BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — During its regular meeting on May 13, the Pender County Board of Education voted unanimously to name the district’s new K-8 schools in Hampstead as J.H. Lea Elementary School and J.H. Lea Middle School.
The decision honors Joseph Hampton Lea (1891–1971), an entrepreneur and civic leader in Hampstead who was instrumental in improving local infrastructure. Lea established J.H. Lea & Sons Seafood, a company that would become a cornerstone of the local economy. The Lea family’s operations grew to supply restaurants and retailers all along the East Coast, helping to put Hampstead on the map as the “Seafood Capital of the Carolinas”.
It was an off-the-board choice, because Lea was not listed among the name finalists…