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/.