The Seagate community has a rich history dating back over a century. The earliest maps on file with the New Hanover County Register of Deeds, dated 1914, show "Sea Gate Park" (Book 2, Page 31) developed on the site of an earlier town called "Greenville," which was laid out in rough square divided diagonally by the beach streetcar line (Park Avenue). The Allard-Newber House, circa 1905, is one of the earliest homes existing in Seagate.

The business and social center of old Seagate was commonly known as "The Hub," and was located at the intersections of Greenville Avenue, Pecan Avenue, Park Avenue, Lame Street, Greenville Loop Road, and Bagley Avenue. At the center of this hub the George Rogers home, where the Seagate Post Office operated until 1932. The old Seagate Station for the Tide Water Power company Rail Road and grocery stores were also located at The Hub.

Although local oral history describes Seagate as a fishing village, Seagate's history was greatly influenced by the evolution of transportation and growing interest in the beaches. The Tide Water Power Company, which dates back to 1850, operated the streetcars that carried passengers from downtown Wilmington to Wrightsville Beach. The train ran along Park Avenue, with several stations located along the way, and crosses Bradley Creek to reach Wrightsville Beach. The Wrightsville Turnpike (now Wrightsville Avenue), alternatively known as "the shell road," also brought passengers through Seagate. The Wrightsville Turnpike had three toll houses, one at 17th and Dock Streets, one in the Winterpark community, and one in Seagate at the Bradley Creek Causeway (demolished).

Also of note is "The Moorings," once the home of Confederate Naval officer John Newland Maffitt, located at the terminus of Pecan Avenue on Bradley Creek. The Maffit home burned in the 1920s and was replaced by the rectory for St. Andrews-on-the-Sound Episcopal Church. Today, The Moorings is a private residence. The hallmark architecture of Seagate, however, is the cottage. The landscape of Seagate was historically dominated by these modest single-family cottages and bungalows.