In real estate, the old adage is location.
Portsmouth Island thrived because of location and it declined because of location.
Portsmouth Island is a very lonely place today, a 13 mile-long island that's only accessible by a small boat or privately run ferry. There are no vacation homes, no stores, no businesses, only a small handful of National Park Service managed cottages.
Portsmouth Island wasn't always the rustic and abandoned retreat it is today, as evident by the small village consisting of a dozen remaining homes, churches, general store, and post office which is maintained in exceptional condition by the National Park Service.
Portsmouth was officially established in 1752, and by 1770, was the largest European settlement on the Outer Banks populated with a mixture of settlers, sailors and businessmen . This was in part due to its proximity to Ocracoke Island, one of the major North Carolina shipping ports. The shipping industry along Outer Banks of North Carolina thrived in the late 1700s and 1800s, and so did Portsmouth Island. By 1852, more than 66% of North Carolina's imported or shipped good passed through Ocracoke Inlet, by way of Portsmouth Island. The island, which boasted nearly 700 residents by 1860, was clearly thriving and was well on its way to being one of the most populated areas of the Outer Banks.
Portsmouth Island took its first hit during the Civil War. As Union soldiers attacked the North Carolina coast, they targeted Portsmouth Village, and a number of residents fled the island before they could be overcome by the onslaught of troops.
After the Civil War, the original port became a shallow basin, the shipping industry soon abandoned Portsmouth Island for larger and deeper ports and more and more residents grudgingly left the island in search of work and more fruitful opportunities. By 1956, only 17 hardy residents remained on the island with limited supplies. This number steadily declined as well, as with no stores or businesses, the residents of Portsmouth Island has to relay on goods that were brought in by private boat to the village. The last two residents, Marion Babb and Elma Dixon, two elderly ladies who had lived in the village for decades, finally and reluctantly left the island in 1971, and the "town" has been deserted ever since.
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