. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. of 104, the population fell to 17 in 1956. The post office locked its doors in 1959. By 1970, just three residents — including Marian Gray Babb, Dominique's older sister, and Elma Dixon, Dominique's aunt — still called the island home, though they spent winters on the mainland. When the only man among the trio, Henry Pigott, died in January 1971, Dixon and Babb reluctantiy moved to Beaufort. Dixon died in 1990, Babb in 1993. The rescue service recruited local men for its ranks. The "surf soldiers"
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. of 104, the population fell to 17 in 1956. The post office locked its doors in 1959. By 1970, just three residents — including Marian Gray Babb, Dominique's older sister, and Elma Dixon, Dominique's aunt — still called the island home, though they spent winters on the mainland. When the only man among the trio, Henry Pigott, died in January 1971, Dixon and Babb reluctantiy moved to Beaufort. Dixon died in 1990, Babb in 1993. The rescue service recruited local men for its ranks. The "surf soldiers" drilled rigourously for dangerous sea rescues, and the station commander was a community leader. During their years on the mainland, both longed to be back in Portsmouth. They kept their Portsmouth houses ready to occupy, but returned to their island homes only to visit. And the village of their younger years was frozen in time. Recollections of Portsmouth's past have cast a spell reaching far beyond its former inhabitants. The last generation of residents has become nearly legendary through the oft-repeated accounts of their daily routines — Miss Annie Salter, the postmistress who wore her hair in a neat bun; Miss Mary Dixon, who taught for 37 years in the one-room school; Henry Pigott and his sister Lizzie, descendents of the slaves who toiled in the lightering business. Henry Pigott, "A Friend To All," according to a tribute to him in the church, was the island's last mailman. Like others before him, he piloted a skiff out to meet the Ocracoke-bound mailboat to pick up Portsmouth's letters and parcels. Lizzie Pigott grew lovely flowers and cut islanders' hair until a stroke confined her to a wheelchair. Like many others, the park service's Heupel finds these vignettes of Portsmouth life irresistible. "I've read so much about the village and the people, I think the people should be there when I go," Heupel says. "I'm looking for the lifesavers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
