"We love it here," says Gaskill. "Every 

 weekend, we have lunch here with a lot of 

 family. Last night, I made flounder stew for 

 14 people." 



The retreat, which has a kitchen, eating 

 area and grill, is decorated with Down East 

 memorabilia, including a banner: "Save the 

 Commercial Fishermen," an oyster tong, and a 

 collection of decoys from the Hog Island 

 Hunting Club that is now used by the Young 

 Men's Christian Association. 



"These decoys were used for goose 

 hunting during the late '30s and '40s," says 

 Gaskill. "Both my father and brother worked at 

 the hunting club." 



Outside, you can swing in a hammock, sit 

 at a picnic table, or walk to the edge of the rocky 



shoreline on Cedar Island Bay. 



Because of shoreline erosion, Gaskill says 

 that water now covers an old sweet potato field 

 and the site of an elementary school. 



The front yard also reflects Gaskill' s Down 

 East heritage. A pelican adorns his mailbox. 

 Both a North Carolina flag and American flag 

 flap in the sea breeze. Two tombstones 

 enscribed with "Gaskill" stand near the fence. 



Gaskill says that his son found the 

 tombstones while flounder fishing on nearby 

 Hog Island across the bay from Cedar Island. 



"I tell people that I don't have to buy a 

 footstone," he says with a chuckle. 



After leaving Gaskill' s retreat, you pass 

 several empty buildings and the Cedar Island 

 United Methodist Church. 



Before reaching the ferry building, visitors 



and natives often stop at the Driftwood Motel 

 and Restaurant for clam chowder or other Down 

 East seafood. The restaurant is decorated 

 nautical style with mounted fish, surfer art and a 

 ship's steering wheel on the wall. 



At the terry harbor, huge rock walls 

 surround the docks that jut into Pamlico Sound. 

 On the right is an extensive sandy beach and 

 Cedar Island Stables, where you can rent a horse 

 to ride. While riding, you might catch a glimpse 

 of the island's wild horses that are small in size 

 and descended from the Shackleford Banks 

 horses. 



"We are trying to rebuild the wild herd," 

 says Hancock, who manages the horses. 

 "During the January roundup, we adopted five 

 mares from Shackleford Banks." 



FAR LEFT, TOP: 



The back of Island's Choice 



faces North Bay. 



FAR LEFT, BOTTOM: 



Crab pots are a familiar 



sight in Cedar Island 



waters. 



LEFT TO RIGHT: 



Many people fish for a living 



on Cedar Island. During the 



summer, traffic is heavy at 



the ferry landing. Visitors 



enjoy riding horses on the 



beach. 



ISLAND'S HISTORY 



Local legend has it that Cedar Island, 

 instead of Roanoke Island, has a connection to 

 the famed Lost Colony. 



The island's early settlers were fishing and 

 whaling folks as well as fanners. From the Civil 

 War until 1918, when the selling of many 

 waterfowl became illegal, ducks and geese were 

 hunted and sold. After that, duck and goose 

 hunting became a recreational activity. 



Because of the remoteness of the island, 

 Cedar Island lagged behind in mail service, 

 modem communications and paved roads. 



The first post office was established in 

 1905 at Lola. There was no paved road until 

 1952. Telephone service wasn't begun until 

 1959. 



"When I was a young boy in the 1950s, my 



grandfather delivered the mail in horse and cart," 

 says Gaskill. 



Because of the island's small population, 

 now around 300, everybody knew everybody, 

 according to Gaskill. "We played ball in the 

 middle of the dirt road," he says. "If a car came 

 along, they would stop for us. People got along 

 better then. They had gardens, sold fish and were 

 self-contained." 



Many of Gaskill' s contemporaries left the 

 island after graduation. 



"When I finished high school, I went to 

 work on a dredge boat," says Styron. "I came 

 back because I wanted to be home. I began 

 fishing because there was nothing else to do." 



In the 1960s, many changes came to the 

 island. In 1963, the ferry terminal was built at the 

 end of Cedar Island. In 1964, the U.S. Fish & 

 Wildlife Service began acquiring acres for the 

 wildlife refuge. 



In that same year, ferry service to Ocracoke 

 began and put the tiny community on the map. 



While on an unspoiled tract of prairie in 

 Iowa, Day met some sightseers who had been on 

 the ferry. "Imagine our surprise when we 

 discovered that they had recently come down the 

 North Carolina Outer Banks and crossed over 

 from Ocracoke to Cedar Island on the ferry and 

 were very enthusiastic about the fisher-folk charm 

 of Cedar Island," writes Jean Day in Cedar Island 

 Fisher Folk "When we lived there in the '50s, it 

 was the jumping off place or the end of the road." 



With the arrival of the ferry, more newcom- 

 ers began moving to the island. 



"A lot of people move here, stay awhile 

 and then leave because they are unhappy," says 

 Ellen Goodwin, manager of the Cedar Island 

 Ferry. "Whatever you want, it takes an hour or 

 so to get to." 



But the natives always come back. 



"I have lived at a lot of different places," 

 says Day, who now lives in Newport. "But Cedar 

 Island is the only place I come back to. It just gets 

 in your blood." □ 



For more information on the Cedar Island 

 National Wildlife Refuge, call 252/926-4021 or 

 visit the Web: http://refuges.fws.gov. For 

 information about the N.C. Department of 

 Transportation Ferry System visit: 

 www.ncferry.org or call 800-BY-FERRY. 



COASTWATCH 11 



