Piloting

For most of Ocracoke's history, trade and commerce were the driving economic forces that shaped its inhabitants. In 1715 the North Carolina General Assembly passed an act to settle pilots on Ocracoke Island. Inlet pilots, individuals who knew the local waters, were necessary to help ship captains, who were carrying trade goods between mainland North Carolina and England and other colonies, navigate the often treacherous inlet between Ocracoke and Portsmouth.

In 1795 Jonathan Price produced a detailed map of Occacock (Ocracoke) Inlet, accompanied by a description of the area. Referring to the village and its surroundings, Price wrote, “Occacock...is three miles [in length], and its breadth two and one half. Small live oak and cedar grow abundantly over it, and it contains several swamps and rich marshes, which might be cultivated to great advantage; but its inhabitants, depending on another element for their support, suffer the earth to remain in its natural state. They are all pilots; and their number of head of families is about thirty. [my emphasis]”

In 1846 a violent hurricane opened Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet. As it turned out, Hatteras Inlet was more navigable than Ocracoke Inlet, and ship traffic quickly moved there. The pilots soon followed. 

Census records do not list occupations until 1850, but a conservative estimate is that 35 - 50 pilots were living on Ocracoke before Hatteras Inlet opened. The following table shows clearly how times changed during the next decades: 

• 1850 (4 years after Hatteras Inlet opened)........27 pilots are living on Ocracoke 
• 1860.........................................................................13 pilots are living on Ocracoke
• 1870...........................................................................4 pilots are living on Ocracoke
• 1880...........................................................................1 pilot is living on Ocracoke

In tomorrow's post I will discuss seafaring, the occupation that mostly supplanted piloting in the late 19th century. Following that post I will write about fishing as an island enterprise.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is about Old Christmas in Rodanthe. You can read it here: https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/old-christmas-rodanthe/.