Portsmouth Island
Portsmouth Island is an uninhabited island off the coast of North Carolina. The remote island is located south of Ocracoke Island and north of Cedar Island. It is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. On the island is Portsmouth Village. The last residents of the village remained until the early 1970s. After everyone left, the village fell under the care of the National Park Service and the Friends of Portsmouth Island.
Things To Do On Portsmouth Island
Portsmouth Island is fun to explore dwellings and other structures. Explore the sounds of shorebirds, feel the warm sun on your face, and listen to the lapping waves. The island is excellent for surf fishing The solitude of the island results in the perfect place for some serious shelling.
Getting to Portsmouth Island
Based out of Ocracoke Austin Boat Tours ferries over passengers that are dropped off for a 4-hour village and beach self-guided tour. There is also a 60-90 minute boat tour. And there is Portsmouth Island ATV Excursions based out of Ocracoke that ferries visitors over to the island and the ATVs are used to explore the island and village. From Atlantic, North Carolina the Morris Marina Kabin Kamps and Ferry Service runs a vehicle and passenger ferry to the island. A 16-mile beach drive will take you to the village. On Hatteras Island, the Burrus Flying Service will fly tourists to the Ocracoke Inlet where Portsmouth Island is visible. And you can always use your own personal boat for access to the island.
Public facilities are limited. There is no public drinking water or food. Make sure to take insect repellant and sunscreen. Wear comfortable walking shoes. The warnings of a hungry mosquito population are not to be ignored. The Visitors Center and the Church are open to the public. The Post Office and Life Saving Station are open only seasonally. Only accessible by boat the 20-minute boat ride to the island makes for an enjoyable (if prepared!) day trip.
History of Portsmouth Island
Now the island is uninhabited but in the middle and late 1700’s it was a busy port on the North Carolina coast. The Ocracoke Inlet just north was a major inlet for ships headed to inland ports. Due to the heavy cargo loads ships were unable to navigate the shallow waters so cargo had to be offloaded to lighter smaller flatboats.
The village was known as a “lightering” village. Villagers would unload the cargo onto smaller flatboats. These flatboats could navigate the shallow waters of the sound. As the business grew the village grew in size and population. But in 1846 a hurricane cut a new inlet-the Hatteras Inlet. The Hatteras Inlet was deeper and safer for ships to use. The people of Portsmouth Village lost their main way of living. Later, the Life Saving Station became another way of making a living. Then the Civil War broke out and caused more problems for the island. With Union Troops advancing south many residents left the island. As the years went by the village population slowly decreased. In 1970 the island was taken over by the Cape Lookout National Seashore and by the Friends of Portsmouth Island.