Saturday, November 5, 2011

Hugh Morton Helps Bring the USS North Carolina Home

From the September 20th Wilmington (NC) Star News.

Hugh Morton was born Feb. 19, 1921, in Wilmington, NC, and attended college at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

he was president of the North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington in 1948 and was the first chairman of the Battleship Commission in 1961.

He inherited NC's Grandfather Mountain from his grandfather, Hugh McCrae, in 1952. he soon extended a road to the top of it and built the Mile-High Swinging Bridge. It was Mr. Morton who made Grandfather Mountain into a successful tourist attraction.

He died June 1, 2006.

According to the June 12, 2006, Wautauga (NC) Democrat, at the memorial service for Morton, Dr. William Friday said, "He knew the battleship North Carolina would be a major attraction. He knew that by involving thousands of children on that project...they would learn the struggles of World War II and the role that this great battleship played, being our most decorated combat ship in the Pacific."

Hugh Morton, A Man of Vision. --DaCoot

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