Went down to the south end of Topsail this past weekend – absolutely beautiful – looking much as the island did before so much development. T’was good for the soul and since I’m writing about a time when the island looked like this picture, it was very helpful. A friend of mine and her two…

Geez – this was so long ago – late 50s perhaps. My sister is helping me take a photo – doesn’t look like I’m too interested.   I’m adding this picture because it was taken near to the time I am writing about, the late 1950s. I pull myself into a place I barely remember and…

The first fishing pier on Topsail Island was Surf City Fishing Pier – as far as I can determine, Barnacle Bill’s was the second – it came about in either ’56 or ’57 –  It was owned by a group of investors, but Lewis Williamson ran the pier for several years. The place offered all…

This is what the island looked like in the 1930s. WOW! I wasn’t around then, but I do remember when the northern part of Topsail resembled this. There were practically no houses. One of the favorite past times for many of the people (especially wives) was to drive the length of the island. I remember…

As a child I carried around a little Brownie camera  and took pictures of various things. The above picture is of Barnacle Bill’s after Hurricane Donna. The bottom picture is a picture of the flooding caused by Donna. The date at the top of the pictures is the date they were printed. Often I kept…

Another bit of history about Topsail Island. Many I know are all ready aware that the military installed the pontoon bridge in 1940. But did you know that the status of one’s tail pipe was contingent on the tide? When crossing the bridge extremely high or low tide could cause one’s rear end to slam…

      Just a little history –     October 15, 1954 Hurricane Hazel hit the southeast coast of North Carolina. She hit at high tide and during a full moon. A category 4 hurricane, she wrecked more havoc than most cat 4s because of the aforementioned facts. Hazel was one of the most dangerous…

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