Happy Holidays to All of our Readers!

We know that a number of our readers will be on the island during the upcoming holidays. Village Craftsmen will be open as follows:

Open every day, 10 am to 5 pm, except:

Open 10am - 3pm on Dec. 24
Closed Dec 25 & 26
Open 10am - 3pm On Dec 31
2018: Closed until mid-March

As we have been doing for several years, Village Craftsmen will again suspend our blog posts for about two weeks (look for our next post on January 8, 2018).

To all of our loyal readers and friends of Village Craftsmen, we wish you the best of the season.

Merry Christmas!

,

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Winter Solstice!

And a Happy New Year to All!

Look for our next post on Monday, January 8, 2018

Amy, Philip, Finley, Desirée, Sally, and David

American Indians in NC

Much of the history of the Outer Banks begins with Sir Walter Raleigh's 16th century expeditions to North Carolina. However, native peoples were hunting, fishing, and in some cases, living permanently on these sandy banks long before that.  

From Cultural Resources Studies, Eastern North Carolina above Cape Lookout, prepared by: Wilmington District U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with: N.C. Division of Archives and History, Archeology and Historic Preservation Section, May 1986 (image inserted):

"Indians living in northeastern North Carolina at the time of permanent white settlement linguistically belonged to the Algonquian tradition ...with the exception of the Tuscarora and the Meherrin who linquistically belonged to the Iroquoian tradition. The Algonquians in North Carolina, the southernmost of that language group on the North American continent, lived in an area extending from the Virginia border southward to Bogue Inlet and from the Outer Banks as far inland as present Plymouth, Washington, and New Bern.

North Carolina Algonquian

"The tribes, within this linguistic tradition included the Pasquotank, Yeopim, Poteskeet, Chowanoc, Machapunga, Bay or Bear River, Pamplico, Hatteras, Neusioc, and possibly the Coree. Such tribes were small in number and dominated by the more powerful, numerous, and warlike Tuscarora who lived just to the west of the Algonquians and to a great extent controlled the Algonquians. The Meherrin, who lived mainly in Virginia but who moved into North Carolina under pressure of the northern government, were confined to the east bank of the Chowan River as early as 1676.

"Early European contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of North Carolina resulted in an exchange of weapons, living habits, and language. However, the whites quickly overwhelmed the Algonquians. In fact, the rapid disintegration of the Indian way of life and the astonishing numerical decline in aboriginal populations have been the principal themes of North Carolina Indian history. Contributing greatly to the decimation of the Indians were disease and warfare. An epidemic In 1695 devastated the Pamplico tribe. The Chowanoc were destroyed by war in 1677. While the Iroquoian tribes held out for a longer period, they were defeated in the Tuscarora War of 1711-1714, which eventually resulted in the virtual disappearance of the Indians from northeastern North Carolina."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Ocracoke Ponies

About a year and a half ago, WRAL, an eastern North Carolina TV station, broadcast a three-minute report on Ocracoke Island's pony herd.

NPS Image

The history of our ponies (they are actually small horses) is somewhat obscure, but they almost certainly arrived on the island with 16th century explorers, early settlers, and/or as survivors of shipwrecks.

Click here to watch the WRAL video: http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/15814119/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

An Editorial about Preservation

A few days ago I wrote these two brief sentences and published this photo: “In 1917 a new schoolhouse was built at the location of the present-day building.

1917 Schoolhouse

The current school house was built in 1971.”

A reader left this comment: “PH are you testing your readers as to our early morning reading comprehension? The 1917 school building was knocked down torn down moved to make way for the 1971 structure??. In all this preservation talk a 1917 school house (of a most interesting vernacular) is gone? Only pictures remain? 1971 five years before the bicentennial celebration everyone was preparing for and a historical building is demolished??? Say it ain't so PH :)”

I am afraid it is so. The 1917 school house was a beautiful building with pleasing lines. Numerous islanders, myself included, were saddened to see it demolished. With that said, I have a few observations.

As much as I champion preserving historically significant structures, there are reasons many of them are not, or sometimes even should not, be saved. Numerous factors must be considered by individuals, businesses, and community & governmental agencies regarding historic buildings. Money is a big consideration. It is often more costly to rehabilitate an older building than to construct a new one; and money is not always readily available. It is often not easy or even possible to add modern conveniences (HVAC systems, bathrooms, kitchens, e.g.) without altering the existing footprint and/or floorplan. Even after rehabilitation, maintenance and repair costs (for historically accurate windows, doors, locks, etc.) can be much higher for older buildings.

Regarding the Ocracoke School, the 1917 building was designed for about forty children. Today nearly 200 students are enrolled. In addition, today the school provides several amenities and programs not even considered in 1917, including bathrooms, a regulation-size gymnasium, high school, art and shop classrooms, pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms, and IT equipment. If the building had been saved on its original location, it today would be so significantly added on to that its historical fabric would be much compromised.

It could have been moved, one might reply. But to where, and at what cost? And for what purpose? A private residence? A community building? Unfortunately, no one with enough money, resources, vision, and/or influence was available in 1970 to preserve the 1917 schoolhouse.

If we look back in time we might recognize a number of significant island structures worthy of preservation. The 1917 schoolhouse would undoubtedly be among them. But we wouldn’t want to save everything. New times almost always require new visions and new goals. We must live in the present. Every generation wants a reasonable chance to make a decent living. We want opportunities for convenient transportation. We want to enjoy the benefits of modern advances. We want a modern health clinic, a well-equipped fire station, and a ball field for our youth. At times the old and the new may be in conflict.

That is what makes preservation so important. We can’t save everything, but we can attempt to save and preserve those ionic buildings that remain, and that represent our past and our heritage. Several turn-of-the-century island homes have been rehabilitated to preservation standards, Jack’s Store (the Working Watermen’s Exhibit) and the Community Square are now owned by a non-profit organization (the Ocracoke Foundation), the Ocracoke Fish House thrives and encourages preservation of the island’s fishing tradition, and the Ocracoke Preservation Society archives significant historical photographs and documents, and employs its revolving fund to help save old island structures.

An opportunity was missed when the 1917 schoolhouse was torn down. Today several historic buildings are high on a list of structures worthy of preservation. The Island Inn is one. Not only would its preservation be a palpable link to Ocracoke’s past, but it could provide the community with meeting space, a venue for fundraisers, rooms for community art & music events, public restrooms, and more.

With support from islanders, business owners, visitors, property owners, and dedicated volunteers we have an opportunity to save this significant historical building for present and future generations.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.   

Oyster War

In 2015 I wrote about the 1890 Oyster War on Ocracoke Island.

Ocracoke December Oyster Roast, 2014

I recently discovered a Newspaper Abstract from The Economist - Tuesday, May 6, 1890; pg. 3, chronicling the Oyster War on the mainland of Hyde County:

"As peaceful as they look to be there is something about oysters that engender strife. A case, originating in oysters, occurred in New Bern on Wednesday in which an oyster patrolman named J.C. THOMAS whose headquarters were at Coinjock, Currituck County, was shot, but not mortally wounded, by Jones SPENCER of Hyde County who recently published an article in the Washington Gazette reflecting upon the character of THOMAS and charging that he was bribed while at his official business at Coinjock [portion torn] used harsh terms about him, when SPENCER pulled out a pistol and told THOMAS he would shoot him if he came nearer. THOMAS continued to advance when SPENCER fired and a ball struck his abdomen and lodged in his hip. THOMAS was badly wounded and SPENCER was arrested, bought before Mayor WILLIAMS, waived examination and was placed under a bond of $400 with Messrs. SIMMONS and MOORE as sureties. THOMAS was a patrolman at the oyster grounds, SPENCER was also a patrolman appointed by Hyde County and was ordered to Coinjock. SPENCER published the results of his investigations and charged corruption upon THOMAS and bribery by non-resident oyster pirates. This led to the difficulty between the two."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Narrow Side Halls

During our recent 2017 Ocracoke Island Holiday Homes Tour I had a conversation with one of the homes' hostesses about the narrow side hallway in this turn-of-the-20th-century home.

We wondered about the purpose of this hall. There are several other older houses on the island with them, and a quick internet search yielded a number of references to more older homes with similar halls.

The wall with three windows (on the left side of the photo, above) is an outside wall. The room to the right is the dining room. Why were a few feet separated from the dining room to create this hallway?

Here are a few speculations:

• Many of these halls seem designed to  provide access to the kitchen without passing through adjoining rooms. This makes most sense if the adjoining room or rooms are bedrooms. 
• Perhaps the halls were originally open "breezeways" connecting the main house to a detached summer kitchen. Then maybe the two buildings were connected and the breezeway closed in.
• Even if the house never had a detached kitchen, the narrow side hallway may be a design feature that persisted, although it had now lost its primary function. 

If any of our readers know the original purpose of the narrow side hallway, please leave a comment.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Ocracoke Schools

Last week I wrote this about Ocracoke village in 1877/1878: Although no Ocracoke schools were listed in that year's Business Directory, "[t]here were several small private schools on Ocracoke Island between the early 1800s and 1901, at which time a school was established in the building now known as the Island Inn."

A reader left this comment on that post: "NCpedia a resource for information cites 1839 as the year the common school law passed. Funding was to be state and local. The business directory lists many a taxable entity to generate funds for a public school in Ocracoke. What was the school age population back then I wonder...."

In answer to the reader's musings, I am reprinting a slightly edited blog post from 2015:

The first mention of a school on Ocracoke was in 1785 when school master Henry Garrish was hired to teach young Thomas Wahab. By the early 1800s a community schoolhouse was built in the vicinity of the Ocracoke Coffee Company. A new schoolhouse was built in the same area in 1825. Sometime before the Civil War there were two community schools on the island. In addition, Sarah Owens Gaskill operated a private school near the lighthouse.

In the late 1800s "Captain Wilson" taught school at the Life Saving Station at Cedar Hammock (near Hatteras Inlet), and a Mr. Manson gave private lessons in the village.

In 1901 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows built a new lodge (it is today the center section of the Island Inn). They met on the second floor, and a "consolidated" public school was held on the ground floor.

Photo: OPS, Earl O'Neal Collection

The 1880 Ocracoke census lists the number of school age children (6-14 years old; in those days the highest grade was grade 8) as about 59 (although some of those children may not have been enrolled). The photo above, taken about 1901 or 1902, shows approximately 40 pupils.  

In 1917 a new schoolhouse was built at the location of the present-day building. 

1917 Schoolhouse

The current school house was built in 1971. It is the smallest pre-K - 12 public school in North Carolina.The photo below shows school secretary Lisa O'Neal Caswell outside during lunch break. Ocracoke School has no cafeteria, so children and staff either bring bag lunches, or go home for lunch.

Ocracoke School, 1971-Present

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Meal Wine

Last week a reader asked about meal wine. I published the recipe in 2010. Here it is again:

Ocacoke Island meal wine recipe: Get a large crock, jug or clean trash can. Pour four gallons of water into the container. Add five pounds of sugar, four pounds of corn meal, three or four packages of yeast, a box of raisins, and some fruit (figs, peaches, blackberries, bananas, etc. work well).

Set the container outside where it can "work" for a week or more (it will work more quickly in the summer). Add a couple of pounds of sugar in a few days, and again a few days later. Eventually the solids will sink to the bottom and you will be left with a clear brew on top.

Meal Wine Brewing

You might want to strain your meal wine through cheesecloth (or an old lace curtain) to eliminate most of the ants. Fowler O'Neal always told me, with a wry smile, that sometimes when you get down to the bottom of the crock you might discover a drowned rat. A mainlander, Fowler said, might be tempted to pick the rat up by the tail and toss him into the woods before dipping another cup full of meal wine. An islander, Fowler assured me, would wring him out first, so he wouldn't lose any of his valuable product! Then he would toss him in the woods.

A visiting journalist who was invited to one of the Saturday night square dances at the old Pamlico Inn in the 1930s was offered a drink of Ocracoke meal wine. He described it as equivalent to drinking a lit kerosene lantern!

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Island Inn

For months one of Ocracoke’s most iconic buildings, the Island Inn, has been sitting empty and neglected. A “For Sale” sign fastened near the front door announces that its future is uncertain. Now an ad hoc committee of four concerned islanders, Johnny Giagu, Ed Norvell, Bill Rich (County Manager), and Tom Pahl (County Commissioner), have put together a proposal that could save the building and make it available for community use.

In 1900 James and Zilphia Howard sold the one-acre tract of land to the trustees of "Ocracoke Lodge No. 194 Independent order of Odd Fellows" for use as a "Lodge room or such other purpose as they may deem proper." A two-story wood frame building, the center section of the current structure, was built in 1901. It housed the Odd Fellow's Lodge on the second floor. Soon thereafter two island schools were consolidated to create one public school which was held on the first floor.

Odd Fellows Lodge, OPS Photo, Earl O'Neal Collection

Over the next 117 years the “Lodge,” as it came to be called, was added to and modified. Over the years it variously served the island as a private home, inn, restaurant, coffee shop, WWII officers quarters, and gift shop. In the early to mid-20th century it was the center of community social life. Islanders gathered there for Saturday night square dances accompanied by the music of fiddle, banjo, guitar, and triangle.

On December 7, 2017, the ad hoc committee (the “Island Inn Preservation Committee”) secured a purchase agreement from the property’s current owner which allows the committee 150 days to negotiate additional agreements with adjoining property owners, the Occupancy Tax Board, the Tourism Development Authority, Hyde County, and the Ocracoke Preservation Society.

Immediately Tom Pahl and Johnny Giagu met with the Executive Committee of the Preservation Society to present their proposal. At the meeting on December 7, 2017, the members of the OPS Executive Committee voted to “support the plan brought by the ad hoc committee … and … to work with the ad hoc committee toward accomplishing the goals presented,” which included using $150,000 of OPS’s “Save an Old House” revolving fund as down payment on the property, to accept initial ownership of the property, and to transfer the property, with conservation easements, to “another community entity” in the future.

Still to be negotiated during the 150-day period are funding to pay mortgage payments, demolition of the two badly deteriorated wings, and stabilization of the historic center section. Sale would not be final, nor funds committed, until those details of the project were established.

Although the initial goal is simply to preserve the historic center section of the Lodge, future plans might include turning the building into a visitors center with public restrooms, space for community meetings and gatherings, and “green” areas for picnicking and other outdoor activities.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Business Directory, 1877-1878

Below are some interesting Hyde County statistics gleaned from Branson's North Carolina Business Directory for 1877 and 1878.

• Ocracoke is listed as having the following organizations & services: 
• 1 magistrate (there are 4 on the mainland)
• 1 church (10 on the mainland)
• 3 merchants (55 on the mainland)
• 1 mill (11 on the mainland)
• 1 post office (8 on the mainland)
• The mainland has the following; Ocracoke has none:
• county offices
• hotels (5 on the mainland)
• lawyers (3 on the mainland)
• physicians (12 on the mainland)
• schools (3 on the mainland; all private)*
• farmers (52 on the mainland)

 *There actually were several small private schools on Ocracoke Island between the early 1800s and 1901, at which time a school was established in the building now known as the Island Inn. Perhaps there was no school on Ocracoke in 1877-1878.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Spanish Casino

In 1935, Ocracoke resident Stanley Wahab built an inexpensive replica of a Spanish style building on the island, near where the Back Porch Restaurant sits today, to be part of his larger operation which included the Wahab Village Hotel (later renamed Blackbeard’s Lodge).

1941 Newspaper Ad

Made of plywood strewn with gravel while the earth-colored paint was still wet, the 400 square foot Spanish Casino mimicked an adobe hacienda. The flat roofed structure had extended and crenulated exterior walls with gently curving main sections. Windows were topped with decorative trim, and crosses within circles painted near the roof line suggested a southwestern theme. An open porch on the ocean-facing side was supported by peeled cedar posts, adding to the Spanish motif.

OPS Photo, Mike Riddick Collection

The interior of the Spanish Casino was one large room with a raised platform on the western wall to accommodate a piano and musicians. Benches were placed along the walls, leaving a sizable dance floor in the middle. Island natives, Edgar and Walter Howard, brothers who had moved to New York City to play vaudeville in the 1920s and 1930s, came home periodically to entertain their fellow islanders. The popular music of the day included cowboy and western songs and ballads. Once in a while Edgar’s banjo and Walter’s guitar accompanied nationally popular entertainers who followed the Howard brothers to Ocracoke. At times, other island musicians played at the Spanish Casino. When live music was unavailable a jukebox served nightly to provide tunes for round dances, jitterbug, and traditional island square dances.

Stanley Wahab included a small canteen to serve his customers. Candy, cigarettes, and soft drinks were popular items. Eventually the Spanish Casino also offered hamburgers. Some years earlier, under the influence of Mr. Shaw, one of the Methodist preachers, sales of alcoholic beverages had been banned on Ocracoke Island. It was a rare night, however, when homemade meal wine did not flow freely behind the building or on the other side of the sand dunes.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Great Black-backed Gull

The Great Black-Backed Gull (Laurus marinus) is a common sight on Ocracoke's beach, especially during the winter months. According to local bird-watcher, Peter Vankevich, this is the largest gull in the world, with a wingspan of up to five feet.

Photo by Peter Vankevich

You can read more about this beautiful seagull in Peter's article in the Ocracoke Observer.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Basket Making

A reader recently posed an interesting question about traditional basket-making on Ocracoke and the Outer Banks.

An article in NCpedia asserts that “Although the fragility of basket materials means that few related artifacts still exist, the Native Americans of North Carolina's Paleo-Indian period (13,000 B.C. to 8000 B.C.) probably used baskets that they constructed from native materials for transporting items and gathering food. Archaeological evidence confirms that Indians used baskets widely in the early archaic period (8000 B.C. to 6000 B.C.)…. 

“Once crucial to the agricultural and fishing economies of North Carolina, basket making diminished in importance during the twentieth century as inexpensive and readily available galvanized buckets, plastic containers, and paper bags became popular for gathering, transporting, and storing household items.”

Although handmade baskets were surely a mainstay of the early European households on the Outer Banks, I am not aware of any Ocracoke basket-making tradition, or surviving examples of colonial Ocracoke baskets.

Unlike South Carolina, whose distinctive sweetgrass basket-making tradition came to the state in the 17th century by way of West African slaves, North Carolina’s Outer Banks never developed that tradition. Although some of the materials for South Carolina baskets (sweetgrass, bulrush, pine needles, and palmetto palm) are available along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the West African technique was never established. The dearth of other available basket-making materials, such as white oak, probably means that baskets were brought to the islands from England, other colonies, or the North Carolina mainland.

Another indication is the Last Will and Testament of William Howard, 1776-1851, (see https://villagecraftsmen.blogspot.com/2017/03/last-will-and-testament.html). It lists kitchen furniture, livestock, boats, money, and land…but no baskets.

The only island handmade basket from earlier than the twentieth century that I am aware of is the one carried by midwife Esther Gaskins O’Neal (“Aunt Hettie Tom,” 1822-1899) and nurse Elsie Garrish (1915-2003) but I do not know if it was woven on Ocracoke or elsewhere. Perhaps one of our local readers has more information. 

Elsie Garrish with Basket

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Christmas House Tour

On Saturday the Ocracoke Preservation Society sponsored their annual Holiday Homes Tour. Two local businesses (Over the Moon and Island Artworks) and four residences were featured.

Residences included the Amasa Fulcher House (built in 1904), the former Methodist Episcopal Church, North, Parsonage (built 1928), the Elisha Ballance House (built 1908), and the Della & William Scarborough House (built ca. 1912).

All of the houses were originally "story and a jump" houses.  These one-and-a-half story cottages with a central staircase were popular on Ocracoke from the mid-1800s through the early twentieth century. All of the houses on the tour had been been modified with later additions or modern conveniences. For example, a second story was added to the Amasa Fulcher house soon after it was built, and dormers were added to the parsonage after a fire several years ago.  Nevertheless, much of their original character of these homes has been maintained, as you can see from the photos below.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Tour 28A, 1930s

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration published a series of books designed to document our country's history and culture. The Federal Writers’ Project collaborated to produce The WPA Guide to North Carolina: The Tar Heel State.  Part III includes more than three dozen Tours of North Carolina. This is the entry for Tour 28A:

"Atlantic-Cedar Island-Portsmouth-Ocracoke; mail or chartered passenger boat. 30m.

"Daily mail boat, 25 passengers, leaves Atlantic 1 p.m., stops at Cedar Island and Portsmouth, arrives at Ocracoke, 5 p.m.; return trip leaves Ocracoke 7 a.m., arrives Atlantic 11 a.m. One-way fare to Portsmouth, $1.25; to Ocracoke, $1.50. Limited accommodations.

"This boat trip proceeds north through parts of Core and Pamlico sounds. Boatmen hold to the channel to avoid shallow bars and fish weirs. Sharks sometimes invade the waters through the inlets, lured by the abundant game fish."

Mail Boat Aleta

Eighty years later visitors are still coming to Ocracoke via Cedar Island, but now by car ferry. The runs are more frequent, the fare is still reasonable, and game fish continue to be abundant.  Accommodations are definitely more numerous.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.

 

ULSS Hatteras Inlet

In the mid 1950s the United States Coast Guard Station (originally the US Life-Saving Station) at Hatteras Inlet finally succumbed to the relentless assaults from the sea. Today only a handful of pilings are visible in the surf, or on dry land, depending on tide, erosion, and changes due to storms.

Courtesy Ocracoke Preservation Society
Bill & Ruth Cochran Collection

Just a few years before the station finally collapsed, C. A. Weslager, visited the island. In his letter of July 31, 1949, he writes about the fate of the station:

"The Ocracoke Coast Guard Station on the north end of the island of the Hatteras Inlet is gradually being washed away by the sea. The lighthouse tower is leaning badly and waves lap at its base, whereas it was formerly 200 yards inland. The officer in charge told us that they had experienced a terrific twister the previous night, and it took nine of them to hold the door of their quarters shut. I explored this end for Indian remains (as I had done the southern end) but found no traces of any kind. At this point, one has the feeling that this handful of Coast Guardsmen are at the end of the earth -- our last frontier, so to speak. Their contribution to this island community is very great, as it is to the ships that would otherwise be driven into the treacherous shoals and reefs that surround Ocracoke. These men can tell many stories of ships in distress in these hazardous waters."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.  

Contributions

Until the middle of the 20th century Ocracoke was one of the most isolated communities in the nation. The initiation of ferry service to the island in 1950 ushered in the modern age, and with it a growing tourist presence. Many of those early visitors to Ocracoke were interested in contributing time, labor, or supplies to island churches and other organizations.

The following Ocracoke "Personal" announcement in the Coastland Times, September 24, 1954, is typical:

"Through the kindness of 3 summer visitors, the Ocracoke Teenage Club received some interesting games. There were sent to Rev. Robert L. Vickery, Jr. by Harry Pendleton, Aaron Kravitz and Louis Snyder, all from Boston, Mass., who visited Mr. & Mrs. Jim Williams this summer. Included in the games were two sets of table tennis, one miniature golf set, one badminton set, chess, checkers, dominoes, puzzles, maps and other games."

I wonder if any of the Pendleton, Kravitz or Snyder family still visit Ocracoke. If so, maybe they would post a comment. 

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

The Oriental

Fishermen and beachcombers walking along the oceanfront at Pea Island beach on Hatteras Island may notice a large rusty cylindrical object sticking out of the surf about one hundred yards offshore.

(Above image by Wilton Wescott (obx_shooter), @ http://s137.photobucket.com/user/obx_shooter/media/DSC_0040-1-3.jpg.html)

Although locals refer to this object as a "boiler," Kevin Duffus, in his book Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks, identifies it as a steam cylinder (the part of a steam engine that contains the piston).

This cylinder belongs to a sunken Federal Transport ship, the Oriental. The 210' long Oriental was built in 1861, and used during the Civil War. During its second mission (carrying mail to Federal soldiers, and transporting missionaries and abolitionists to minister to freed slaves), the vessel sank during a severe storm on May 16, 1862.

The Oriental is also sometimes known as the "Stovepipe Hat Wreck." To read about the colorful legend of when the Hatteras beach was littered with stovepipe hats click here.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.

The Tarpon & Sand Tiger Sharks

On August 26, 1957, the American submarine, USS Tarpon, foundered and sank about 20 miles south of Ocracoke Island while under tow to a salvage yard.

In 1983 Roderick M. Farb, author of Shipwrecks, Diving the Graveyard of the Atlantic, discovered that the Tarpon was an aggregation and breeding ground for the Atlantic sand tiger shark.

By D Ross Robertson
http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/gallery/specie/2674
Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53039786

Farb had noticed "large numbers of shark's teeth on the hull of the submarine."  "Males," he writes, "prior to mating, bite the female behind her head and forward of the first dorsal fin. In the process the male shark loses some of his protruding teeth and these fall to the bottom."

The presence of the sub prevented the teeth from being covered by sand, thus providing visual evidence that the area is a mating ground for the sharks.

Sand sharks are sometimes caught by surf fishermen along the Outer Banks. According to Wikipedia, "The sand tiger is often associated with being vicious or deadly, due to their relatively large size and sharp, protruding teeth that point outward from their jaws, however they are quite docile, and are not a threat to humans," There have been "no confirmed human fatalities" associated with sand sharks.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.

Royalty

Starfish are not rare; but nor are they common on our beaches. This Royal Starfish (Astropecten articulatus), probably named for its bright purple color, washed up on the beach this past summer.

The royal starfish, like all starfish, has no brain. They also have no blood. Instead they have a water vascular system. The starfish's primitive eyes are at the tip of its arms.

Starfish can reproduce by physical birth or by giving up an arm to morph into another starfish.

The Royal Starfish feeds by wrapping its arms around mollusks and swallowing them whole. 

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The entire staff at Village Craftsmen wish our readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.

From Amy, Philip, Finley, Desiree, David, Sally, and Vera!!

  

Quern Stones

On October 11, 2017 I posted a story about Big Ike O'Neal (1865-1954). Reminiscing about island wind mills, he commented, "We had two wind mills on the island that ground corn. When there was no wind the mills didn't turn. I remember we once had a calm for twenty one days. But most families had their hand stones to fall back on at such times. It took a half hour to grind enough corn for breakfast with those old hand stones."

I had never seen any island hand grinding stones, nor had I ever heard anyone mention them. I wondered what they looked like and how they were used. No islanders I talked with remembered hand stones. An internet search yielded mostly information about neolithic and Native American grinding stones. Finally I discovered the term quern stones.

A quern is defined as a simple hand mill for grinding grain. It typically consists of two circular stones, the upper of which is rotated or rubbed to and fro on the lower one. Quern-stones were often made of igneous rocks such as basalt.

According to Wikipedia, varieties of hand grinding stones consisted of saddle, rotary, beehive, and disc querns. The Wikipedia article includes this quotation from T. Gannet describing his 1800 tour of Scotland:

"The quern consists of two circular pieces of stone, generally grit or granite, about twenty inches in diameter. In the lower stone is a wooden peg, rounded at the top; on this the upper stone is nicely balanced, so as just to touch the lower one, by means of a piece of wood fixed in a large hole in this upper piece, but which does not fill the hole, room for feeding the mill being left on each side: it is so nicely balanced, that though there is some friction from the contact of the two stones, yet a very small momentum will make it revolve several times, when it has no corn in it. The corn being dried, two women sit down on the ground, having the quern between them; the one feeds it, while the other turns it round, relieving each other occasionally, and singing some Celtic songs all the time."

Woodcut from Thomas Pennant's 1772 book A Tour in Scotland.

I am guessing Ocracoke islanders used disc querns similar to the ones described by Gannet, above. Perhaps I will discover one on the island some day. If I do, I will be sure to take a photo to share with our readers. 

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is my analysis of a sentence penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. The sentence reads, "Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."  You can read my analysis here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/. 

November Newsletter

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is an analysis of a short paragraph penned by surveyor Jonathan Price in 1795. Price made this observation: ”Occacock was heretofore, and still retains the name of, an island. It is now a peninsula; a heap of sand having gradually filled up the space which divided it from the bank."

I was puzzled when I first read that sentence. In what sense, I wondered, was Ocracoke at one time an island, but had now become a peninsula?

The newsletter presents my analysis. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/description-occacock-1795/.

If you have an opinion, or another idea, please leave a comment. 

Providence Methodist Church

The Providence Methodist Church, a little frame church (now attached to a newer brick edifice) in our county seat, Swan Quarter, is often called "the church moved by the hand of God."  Below is a somewhat fanciful account (from an unnamed and undated newspaper) of the 1876 hurricane that contributed to this remarkable story.

"'TWAS THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE [There is] a singular incident which occurred here several years ago. It was in the year 1876. The Methodist folk were about to build a house of worship. There was division in the membership on the question of locating the edifice. The ladies were a unit in favor of locating it on Pamlico Avenue, while the male members were united in their determination to have it on a site about 400 yards from the one desired by the ladies. The men won out and the building was in course of erection when the memorable storm of '76 swept this vicinity. The singular feature of the story is that the unfinished church structure was floated and carried by the storm to a point within twenty feet of where the ladies had desired that it be erected. The men believed this to be the work of a divine hand and it is needless to say that this house of worship remained where the storm had driven it. And to this day the men of this community let the women have their way in church matters as well as in many other respects."

For a more complete, and probably more accurate, account of this event, click here: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jmack/photos/providen.htm.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.    

The Stevensons

Robert Louis Stevenson is best known as the author of Treasure Island. Fewer people know that he was the grandson of Robert Stevenson (1772-1850), a Scottish civil engineer who was instrumental in designing the Bell Rock Lighthouse, a beacon constructed on a barely exposed reef off the coast of Angus, Scotland, and sometimes described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.

Robert Stevenson is credited with designing a total of fifteen lighthouses. His sons Alan, Thomas (Robert Louis Stevenson's father), and David designed forty-one lighthouses; and his grandsons, David Alan and Charles Alexander, twenty-six lighthouses.

Lighthouse construction in the United States was strongly influenced by the design and engineering skills of the three generations of the Stevenson family.

Ocracoke Lighthouse
photo by Eakin Howard

Robert Louis, however, was more interested in writing. Interestingly, one of the main characters in Treasure Island is Israel Hands. In real life Israel Hands was put in command of Blackbeard's sloop, Adventure, although, having been shot in the knee by Teach, he was not on board during the fateful battle at Ocracoke in November, 1718.

According to Captain Charles Johnson, author of A General History of the Pyrates, Israel Hands spent his final days begging in the streets of London.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.   

Toilet Paper

Today islanders rely on the internet to purchase many items. In the past Ocracokers ordered from Montgomery Ward or Sears & Roebuck catalogs. It was always a happy day when the packages arrived on the daily mailboat.

The story is told that many years ago an Ocracoker decided to order some of that newfangled toilet paper, a novelty on the island. He asked his daughter to draft a letter to Sears requesting several rolls of toilet paper.

Days later he received a reply form Sears. Sears only sold toilet paper in specific quantities, he was told. "Please consult page 126 in our catalog," the letter explained, "and place your order referencing the catalog number."

The islander's reply was classic: "Dear Sears," his daughter wrote for him, "if I had one of your catalogs I wouldn't need any of your damned toilet paper!"

If you want another laugh, check out this brief French commercial for toilet paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH_YInXvpoU.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.   

Controversy in 1894

The following editorial was published July 12, 1894, in the King's Weekly, a Greenville, NC, newspaper (photo added):

"Just think of it! You can go to Ocracoke. And it is so convenient, too. Buy your ticket, get on the boat here, and some time not in the distant future, you are at Ocracoke, historical Ocracoke.

Steamer at Ocracoke, 1899

 
"Let's see how easily it is done:

"You buy your ticket. Two dollars, please ! Then you go aboard the steamer, Mevers. Off you go for Washington. At that delightful town yon spend considerable time and perhaps cash. At 10 p. m . you leave for Ocracoke, and of course get there o. k. When ready, you return by the same route and nearly the same convenience. Now, let's see again.

"You pay $2 for a round trip ticket. You get to Washington and stay there or on the boat, long enough for two meals, costing doubtless another $1. You are only twenty-five miles from home, and though it is yet eighty miles to Ocracoke the round trip fare from there is just $1. For a round trip of 210 miles you pay $2. The people of Washington for a round trip pay $l for 160 miles. Greenville pays one cent a mile, Washington pays [.6 cents a mile] . And the business of Greenville is about what keeps up the O. D. S. S. [Old Dominion Steam Ship] line on Tar river. Did you ever hear of such discrimination and do you wonder that the railroad drove the two lines into consolidation?

"Another thing. People here have to lose a day on that trip while the boats for Ocracoke leave Washington at 10 o'clock at night. Why shouldn't the boat wait here till six or seven p. m. for the benefit of our people, and then make close connections at Washington?"

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.   

Getting Around

Barbara Garrity-Blake and Karen Willis Amspacher have compiled a wonderful "Heritage Guide to the Outer Banks Byway." Their 290 page book, Living at the Water's Edge, has this to say about "Getting Around" on Ocracoke Island in years past:

"Before roads and bridges, the easiest route for Ocracokers traveling to the mainland was a half-day mailboat ride to Atlantic, where they could catch a midday bus to Morehead City. Otherwise they could ride nine hours on a freight boat to Washington, North Carolina. Traveling north to Norfolk was more arduous, involving thirteen miles of sand tracks just to get to the north end of Ocracoke Island. A private ferry took people across the inlet to Hatteras. The Manteo-Hatteras Bus line, a bus suervice run by the three Midgett brothers from Rodanthe, would take travelers the length of Hatteras Island, across Oregon Inlet via ferry, and up to Manteo. 'It was like going on a safari across a desert to get to Manteo,' remarked Earl O'Neal.

"In 1938 an enterprising Ocracoke resident began a taxi service from the village to Hatteras Inlet, navigating sand paths in a station wagon. The ferry, run by Hatteras resident Frazier Peele, began in 1950 as a passenger ferry and expanded to a four-car operation by the time the state bought his business in 1957. 'The ferry consisted of taking a boat, putting a platform on it, taking boards for a ramp and running the car up on the boat,' an islander recalled. 'We just ran the car off in shallow water, and off we went; there were no docks or anything.'"

Frazier Peele on his early ferry across Hatteras Inlet

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.  

Aurora

In June, 1837, the schooner Aurora wrecked on Ocracoke Bar. Unlike so many other shipwrecks, the Aurora struck the bar in fair weather. The captain and crew were able to make it to shore under their own efforts. In January, 1838, the true nature of the shipwreck emerged.

David Stick, in his book Graveyard of the Atlantic, quotes this article that the New York Courier ran about the Aurora:

“On Thursday last, Mr. Waddell, the United States Marshal, arrested Richard Sheridan, late master of the schooner Aurora of New York, John Crocker, mate, and James Norton, seaman, on the charge of the most serious nature, and which, if proved, will place the lives of the offenders in jeopardy. The prisoners are charged with willfully wrecking and losing on Ocracoke Bar, the schooner Aurora, bound from Havana to New York, in June last, and they are also charged with stealing from the vessel after she was wrecked $4000 in doubloons, which had been sent on board in Havana, consigned to Don Francis Stoughton, Spanish Consul in New York.”

Stick goes on to explain that, "The Marshal specifically charged that Captain Sheridan had enlisted the aid of the two crewmen, and together they had carefully planned the shipwreck and stolen the 264 doubloons, which had then been entrusted to the Captain by his henchmen for transfer to the north where they could be converted into American money. About the time this charge was made public it may have become obvious to Crocker and Norton that they joined forces with the wrong man, as on meeting him in New York they were told that he had been robbed of the doubloons and there was no loot to divide.

When the Captain was brought to trial in New York in February he was found guilty—the doubloons had been discovered in the hands of yet another accomplice—and he was ordered to pay costs and to repay the Spanish Consul, $4,919 in all. Captain Sheridan was kept in jail for an undetermined period as further punishment."

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.   

Portsmouth Coast Guard Station

For nearly two decades (in the 1920s and 1930s) Dorothy Byrum Bedwell spent her childhood summers on Portsmouth Island. She recounted those idyllic years in her book Portsmouth, Island with a Soul. This is what she remembers about the Coast Guard Station:

"A team of beautiful, large, white horses is in my earliest recollections of the Coast Guard. They were useful in many ways, one of which was shore patrol especially when the tide covered the beach. On patrol, the men punched keyposts which were standing at intervals along the beach (similar to the time-clock process). I remember too the wide ramp into the expansive room that housed the surf boats and surf boat drills which were held regularly. I thought of the kitchen house which was apart from the main building, and of the tantalizing aromas of supper cooking on late afternoons when we were trudging home hunglily from a walk on the beach and an ocean swim. I recall how, during hurricanes, the Captain of the Coast Guard would invite everyone to come to the station for safe housing. During the terrible hurricane of 1944, when my mother, brothers and sisters-in-law were on the island, the Coast Guardsmen came and escorted them to the station. The tide was rising so rapidly that before they reached the station, the water was up to my mother's armpits and she said that the Coast Guardsmen on each side of her literally lifted her through some of the deeper places."

Today, the Portsmouth Coast Guard Station has been restored and outfitted with reproduction surf boats and life saving equipment.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is a transcription of a letter describing the September, 1944, hurricane, its aftermath and cleanup. You can read the letter, with vintage photographs added, here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102117.htm.