Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Fort Ocracoke Monument, Ocracoke

Type

Marker

Subjects

Civil War, 1861-1865

City

Ocracoke

County

Hyde

Description

This large black granite marker commemorates Fort Ocracoke and the Confederate soldiers who fought there. The front bears an image of the burning and abandoned fort and an inscription commemorating the now submerged remains of the fort. The inscription is continued on the rear face.

Inscription

Front: THE REMNANTS OF FORT OCRACOKE ARE SUBMERGED IN OCRACOKE INLET, 2 MILES TO THE / WEST-SOUTHWEST, TOWARDS PORTSMOUTH ISLAND. THE LAST OF POSSIBLY FOUR FORTS ON / BEACON ISLAND, THE MOSTLY EARTHEN FORT OCRACOKE WAS CONSTRUCTED BY MAINLAND CONFEDERATE VOLUNTEERS, BEGINNING ON MAY 20, 1861, THE DAY NORTH CAROLINA SECEDED / FROM THE UNION AND JOINED THE CONFEDERACY. / AFTER UNION VICTORIES ON HATTERAS ISLAND IN AUGUST, 1861, THE CONFEDERATES PARTLY / DESTROYED THE FORT AND ABANDONED IT WITHOUT A FIGHT. MAINLAND UNION FORCES / COMPLETED THE DESTRUCTION IN SEPTEMBER, 1861. BEACON ISLAND WAS CONSUMED BY / THE WATERS OF OCRACOKE INLET IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY. THE FORT'S / REMAINS WERE DISCOVERED AND IDENTIFIED BY MEMBERS OF SURFACE INTERVAL DIVING CO. / IN AUGUST, 1998, ACTING ON A TIP FROM OCRACOKE CHARTER BOAT CAPTAIN, DONALD AUSTIN”

Rear: “IN MEMORY OF VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR FROM OCRACOKE & PORTSMOUTH ISLANDS

OCRACOKE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS of the 17th, 19th, 32nd & 33rd NC INF & Other Units / Holloway Ballance / William Redding Ballance / William B. Bragg / Fabius Fenilton Dailey / Isaac Littleton Farrow / Wilson Tilmon Farrow, Jr. / Josephus Fulcher, Jr. / Benjamin Joseph Garrish, Sr. / Robert W. Gaskill, Sr. / William B. Gaskill / George Jansen Gaskins / Robert C. Gaskins / Alonzo Howard / James Hatton Howard / Robert Howard / Thomas G. Howard / * George W. Jackson / Henderson Francis Jackson / James G. Jackson / Benjamin F. O’Neal / Christopher Thomas O’Neal, III / Christopher Thomas O’Neal, Jr. / Francis W. O’Neal / Tilmon W. O’Neal, Sr. / Simon H. O’Neal / John C.(R) Simpson / William Joseph Simpson / Andrew Somers Spencer, Sr. / Elijah Styron / Dallas Wahab / James Howard Wahab, Sr. / George W. Williams / Tilmond Farrow Williams / * George W. Jackson / John F. O’Neal / Alpheus W. Simpson / Note: * - different people

Dedication Date

July 9, 2000

Decade

2000s

Geographic Coordinates

35.106180 , -75.968590 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

Canterbury, Crystal. “Ocracoke Peace and War,” Ocracoke Current (Ocracoke, NC), July 24, 2015, (accessed September 29, 2017) Link

“Fort Ocracoke,” Ocracoke Navigator, (accessed September 29, 2017) Link

“Ocracoke Island and Portsmouth Island Civil War Veterans Memorial,” Waymarking.com, (accessed September 29, 2017) Link

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Black Granite

Subject Notes

This marker commemorates Fort Ocracoke, the remnants of which are submerged in the Ocracoke Inlet. Fort Ocracoke was built by volunteers beginning on May 20, 1861, the day North Carolina seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy. One side of the marker lists the men from Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands who served in the Civil War. The other side of the marker describes the importance of Fort Ocracoke.

Location

The monument is located on Irvin Garrish Highway (North Carolina Route 12), behind the National Park Service Visitor Center near the ferry terminal at Ocracoke Village, NC.

Landscape

This memorial stands a grassy patch, adjacent to a large parking area.