The Boathouse

In the last few days I have mentioned the old USLSS boathouse which is on Lighthouse Road. Although it has been moved southwest a hundred feet or so from its original location, raised, and remodeled inside, the boathouse looks much like it did many decades ago. This building was where the surfmen from the 1903 station (the station stood near where the current NCCAT Center/Old Coast Guard Station is today) stored their surfboat.

In the early twentieth century, the property on which the boathouse stood was on the edge of the "bald beach." From the large wooden doors all the way to the ocean there was nothing but tidal flats. No cedars, live oaks, yaupons, or other vegetation stood in the way of the life savers.

With the call, "Ship Ashore!," the surfmen rushed to the boathouse, threw open the doors, hitched their team of horses to the cart holding their surfboat, and proceeded directly across the flats to the beach.

Today a veritable forest of trees and vegetation lies between the boathouse and the ocean.

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Looking for holiday gifts? Village Craftsmen's on-line catalog is filled with quality American made hand crafts. Click on the photo below to visit our page of pewter measuring cups.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a 1921 letter written by a former slave, Harrison Williams, to Ocracoke native, Martha Ann Howard Wahab. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112113.htm.