Description
Strolling the sand at Wrightsville Beach means you have seen our iconic pier. But do you know it’s history? The pier was originally called the Atlantic View Pier and was built in the 1930’s by Julian Morton (father of “Grandfather Mountain” entrepreneur Hugh Morton). Built after the devastating Wrightsville Beach fire of 1934, the Atlantic View Pier was the second oldest pier along the North Carolina coast (Kure Beach pier being the oldest). Located at 23 E. Salisbury Street, the pier was originally completely built of wood. (This year’s ornament pays homage to the original pier by including a wood look frame). It was later bought by Luther Rogers who sold it to Johnnie Mercer in 1939. Mercer was already running an “amusements” business at the pier so purchasing the entire pier was a natural fit for him. Mercer was an avid fisherman and renamed the pier for himself (he wasn’t the famous singer/songwriter). The pier remained a wooden pier for decades and was rebuilt of wood (pictured below) after Hurricane Hazel destroyed it in 1954.
Mercer died in a car crash in 1964 and his widow sold the pier to Bob and Shirley Johnson in 1969. (Their son, Matt Johnson, and his family, still own and run the pier today). The Johnson’s kept its name the Johnnie Mercers Pier.
Ultimately, the rebuilt wooden Johnnie Mercers Pier was destroyed by devastating back to back hurricanes. Hurricane Bertha’s arrival in 1996 began a four year period of frequent, damaging hurricanes for eastern North Carolina that would ultimately include Hurricanes Fran, Bonnie, and Floyd.
Hurricane Bertha took out 75 feet of the existing wood pier (pictured below), and was followed the same hurricane season by Hurricane Fran which took out the rest of it.
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