A statewide bond referendum for $8.7 million to develop the facilities failed to pass in November 1924, and the commission disbanded.

[1] The General Assembly established the North Carolina State Ports Authority in 1945 to develop and improve harbors at Wilmington, Morehead City, Southport, and other coastal areas.

[1] In the 1990s and early 2000s, the authority oversaw a $440 million project to deepen the Cape Fear River shipping channel and purchased Radio Island in Morehead City.

Modern transit and warehouse facilities and the latest cargo management technology produce a broad platform for supporting international trade.

It serves as a distribution point for intermodal containers connecting the I-85 and I-77 corridors to the CSX rail line and the Port of Wilmington.