Schoolhouse Environs: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Cape Lookout National Seashore

Regions 1, 2, & 4 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: Portsmouth Village is a National Register of Historic Places district located on the northern end of Cape Lookout National Seashore, Carteret County, North Carolina. Cape Lookout National Seashore was established in 1966 “to preserve for public use and enjoyment an area in the State of North Carolina possessing outstanding natural and recreation values” (U.S. Congress, 80 Stat. 33, approved 10 March 1966). Portsmouth Village is the sole surviving village on the Core Banks south of Ocracoke Island. The district contains several dozen historic buildings and structures, associated circulation features, tidal creeks, sandy hammocks, vegetation communities, and a range of small-scale features, in addition to other related cultural landscape features. The period of significance for the Portsmouth Village Historic District begins in 1753 and concludes in 1971, encompassing the establishment of the community through the time when the last permanent residents left the island. The district is significant at the state level under Criteria A, C, and D of the National Register of Historic Places, in the areas of social history, maritime history, military history, architecture, and archeology. The site retains sufficient integrity to convey the associations of its period of significance to the visitor. The village of Portsmouth was initially established by an act of North Carolina colonial legislature and flourished as a place for lightering, a process in which cargo was removed from ocean-going vessels to warehouses until they were light enough to cross the bar at Ocracoke Inlet. In addition to maritime uses, Portsmouth was an active village with a customs house, marine hospital, and post office, with a population that peaked at 600 residents and over 100 dwellings in 1860. Additional land uses included agriculture and military activities. With the transfer of land management to the National Park Service (NPS) in 1966, land use shifted primarily to public recreation and limited residential use. Within the Portsmouth Village is the Schoolhouse Environs component landscape. The component landscape contains Portsmouth Schoolhouse and associated shed and cistern, in addition to the Cecil Gilgo House. The landscape also contains a portion of the Old Straight Road, an access road, and a trail. There are eastern red cedars within the developed portions of the component landscape. The majority of extant cultural features survive from the early to mid-twentieth century and the Portsmouth Village Historic District landscape most closely reflects its character as it evolved during this time. Surviving resources represent the continuation of the earliest patterns of construction, land use, and way of life. No buildings exist from the initial eighteenth century development period and only a handful of structures remain from the nineteenth century. The site lacks integrity for this early period. Other modifications to the historic district include changes in circulation, vegetation, and alterations to accommodate the administration of Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Schoolhouse Environs: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Cape Lookout National Seashore

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