THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604070035
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
When Jessie Lee Babb Dominique helped her sister move off Portsmouth Island 25 years ago, she knew no one would live on the abandoned barrier island again.
``The hardest thing I ever had to do was lock the door of her house for the last time,'' said Dominique, 68, who left by boat and headed for Beaufort. ``The most lonely I ever felt was when I went back for homecoming two years ago.
``There were 200 people on the island that day - twice as many as lived there when I was a girl. But I had no family left. And I didn't even know most of the folks,'' Dominique said Friday. ``So it didn't really feel like coming home.''
But she'll be back Saturday for another homecoming. The Friends of Portsmouth Island organize a reunion on the grassy lawn in front of the chapel every two years. People who once lived there - and those who have come to adore the isolated island - will gather for a short religious service, singing and a pot-luck picnic lunch at what was once the most populous port in North Carolina.
Portsmouth Island was established in 1753 by the state's General Assembly to serve as ``lightering'' docks. Ships traveling the Atlantic stopped off at the island, just south of Ocracoke, and unloaded their goods into warehouses and barges. Then, smaller boats transported the supplies across shallow shoals to mainland communities.
By 1790, more than 220 people lived on Portsmouth. In 1806, an official U.S. Customs house opened there. A two-story academy, the state's first hospital and a Methodist Church were established on the 23-mile-long, 1.5-mile-wide island by 1860 - and almost 700 people inhabited the bustling village.
Federal troops occupied Portsmouth early in the Civil War and forced all the residents to evacuate. Many never returned. When Dominique was born to a Coast Guardsman and his wife in 1927, about 100 people lived on the island year-round.
``I was the last baby born on Portsmouth. I went to the one-room school there and stayed until I was 18,'' the former bookkeeper said from her Beaufort home. ``But my sister remained until the last male resident died in 1971. She and my aunt were the only ones left. And they couldn't carry their groceries from the boat to their houses and live there alone any more.''
Today, Portsmouth remains inaccessible except by private boat or plane. An Ocracoke resident takes tourists on a 20-minute boat ride across the inlet for $15 per person round trip. The island is owned and maintained by the National Park Service - part of Cape Lookout National Seashore. People lease a handful of the historic houses for weekend retreats. But it's been a quarter-century since anyone resided there year-round.
The cottages still stand. Their faded curtains gather dust behind thick, salt-sprayed windows. The post office and small schoolhouse remain.
Rusty padlocks hang from their boarded doors. And green-headed flies are the only worshipers lining the church's hand-hewn walnut pews.
Next weekend, however, hundreds of people will return to Portsmouth.
``If they're physically able to, most of the former residents and their families will come,'' said Karen Amspacher of Harkers Island, who is helping organize the homecoming.
``Most of their houses are still standing. And they still go back even if they can't get inside.
``They take flowers to the cemetery. They walk through the island in the afternoon and reminisce about how it used to be. The church bell is rung. There's lots of chatter on the church lawn. The village comes alive again.
``Even though most of them haven't lived there for more than 30 years, Portsmouth is still their home - and always will be.''
Dominique agreed. Although the homecoming is a bittersweet experience for her, she said she never misses a chance to return to Portsmouth. Sometimes, she said, the man who now leases her family home even lets her come back to visit.
``It's rekindling all those marvelous memories of growing up there that I'm looking forward to most,'' said Dominique.
``We all had gardens in the sand. We ate a lot of fish our folks caught off the island. We raised chickens in the yard and walked a lot. My sisters and I used to watch the horses carry supplies in carts through the village after boats brought 'em by.
``It's just so lonesome, going back, now that none of that's there any more.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Graphic
PORTSMOUTH ISLAND HOMECOMING
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB