The USOs in Wilmington were operated by four agencies: YMCA, YWCA, National Jewish Welfare Board and the National Travelers Aid Association.
At the Hannah Block USO, there was a popular first floor canteen, a help desk for finding accommodations (hard to find in Wilmington whose wartime population swelled to 100,000 with all the defense workers) and a basement dorm that could house 600 on the weekends.
It was open around-the-clock, seven days a week. Big Band dances were especially popular and they also had wedding receptions.
At the height of the war, as many as 63,000 would pass through on a typical weekend.
In 1997, the building's owners, St. John's Museum of Art announced they were going to demolish the structure causing a public outcry. The city got it and put $2.1 million in repairs into it. It reopened in 2008 as the Hannah Block USO, named after a prominent Wilmington woman.
Glad They Kept This Important Aspect of the Homefront. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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