HAMPSTEAD, NC – 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. This decision honors Joseph Hampton “Hamp” Lea, a figure whose legacy is deeply woven into the history and growth of the Hampstead community.
After hearing information concerning two public surveys that supported naming the schools Hampstead Elementary and Hampstead Middle, board members unanimously approved a motion to suspend Policy 9300 (Naming Facilities) which allowed board member Tom Reeves to make a motion for the Lea name.
Ahead of the vote, ten members of the Hampstead community, including Lea family members, spoke passionately in support of naming the schools after J.H. Lea.
Joseph Hampton Lea (1891–1971) was 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".
J.H. Lea Elementary and J.H. Lea Middle School are scheduled to open in the Fall of 2027. School mascots and colors have not yet been determined.