Joseph Koch

Joseph and Esther Koch lived in Ohio. They discovered Ocracoke many years ago, sometime after World War II. Joe was an artist, and he made many pencil sketches of Ocracoke village, the beach, and colorful island characters. He signed his drawings "JoKo."

JoKo, OPS Photo

In the 1960s Joe and Esther purchased property on School Road (where Deepwater Theater and Books to be Red is located today) and on the corner of School Road and Highway 12 (where Spencer's Market is today). Esther died many years ago. Joe died in March of 2012, just short of his 105th birthday.

In December of 2015 Ocracoke Preservation Society published an on-line exhibit featuring JoKo and his art. You can read the article and see examples of his work here: https://ocracokepreservation.org/december-online-exhibit-2015/.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is an essay by Philip Howard explaining why he decided to stay on the island as Hurricane Florence approached. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/why-i-stayed/.