Gov. Morehead’s influence continues to resonate

Morehead City’s port is considerably smaller than its “sister port” in Wilmington, but the Morehead City facility was officially dedicated as North Carolina’s “first” state port on Aug. 14, 1952. 

(A dedication ceremony for Wilmington’s port occurred about a month later.)

The event in Morehead City was a big deal and historic occasion. State dignitaries and local officials rolled out the red carpet to welcome 82-year-old John Motley Morehead III to town to deliver keynote remarks at the Port of Morehead City ceremony.

He was the grandson of former North Carolina Gov. John Motley Morehead, who would become the namesake for a town that began to form in 1857. 

Establishment of the port here as well as the extension of the railroad from Goldsboro to the coast were masterminded by the former governor.

Indeed, Gov. Morehead became known as the “Father of Modern North Carolina” for driving industrialization and building infrastructure, especially railroads and improved waterways.

 A large crowd assembled in 1952 for the purpose of showing respect and paying tribute to John Motley Morehead III. He was a fairly famous guy himself, having attained great wealth as a chemical engineer, inventor and industrialist.

 

John Motley Morehead III (at right) is shown here with R. Gregg Cherry, North Carolina’s governor from 1945-49. 

One of his Morehead's early scientific discoveries was the development of a process to economically manufacture calcium carbide…leading to the formation of Union Carbide Corporation in 1917. 

(Union Carbide became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company in 2001.)

As a philanthropist, John Motley Morehead III gave generously to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Graduating in the Class of 1891, he established the Morehead Foundation, which provided funding to launch the renowned Morehead Scholars Program as well as build Morehead Planetarium and the Genevieve B. Morehead Memorial Art Gallery on campus.

 

Additionally, John Motley Morehead III and Rufus Lenoir Patterson Jr. (a cousin, classmate and fraternity brother) presented the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower to the university.

John Motley Morehead III told everyone who attended the 1952 ceremony at the Morehead City Port that he was proud to come to Morehead City to comment on his grandfather’s “heritage, dreams and fulfillment.”

He said: “As the ship channels are further deepened through the sandbars to the sea, the ports of Morehead City and Wilmington will become increasingly hopeful North Carolina centers of commerce, as a vital part in a more prosperous and peaceful world.”

Those treasured words have been modernized over time. In 2026, the mission of the North Carolina State Ports Authority is “to be the gateway to global markets and to enhance the economy of North Carolina by supporting and improving the state’s logistics network.”

 

In general terms, “a logistics network includes facilities, means of transport and processes that allow products to flow from the supplier to the final consumer.”

One reliable source tells us: “Logistics is of utmost importance in the present day, as it plays a crucial role in the smooth functioning of global trade, commerce and transportation.”

It’s good to know that “commerce” is still an essential word.

In 2023, the John Locke Foundation, based in Raleigh, commissioned the Reason Foundation of Los Angeles, Calif., to conduct an independent evaluation of the North Carolina state ports. 

The report was prepared by Jay Derr, a transportation policy analyst at Reason.

 

Derr said that the Morehead City and Wilmington ports “generate $16.1 billion in economic output for North Carolina.”

It’s important for policymakers to continue investing wisely in the state ports in order to enhance North Carolina’s competitive position, Derr said.

Former Gov. Morehead and John Motley Morehead III would be pleased to hear it.