During the early years of the United States, Portsmouth Island was an important part of North Carolina’s sea trade. Ocracoke Inlet was one of the most traveled inlets to get goods in and out of North Carolina’s interior. Portsmouth Island is on the south side of that inlet. In the early 1800’s New Bern became North Carolina’s largest city largely because of the trade that went through that inlet. Many of the inhabitants of that island were pilots who helped merchant ships navigate around the inlet’s shoals. It was also the first stopping point for merchant ships heading to inland ports.
The merchant route through Ocracoke Inlet became less important because of hurricanes and the civil war. Hurricanes made other North Carolina inlets easier to use. Inland ports were blocked by the Union during the civil war. That eliminated those merchant ships and the pilot jobs available on the island. The combination of being remote and the decline in trade resulted in the population of this town dwindling. In the early part of the 20th century, it was just a sleepy fishing village. Less than a half dozen people called Portsmouth Island home in 1971 when the island became part of the National Seashore.
If you are looking for more detailed history of this island then you can find it at the National Park Service website here. Also, you can read a firsthand account from a book we have that was written about this island.
Years ago, we obtained this book written by a native of the island just after it became part of the National Seashore. The author Ben Salter was born on Portsmouth Island in 1899. In the book he writes about catching and breaking in wild ponies on the island. He writes about salvaging shipwrecks shortly after they wrecked. There are also stories about long-time residents who grew up on the island in the early and mid-1800’s. There’s also information about the history of many of the buildings that still exist on that island.
The copy we have is the only copy I’ve come across in my years on the Outer Banks. If you’d like to borrow this book to learn more about Portsmouth Island and its people, then feel free to stop by our office in Southern Shores. You can read it here or borrow it for a few days.
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