If you have ridden the Hatteras Inlet ferry you may have noticed
several pilings on the beach on the north end of Ocracoke
Island. This is all that remains of the US Coast Guard Station
that was built there in 1917. It washed into the sea after a
series of hurricanes in the mid-1950s. The Hatteras Inlet
Station during WWII: (Click on photo to view a larger image.)
This was the second station built at Hatteras Inlet. The first
was a US Life Saving Station constructed in 1883. In 1915 the
Life Saving Service joined with the Revenue Cutter Service to
create the Coast Guard. A second station, in Ocracoke village,
had already been put into service in 1905. That building was
replaced after WWII, and is now the campus of NCCAT (the North
Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching). The US Coast
Guard still maintains a presence on Ocracoke. They and their
predecessors have been an important part of island history for
more than 100 years. We salute the "Coasties" and their
contributions to Ocracoke and our nation