Kure Beach Pier is the oldest fishing pier on the Atlantic Coast. My grandfather L.C. Kure first built the pier in 1923. His father Hans A. Kure had bought the property the Town of Kure Beach presently encompasses around the turn of the century.

His dream, with his son's help, was to build an entertainment complex for the citizens of Wilmington to visit. Although many ideas were tried, for example, pavilion, bars,  bathhouse and cottages, the pier was the last idea to be built and the only to remain.

The first pier was 120 feet long and 22 feet wide. Pine poles were cut from the forest along the river and used as pilings.
Very little was known about sea worms or other marine borers, and as a result, the first pier was destroyed or fell down the first year.