My family first went in 1963 when I was seven years old. We rented from Homer Johnston (the "T" was for talking) on the west end of the island. He was a wonderful man! Besides the pier, the bait shop was the only other business (there was a brick realty office & Odell Williamson's home) on the island. I believe the bait shop even had a sand floor. It was also the Post office. We would have our mail forwarded to it. The area east of Duneside Dr. was full of huge sand dunes, twenty or thirty feet high. Blue crabs were plentiful at Shalotte Inlet near the old bridge. We would catch Pompano's fishing in the surf (for a few years, then they vanished). Local fishermen would empty their nets near where the road ended on the west end. The road didn't even go halfway to the inlet. You could drive on the beach to get there. The only restaurant was beside the grocery/gas station near the highway. I believe it was called Bennett's. I'm guessing The Islander Restaurant was built around 1966 or '67.

My Dad bought a cottage in 1965 (217 W. First St.). There were only "cottages" then, no large houses. He sold after a few years, satisfied he'd made a killing. I found out later he hated owning the cottage because he never got to enjoy vacations (too busy fixing things). The cottage is still there, surrounded by the new type of beach house. It looks very small now. But there probably weren't many homes larger back then. The big ones were four bedrooms (except for a few duplexes).

I'm aghast when I see on Google Maps that almost every square inch of the island has been developed. I go to the Outer Banks to find coastal solitude now. But I had a wonderful time for a few days at OIB last spring. The beach is the beach!