Formerly a commercial building, Dram Tree House was originally a vegetable dye factory and an interesting true story goes as follows: When a visiting circus came to town an elephant escaped, entered the dye factory, fell into a vat of purple dye and became the first purple pachyderm known to mankind!

The name Dram Tree is derived from the days of sail when Wilmington was a bustling port. There was a large tree on the banks of the Cape Fear River that, when in sight of incoming sailing ships, meant that a safe passage had been made through the treacherous shifting sand banks of Frying Pan Shoals. This was the signal to the crew to"splice the mainbrace", by opening a cask and tippling a dram of rum.!