But, Wilmington was protected by what is called Eagles Island, because now when those rivers kept splitting like that, they formed little islands where the river was running to the north and to the south of these landmasses. When they finally came back together, they formed little islands, and Eagles Island was one of them.

Eagles Island was uninhabitable, but Eagles Island was ideal for rice planting. So a lot of farmers or people who were entrepreneurs at that time got together and started planting—for sale—rice. They formed a whole lot of rice plantations because Eagles Island was ideal for the growth of rice.