Bid to save historic N.C. vessels gets boost

Two 90-year-old shad boats, used for fishing and hunting on the Currituck Sound, will be among the first to be part of a local maritime history exhibit.

The nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists has donated use of about a half-acre near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the Whalehead Club where a shelter will be constructed to house the old boats, said Horace Bell, chairman of the Whalehead Preservation Trust.

Local resident Levie Bunch donated the boats, Bell said. One boat was used as part of the Monkey Island hunt club, and the other was once owned by the late Ambrose "Hambone" Twiford, a waterman from Churches Island.

Built in 1919, the two shad boats are among 68 Currituck vessels documented with drawings and photographs and recorded in the Library of Congress. Shad boats have been described as the pickup s of the local waterways.

Currituck watermen Wilson Snowden and Travis Morris were given the Award of Merit last year from the American Association for State and Local History for their efforts in trying to preserve several boats that worked the Currituck Sound.

But the boats remain largely outdoors, unprotected from the elements. Snowden and Morris, both lifelong hunters and boaters on the Currituck Sound, began collecting locally built vessels years ago. Attempts to get sponsorship to preserve the boats from the elements have failed.

The shelter put up by the Whalehead Club will only house the two shad boats, but it's a start in getting more vintage vessels protected from the elements. Later, Currituck officials expect to build a maritime education center that would house more boats, Bell said.

The Currituck boats tell part of the story of local watermen earning a living on the Currituck Sound by guiding wealthy businessmen on duck hunts. It was an era that began in the mid-1800s and was a big part of the Currituck County economy for more than 100 years.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159 jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com