William Tryon and William Houston Marker
Wilmington
Description: This granite slab memorializes the location of the residence of North Carolina governor William Tryon and the alleged site of the forced resignation of colonial Stamp Master William Houston in 1765. The marker is a short and thin granite slab with an inscription on the smooth upper portion of the stone. It backs up to a companion marker dedicated to Beery's Shipyard.
Image: Facing waterfront boardwalk | Facing North
Inscription:
HERE STOOD THE RESIDENCE OF /
WILLIAM TRYON, GOVERNOR OF /
NORTH CAROLINA, FROM APRIL 3, 1765, /
TO JUNE 30, 1771. STAMP MASTER /
WILLIAM HOUSTON WAS BROUGHT OUT /
FROM THE HOUSE AND FORCED TO /
RESIGN HIS OFFICE NOV. 16, 1765. /
NEW HANOVER HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Dedication date: The marker was installed likely sometime in the 1910s or 1920s.
Materials & Techniques: Granite
Sponsor: New Hanover Historical Commission
Subject notes: William Tryon was governor of North Carolina from 1765 to 1771, assuming office in Wilmington in 1765 during the height of the Stamp Act Crisis. Resistance to the stamp act was brought in the Lower Cape Fear area by local patriots, including Cornelius Harnett who was instrumental in the opposition group the Sons of Liberty. Apart from allowing the activities of the Sons of Liberty, Tryon attempted to thwart the resistance by preventing local election of representatives to the Stamp Act Congress. Incited by the Sons of Liberty, resistance and protest continued to mount in the eastern coastal cities, culminating in a crowd of some 400 forcing William Houston, the Stamp Master's resignation late in 1765.
Little appears to be known about the activities of the New Hanover County Historical Commission and their installation of similar small stone markers commemorating historical locations throughout Wilmington.
Location: The monument sits at the end of Market Street where it meets North Water Street, just across from the waterfront boardwalk. Adjacent to the Beery's Shipyard marker, the William Tryon and William Houston marker faces south.
Landscape: The monument is located in the cobblestone median dividing Market Street and is shaded by a tree.
City: Wilmington
County: New Hanover
Subjects: Revolutionary War
