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THE COMMUNITY SQUARE REVITALIZATION PROJECT
PRESERVING OUR MARITIME HERITAGE ENDOWING OUR COMMUNITY'S FUTURE
PROJECT QUICK LINKS:
These class have been discontinued due to COVID-19.. We hope to offer them in the future.. These Outdoor Classroom Programs highlight Ocracoke's dynamic natural environment, are free and geared towards children, with adults known to come back for more!
- Waterfront Access & Public Use
- Environmental Stewardship
- Historic Preservation
- Preserved In Perpetuity
- Endowment for Ocracoke Island
Watermen's Exhibit
The Community Store in the 1950's. Photo courtesy of the Ocracoke Preservation Society.
The Community Square, located along the shores of Silver Lake in the heart of Ocracoke Village, has served as a hub for commerce and social activity for decades. Many early island photographs depict daily life centered around the Square’s iconic Community Store, the Will Willis Fish House, the Ice Plant and the island’s first generator plant. In 1918 Amasa 'Mace' Fulcher’s grocery faced the harbor, appropriate for a business whose freight arrived by boat. Island men gathered on the porch to share stories, whittle birds and ponder the ways of fish. In winter months the congregation moved inside near the pot-bellied stove. The daily arrival of the mail boat Aleta drew a majority of islanders from their homes.
The Community Square is an irreplaceable community asset that can model how rural communities can put their assets to work: save historic properties, provide space for locally owned small businesses, maintain waterfront access and public open space, be a focal point for tourism, and use the lease income as a permanent endowment to benefit our island.
Located on the Docks at the Community Square, The Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Exhibit shows visitors the vital role Ocracoke’s watermen have in our economy, culture and environment.
OUR GOALS ARE SIMPLE:
- Repay the loans to be debt free so that lease income is available to benefit the community;
Restore the docks, structures and shoreline; and put protective covenants in place to ensure public access and community use in perpetuity.
CLICK HERE FOR HISTORY AND MORE DETAILS.....
Thank you to the Ocracoke Preservation Society for awarding their 2023 Historic Preservation Award to the Willis Store & Fish House restoration.