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Holden Beach is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census.

Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 787 people, 379 households, and 272 families residing in the town. The population density was 102.3/km² (265.3/mi²). There were 2,062 housing units at an average density of 268.1/km² (695.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.73% White, 0.38% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.25% Asian, and 0.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.13% of the population.

There were 379 households out of which 11.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.3% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.43.

In the town the population was spread out with 11.9% under the age of 18, 1.7% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 44.3% from 45 to 64, and 25.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $59,583, and the median income for a family was $70,000. Males had a median income of $45,833 versus $41,094 for females. The per capita income for the town was $35,114. About 4.4% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

History

Before the American Revolution, early settler seeking land near Lockwood's Folly River applied for patents and received warrants for surveys of selected tracts. Upon payment of fifty shillings for each hundred acres, the warrantee could receive a permanent grant for Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs

Benjamin Holden in 1756 bought four mainland tracts and the island between his plantation and the ocean. This island extended from Lockwood's Folly Inlet west six miles to Bacon Inlet. Benjamin and his sons used the island for fishing and cattle grazing.

John Holden, Benjamin's grandson, started a commercial fishery on the island and in 1924 surveyed a section which he called Holden Beach Resort, the plat of which represented the first subdivision of beach property in Brunswick County (NC). In 1925 he built the Holden Beach bridge; it was subsequently destroyed by the Inland Waterway construction. "Mr. Johnny" negotiated with the state of North Carolina for the institution of a public ferry to reach the island, but he did not live to see the ferry begin operation in 1934.

Luther Holden, John's on, operated the hotel that his father had built, started development of the property nearby and became a permanent resident in 1946, Soon afterwards, other developments were started west of the ferry location.

By 1954 the island had about 300 homes and a turnbridge. After that year's destructive Hurricane Hazel, rebuilding was slow. On February 14, 1969 the island was incorporated and on May 13, 1986 the Town of Holden Beach dedicated a new high-rise steel and concrete bridge, allowing better access to the more than 1700 homes on the island.

Government

The mayor is Norman Meares and Mayor Pro-Tem is Gary Staley. Commissioners are Charlie Boyle, John Heimlich, Patricia Sandifer and Sandy Miller.

Geography

Holden Beach is located at 33°54′55″N, 78°17′11″W (33.915271, -78.286459)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.9 km² (3.4 mi²). 7.7 km² (3.0 mi²) of it is land and 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (13.95%) is water.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia