covers at the intersection of Water and Dock, entrances to the tunnel underneath. Before she was bricked over to make way for a bustling town, Jacob's Run is said to have flowed deep all the way up to the intersection of Second and Market, deep enough for boats to sail at the high tide. For now, the ocean's briny water flows up the old tunnel to Front and Dock at high tide.
Across Front Street is Roudabush's. The sign outside of this Wilmington Landmark reads 'Wilmington's Oldest Seed House', and Roudabush's interior proves the sign correct. When you enter the push-in-not-out door, you are greeted with the scent of sulfur and fire ant killer, the click of scissors cutting ribbon for bouquets, and the comfortable drawl of men discussing how much Lime is needed for their gardens. The floor is wooden, the seed displays and layout traditional. There is a mysteriously seductive quality to walking the floor though, when you know that the stream lives and flows a couple feet below.
Robert Roudabush and his father William have seen this shop through 65 years of business. Robert, a kind man with a soft manner and a gentleman's way of dressing, was hesitant to talk about Jacob's Run. He said there was a lot of controversy about the exact location of the stream, but did remember a day, several decades earlier, when his father's car sank in the parking lot beside the old Barefoots Jackson building, 'right about where the brick color changes'. It was thought that Jacob's Run might be the cause, and later surveys did indeed place the course of the stream up from below Roudabush's and behind the Barefoots Jackson building.
The underground stream plotted its course from the Dixie Grill side of Market Street across the intersection of Second and Market to the Cooperative Bank. On the Market Street median, cars, trucks, and city buses pass over the ten manhole covers that provide access to underground pipes. Farther up on the right was the Burgwin-Wright house, in which legend says soldiers escaped through Jacob's Run from the British dungeon when the property was occupied in the Revolutionary War. The Burgwin-Wright house, like many houses in its day, installed their drainage pipes to run to the underground stream. The prisoners escaped into the pipes and made their way to the river, and their freedom, through Jacob's Run.
Legend also has it that Second and Market was the site of the 'Mud Market'. Fishing boats could float up the stream from Dock Street to the intersection of Second and Market on the high tide. The town hall was located there, with a fish market underneath. Because of the fish market, and the mud generated by the stream and river, the site was dubbed 'Mud Market'. This legend gained some credit when city crews found a small fishing boat in the vicinity of Second and Market in 1907 while making street repairs.
In 1928, the bricked over Jacob's Run developed a blockage under the News-Dispatch, and soaked newsprint stored in the first floor of the building. Digging exposed the clogged tunnel's arched roof five feet under the building. The tunnel at that point was 60 inches high and 30 inches wide.
The Wilmington News-Dispatch building was leveled in 1958, and Jacob's Run was diverted by modern drainage pipe from the building's foundation to the adjacent parking lot to allow for construction of the Cooperative Building.
Jacob's Run was eventually cut off at Second and Market and diverted to a new drainage system in the late 1920's, leaving the bricked stream below that point to carry only river water at the tides.
Jacob's Run traces eastward from Cooperative Bank to the Red Dinette on Third Street. Formerly a Livery Stable, then an auto parts store, the Red Dinette still has many of the building's original features, including the vaulted wooden ceiling, brick walls, and stone floor. Employees were familiar with the fact that the stream ran under their store, and said they had encountered Jacob's Run when moving the bathrooms to the front of the store during remodeling.
Across Third Street from the Red Dinette, the newer drainage line and Jacob's Run bisect again. In front of the Old Courthouse parking lot the rain gutter has a blue spray painted message, 'Keep Clean! Flows to Cape Fear River'. But the water doesn't flow through Jacob's Run, which is 17 feet below street level. Instead, our rainwater runoff flows through twentieth century drainage pipe straight down Market Street to the river. In 1951 Jacob's Run collapsed a section of Third Street, causing a hole to form in the pavement. A new drainage pipe was installed to reinforce the stream, and the street was repaired.
Walking up Princess Street from Third to the origin of Jacob's Run at the Von Glahn House on Fifth Avenue, I passed the Courthouse and Sheriff's Department. Legend says that two prisoners once escaped from the old brick jail that sat where the new courthouse stands today. The prisoners fled several blocks through Jacob's Run, but were caught emerging at the Dock Street opening. The tunnel they fled through was only five feet high at it's tallest, and undoubtedly filled with sewage and waste from all the houses along the way. History never commented on the condition of the unlucky escapees after their several blocks trip through Wilmington's drainage system.
When reporters from the Star News visited the tunnel for a story several years ago, they described it as unbearably hot and humid. The Burgwin-Wright entrance is accessible by city permit only, because of safety issues. The 'waterproof' wood laid at the bottom is now rotted, and the brickwork, though distinctive, is crumbling. Ronnie Donley, Streets Manager for the City of Wilmington, describes Jacob's Run as "pretty big", with an "arched brickway", but doesn't recommend going down there due to the decay. So, if you are thrown in jail, leave visions of escape down Jacob's Run to legend, because you might not make it safely to the river.
Though several have tried, escape through the old stream downtown has not been solely reserved for prisoners. Other legends name Jacob's Run as a refuge and pathway for runaway slaves, but specifics have been lost to antiquity. Jacob's Run has also been named as an underground pathway for the bodies of Yellow Fever victims traveling from ships to the Bellevue Cemetery. Whatever legends there are, Jacob's Run is definitely a living part of Wilmington's history.
Source: http://members.aol.com/khlisson/jacobsrun.html
