A pastor who wrote a key eyewitness account of 1898 Wilmington Coup soon will be recognized with a new North Carolina Highway Historical Marker in Wilmington.
The marker honoring the Rev. J. Allen Kirk, who was a leader in the African American community in the port city, will be unveiled on the anniversary of the coup. Kirk was pastor of the prominent Central Baptist Church, now known as Central Baptist Missionary Church, the oldest African American church in Wilmington.