. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Membership is estimated at 300. Several of Portsmouth's former residents belong. Other members, like Lynn, are kin to Portsmouth families. The remainder have no connection except a fondness for the place and a fascination with the way life was. "A lot of people love the area, love the history," he says. Lynn recalls many childhood trips to Portsmouth. His grandfather was part owner of a mailboat that served Ocracoke and Portsmouth. His great-grandmother, Helen Dixon, was bom on Portsmouth. Her De
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Membership is estimated at 300. Several of Portsmouth's former residents belong. Other members, like Lynn, are kin to Portsmouth families. The remainder have no connection except a fondness for the place and a fascination with the way life was. "A lot of people love the area, love the history," he says. Lynn recalls many childhood trips to Portsmouth. His grandfather was part owner of a mailboat that served Ocracoke and Portsmouth. His great-grandmother, Helen Dixon, was bom on Portsmouth. Her Dec. 23,1889, marriage to James Fulcher of Ocracoke is recorded in the family Bible. "Eight boats returned to Ocracoke, tied together in a wedding chain," Lynn reads from the entry. Lynn spends his spare time searching for cemeteries and individual gravestones he suspects are still hidden in the thick underbrush. "The history on those tombstones is priceless," he says. Besides helping with preservation of the physical Portsmouth, the group aims to sustain the essence of the village by recording the stories of former residents. It hosts a meeting every spring and fall on Ocracoke, and a homecoming on Ports- mouth every other year. Though it has no permanent residents, Portsmouth is occupied by at least one person during the warmer seasons, also intent on preservation. In exchange for a firm commitment of three months of repair and maintenance work, unpaid caretakers get shelter in the lifesaving station's former summer kitchen — and an incomparable experience, at least for those who savor solitude and seclusion. Such solitude, tinged with a certain loneliness, is the Like these sea captains' gravestones, Portsmouth is a testimonial to generations past. The church bells chime, sounded by a tug on a rope, speaks of weekly respites to give thanks and gather strength. A creaky hinge on the post office door recounts when it was a portal to the entire outside world
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
