Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / Aug. 8, 1962, edition 1 / Page 7
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Family Beach—• Development At Ocean Isle By JAMES F. HOWARD Take six miles of island, front ed by the Atlantic Ocean and separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway; throw in a vision of desolated sand dunes and waving sea-oats chang ed, almost magically, into one of the most beautiful strands on the North Carolina coast; add one dream-maker — and stir well. That’s the formula. The result: Odell Williamson and Ocean Isle Beach. Ten years ago Ocean Isle was the desolated strip of sand dunes, converted into an island by the construction of the Intracoastal Waterway and two inlets. Odell Williamson saw in Ocean Isle something that no one else had seen. He cleared off the small is let, constructed a short stretch of roadway, and had a small two car ferry built to transport auto mobiles across the canal. He stak ed off a few lots and was in business. Williamson sold his first lot in 1953 and from that modest beginning has developed one of the most pleasant family beaches on the eastern seaboard. There are 600 ocean front lots, of which approximately 400 have already been sold to individual owners. There are the same num ber of second-row lots, and about 250 of these have been sold. Five channels have been dredged from the Intracoastal Waterway to ap proximately one half the depth of the island. One of the channels is for public use with a free boatramp and spacious docks for small boats. The other four chan Twin Houses Of Twin Auctioneers nels have been sub-divided witn 120 lots fronting the waterway access of each channel. Over 50 per cent of these lots have al ready been sold. Approximately fifteen new homes are construct- | ed on Ocean Isle each year and at the present time there are slightly over 100 homes on the 3.6-miles of hard surface highway that runs lengthwise down the island parallel to the ocean. There are no jerry-built houses or beach shacks of the type found on so many beaches. The town council has adopted, and has rigidly enforced, a building code that prohibits the construction of any house with less than 750 sq. ft. of living space. Garages TEMPEST PONTIAC HARRIS PONTIAC, Inc. Next Door to Bus Station Wilmington, N. C. Pontiac - Tempest ~ GMC ROger 3-8231 and unenclosed porches cannot be counted in this minimum restric tion. All houses must be of sound and lasting construction of new material that is generally accept ed as standard in the building trade. This eliminates the use of scrap lumber, canvas and drift wood. Actually it is wrong ter minology to refer to the houses at Ocean Isle as beach cottages, vacation house, or even as houses. They are all homes, built for gra cious family living with each of them offering all of the conveni ences found in any home in any city in the State. At the northern end of the is land is one of the most unique beach homes to be found in this area. It is a twin home, the two separate homes separated by an enclosed breezeway with twin showers and baths under the house separating the twin under house parking areas. Twin stair ways lead up to the breezeway. This home, as you may have guessed, is owned by twins—the famous Goldston Brothers, the Twin Auctioneers of Sanford. The home is painted in vertical stripes of chartruese, beige, turquoise and lavender. No plain old greens, blues or tans for this home. Three and six-tenths miles away, down at the southern enc of the hard-surface road, is the “Beach Buoy”, one of five rental homes owned by Homer Johnstor of Charlotte. Johnston has re cently retired from his employ ment with the J. B. Ivey Com pany of Charlotte after 34 years of continuous service to that firm. Now he dabbles in real estate at Ocean Isle and spends his spare time in being friendly and ex tolling all of the inner points of the beach he now calls home. Johnston has served as a Town Commissioner of Ocean Isle since the town was incorporated in June 1959. The home he lives in is one of the most beautiful on the entire island, made that way by careful planning during its construction and by the talented decoration of the entire family. Johnston's niece has made most of the decorations, and three of them are so different and so decorative in a practical way that they would probably com mand a top price at any fashion designers show. the bodies of the fish are made of colored mussel shells picked up in front of the Johnston home and glued to the background. Homer Johnston reports that his five rental homes stay rented from Easter to Thanksgiving, with a waiting list in the event there is ever a cancellation. In between the homes owned by the Goldston twins and John ston you find houses of all sizes and description, with one thing in common—they are all beauti ful. Each owner proudly exhibits his name and hometown on a sign facing the highway. You see such titles as “The N’’, "Ebb Tide’’, "The Shortstop”, “The Sedative” iowned by one of the twelve Medical Doctors who have chosen Ocean Isle as their sum mer home), "Better-N-Nothing”, "Ramblers Roost” and the “A. W. O. L.” You see such towns represented as Clarkton, Fairmont, Whiteville, Fayetteville, Winston-Salem, Durham, High Point, Hamlet, Red Springs, Marshville, Lowell, Burlington, Greensboro (12 times), Raleigh (15 times) and Charlotte (26 Some Come By Air mere are twin plaques wttn hardwood frames and a bluish green background the same color as the ocean, visible through the wide windows of the living room. Shells found on the Ocean Isle strand are arranged in a most unusual pattern that catches your eye the moment you walk into the room and starts a conversa tion between any two people that look in that direction. The other plaque has a black frame and a white background that make the four fish being caught in a net stand out so life-like that you want to bait a hook and cast to ward the wall. The net and the outlines of the fish are fashioned from fish-seine cord, dyed black; times). You also find the Ocean Isle Motel with 12 modern units, including four units with kitchen facilities. The Ocean Isle Motel is owned and operated by George Sloane, a former town commis sioner and now manager of the Ocean Isle A. B. C. Store. The motel operates year-round and stays filled each week-end from June through September, and about 70 per cent filled through the summer week-days. This is the fifth year that Sloane has operated his motel. He his ex panded each year and expects to continue expanding right along with the beach. Further toward the center of the strand you find two real estate offices, a 950-foot fishing pier and a grill, and a U. S. Post Office housed in a modern and well-stocked gift shop. Odell Wil liamson operates one of the real estate offices and you always find him ready to sit down in his air conditioned office and have a friendly chat. His favorite topic is Ocean Isle Beach, naturally. Odell recalls the early days of the development and some of the many troubles that any riew de velopment will encounter. Before the drawbridge was built over the Intracoastal Waterway to j connect the islet with the main I land, he remembers the many | times that his two-car ferry was plying steadily between the two shores with a line of cars on each side three-quarters of a mile long waiting for their turn to get across. He also recalls the time in 1954 when he constructed a turfed runway for light planes. When the first plane landed the pilot made a perfect three-point landing and taxied to the end of the run way, only to have the plane nose over when he applied the brakes. The gasoline spilled from the tanks onto the hot motor, de stroying the plane. The pilot barely escaped with his life. In the weeks following this plane “crash” many people came to view the wreckage. When many of them left the island they found that the genial real-estate broker who was so friendly that he per sonally guided them to the site of the crash and pointed out other points of interest on the island, had also sold them a lot. Planes still land at Ocean Isle. A frequent visitor is Dr. Wingate Williamson of Hamlet, who pilots his plane down on weekends. While Dr. Williamson is flying around in his plane and others Waterfront By BILL SHARPE (Editor State Magazine) A new sport sailer joined the tiny fleet off Yaupon Beach last week. It was the Sailfish of George Mitchell, Charlotte print ing executive, who was staying at Wrightsville and brought his are riding up and down the strand in their station wagons, convertibles, sedans, and motor scooters, one frequent visitor can be seen riding her horse “Jezebel” up and down the beach and into the surf. The young horsewoman is Miss Susan Reaves, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Reaves of Asheboro. Her father is a drug gist at Asheboro and a beach comber at Ocean Isle. The other modes of transportation that can seen at Ocean Isle is a whole fleet of sailboats, inboard and outboard motor boats, and several nice but small yachts. And al ways you see the hikers, strolling down the beach collecting shells, looking for a new place to surf cast, or just walking and look ing in the sun. Practically all of the profes sions are represented at Ocean Isle. You find architects, engin eers, bankers, doctors, ministers, and politicians. One prominent visitor who hopes to build soon is Dr. Henry Jordan of Saxphaw. Dr. Jordan is the brother of Sen ator Everette B. Jordan, and has Continued On Page 2 Horseback Riding Is Her Hobby :.raft down here to launch it in a ’aim surf. It was a sort of sneak preview, for Mr. Mitchell is returning la .er with two other families from Charlotte—a total of 14 persons— :o occupy a Long Beach cottage for three weeks. The charter boat season, which started off early and briskly this year, levelled off and by mid luly advance bookings were re ported slim except for week-ends. "Operators are counting on the fall blue and mackerel season to restore things to normal. The same reports were received from Shallotte Point and Hol iens. A summer visitor the other day was in the Port & Starboard and asked why king mackerel steaks were so rarely offered. He was told that most of the king mack erel caught here were taken by sport fishermen, and they want to take them home for their friends and freezers. Only rarely does a party offer to sell them to local retailers. It may be a cloud only the size of a man’s hand, but the decision to put a ferry between Knotts Island and the mainland up in Currituck bolsters confid ence of those seeking a South port-Ft. Fisher ferry. The Knotts Islanders were cut off from their fellow Tar Heels so that they had to go by auto up into Vir ginia, and then around a cir cuitous route to get to their own courthouse. School children had to travel 100 miles a day by bus to go to high school. The ferry will cut this distance to around 3 miles. While that situation and our own are quite different, still and all it shows a disposition on the part of the administration to use ferries for more convenient trans portation, and no one can deny that the Cape Fear ferry would be both a pleasure and a con venience. If it puts 40 to 60 more cars a day in Southport, with an aver age of 3 to the car,* it could mean a sizeable dribble of revenue into local pockets. Not to men tion giving us a chance to show our wares to a lot of new cus tomers. RED & WHITE Package TABLE NAPKINS 9 FAMO Self-Rising FLOUR 5 lb. Bag 47* & WHITE Frozen 6-Oz. Cans Orange Juice 2 Cans 29‘ LUNDY'S 10-Lb. Stand PURE LARD.*165 LEWIS A (RED&N WHITE FOOD ) "The Store That Put Shallotte On The Move" Linen White BLEACH . Half-Gallon . 25c Large Size FAB . 25c Large, Crisp, Headed LETTUCE .. 19c Stalk CELERY . . 19c Small Handling Charge On Special Items Unless Accom panied By $5.00 or More Regular Grocery Order ! Frosty Morn Sugar Cured HAM Whole or Butt Half 49* lb. SHANK HALF .... LB. CENTER SLICES .. LB. 47 79 ELK HORN MILD CHEESE lb. 53' DUKE'S MAYONNAISE GLORI-FRIED Frozen QUART ..4» French Fries 2-n». Bag 37c Southern, Assorted Flavors Ready-To-Eat PIES . . . . . 39‘ WATCH FOR OUR REGULAR WEELY Southern Cuke Special
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
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Aug. 8, 1962, edition 1
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