RFP #14 SHOO FLY TRAIN

 This mural will celebrate the Shoo Fly Train. In the late 1880s, a small train called the Shoo Fly took Wilmington passengers traveling to Carolina Beach.   

Before a road was built so cars could reach Carolina Beach, the Dance Pavilion was accessed via a Cape Fear River steamboat to a dock near Snow’s Cut, and the Shoo-fly train carried the visitors through the woods to the shore. It is supposed that the biting flies and mosquitoes were notorious, thus the name of the little train. 

With this new transportation, locals and tourists started going to Carolina Beach and making it a popular destination during the summer. Local families began moving to the beach for the summer months. Year-round residency did not really begin until the middle of the twentieth century. 

The location for mural #14 on Celtic Creamery wall located at 201 N Lake Park Blvd. The wall faces Harper Avenue. The south-facing wall is currently seafoam green and measures approximately 26‘ long by 25 ‘ high. 

RFP and historical photos are below.