Jessie Stevens Taylor Marker, Southport
The Taylor marker is an unadorned rectangular cast iron tablet attached to concrete poured in the form of a large rounded boulder.
ERECTED DURING / NORTH CAROLINA’S TERCENTENARY / TO / MRS. JESSIE STEVENS TAYLOR / 1879-1961 / SHE LOVED HER GOD, COUNTRY AND FELLOW / MAN. SERVED HERE AS VOLUNTARY WEATHER / OBSERVER AND AS STORM WARNING DIS- / PLAY WOMAN FROM 1900 TO 1961. / BY / U.S. ARMY FRIENDS / 1966
City of Southport
1966
33.917500 , -78.017800
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U.S. Department of Commerce, Weather Bureau. The Cooperative Weather Observer, Volume 30 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960), pg. 61-62 Link
“Cooperative Observer Program (COOP),” National Weather Service, weather.gov, (accessed January 12, 2022) Link
“Mrs. Jessie Stevens Taylor - Southport in Brunswick County, North Carolina,” Waymarking.com, (accessed January 12, 2020) Link
“Mrs. Jessie Stevens Taylor,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed January 12, 2022) Link
“Southport Tower Damage Impacts Maritime History,” NewBernNow.com, (accessed January 12, 2020) Link
“Weather Tower Preservation Fund,” City of Southport, (accessed January 12, 2022) Link
Yes
Metal, cast iron on concrete
U.S. Army friends
Mrs. Taylor was a volunteer with the Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) of the National Weather Service (NWS) for 61 years. Per the NWS website, the COOP was created in 1890 with the twofold mission: “To provide observational meteorological data, usually consisting of daily maximum and minimum temperatures snowfall, and 24-hour precipitation totals, required to define the climate of the United States and to help measure long-term climate changes and to provide observational meteorological data in near real-time to support forecast, warning and other public service programs of the NWS.”
In February 1955 Taylor was recognized by the Weather Bureau, as the NWS was then called, for heroism during the passage of Hurricane Hazel, October 14-15, 1954. In April 1955 she also received a letter of commendation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. “According to a post-storm report from the Wilmington office of the U.S. Weather Bureau, ominous clouds appeared the morning of October 14th. The barometer fell steadily during the day and the rain squalls began around 5 p.m. By 10:30 p.m., a heavy storm swell was breaking on Wrightsville Beach. Hurricane Hazel hit with 140 mph winds at the North Carolina South Carolina State Line at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning, at high tide, as a category 4 storm. The weather bureau report said Jessie Taylor of Southport spent the night telephoning warnings to people along the coast.”
In the first three quarters of the 20th century coastal warning display towers lined the coast to warn shipping of approaching hurricanes. The tower in Southport, one of only five estimated to remain along the east coast, had been restored and named in honor of Mrs. Taylor who flew the signal flags from the tower. High winds in February 2020 toppled the tower. The city of Southport created a preservation fund and submitted plans for a replica of the tower to the N.C. State Historic Preservation office for approval. Usable elements of the old tower were to be incorporated where possible.
The memorial marker is located near the intersection of South Davis Street and East Bay Street, on the right when traveling north on South Davis Street in Southport, NC. The Fort Johnson marker stands near E. Bay St. in the center. A few yards from the Taylor marker, across E. Bay Street in Waterfront Park stands the Catalino Tingzon-S. S. John D. Gill Memorial marker. The NC Militia memorial is located in front of and to the left of the Southport Community Building, at 223 E. Bay Street.
The marker overlooks the Waterfront Park in Southport, NC.
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