Life at Ocracoke, 1956/1957

I discovered the following paragraph in a newspaper clipping preserved in a scrapbook at the Ocracoke Library, and digitized by digitalnc.org. It was originally published in 1956 or 1957.

"Charley Mack (C. C. McWilliams to the U. S. Post office Department) drives the Ocracoke bus and mail truck, a battered-looking vehicle with a splintery super-structure like an oversize doghouse on the back. Charley Mack hauls freight and passengers with no discrimination between the two. I once made the trip sitting on a wet burlap bag full of clams. But sometimes the freight takes priority, as the time Charley hauled a horse. Charley trussed the horse up, gently but firmly, and a bunch of villagers inserted the animal, head-first, into the back of the truck, the horse rode quite comfortably all the way, its head in the lap of a lady shell collector from Quincy, Illinois."

Charlie Mack (Mac) disembarking from the ferry, ca. 1956:

OPS Photo

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/.