Dr. Michael Rikard presented information about his work with archaeologists to locate structures formerly on the island, in the "middle village" and Sheep island areas. He showed aerial photographs, taken from the 1940s through the 1990s which show how much has changed on the island, along with shots of some of the specific sites which have been explored. I've posted some of the photos below.
The next speaker was Rudy Austin, who takes people over to Portsmouth on his boat, and has been visiting the island since he was a young boy. He talked about his Dad's friendship with Henry Pigott, one of the last few residents of Portsmouth. Rudy's Dad was the caretaker of the hunting and fishing club on the island during the 1950s. The club was owned by a corporation in Pilot Mountain, who used it for friends, customers and employees. Henry helped at the club, keeping an eye on the building (the club was housed in the Coast Guard station building at the edge of the village), and preparing meals. Usually, the days catch (fish, ducks, etc.) was the main course, but there were cases of Bunker Hill Beef and Gravy kept on site to eat on days when the hunters and fishermen didn't get or catch dinner.
Rudy told several stories about Henry, who ended up living with the Austin family on Ocracoke after he became ill with emphysema. My favorite anecdote was that Henry gave a hand carved decoy to Roy Waller from the Seashore Commission, even though Roy had come to take legal ownership of Henry's property during the process to convert Portsmouth Island to government control (in the time leading up to the creation of the Cape Lookout National Seashore). That story spoke volumes of Henry's quiet character.
As promised, here are some of the photos from Dr. Rikard's presentation.
1941 Aerial view
1997 Aerial view
A variety of artifacts found at the excavation sites
One of the oldest artifacts found, a Union button from the Civil War era
The Myron and Vera Willis gravesites, only recently uncovered/re-discovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment