REDISCOVERiAG OllR BEACHES
Wrightsvillc Beach with Harbor Island in foreground.
WRI6HTSVI LIE'S
FILLING UP
An ocean front lot will
cost $10,000; but there
are moderately-priced
inside lots.
«»/
OLD TRUDGE
Slowly but surely Wrightsvillc
Beach, one of the oldest ocean resorts
in the South, is filling up. Perhaps
there are only two marketable ocean
front lots left. These. 50 by 300 or
350, arc being held for $10,000 each.
Around a score of sound-side lots
arc on the market at from $4,000 to
$7,000, and the inside lots left arc
going for about $1,850. This property
at Wrightsvillc is moving slowly into
the hands of cottage-builders. When it
is gone, the next development possi¬
ble is toward the north. It is feasible
to build a causeway across Moore's
Inlet, but the property on that side has
not yet been opened to buyers.
Meantime, Wrightsville's permanent
population is growing and the winter
residents number from 1.200 to
I,-
500. Several places are open the year
around with a smattering of business
to draw from. The most persistent
of these arc the Surf Inn and Kitty
Hotel. The Inland waterway brings
some trade to the beach, via the pleas¬
ure craft going to and from Florida
and stopping at the Marina.
The Ocean Terrace, which tried a
Note: Already discussed in
this series on "Rediscovering our
Reaches": Currituck Reaches and
Southern Shores. Nov. 28; Nags
Head and vicinity, Dec. 19; Hat -
li ras Island. Jan. 9; Ocean Isle
(Cause I Nov. 7.
When the series is completed,
all the beaches in North Carolina
will have been up-dated for those
interested in visiting or investing
in this property.
winter-long program, gave up when
cold weather brought more expense
than business. Wilbur Schell, the new
operator of the Terrace, was disap¬
pointed. but he had a large building
to maintain. It reopens for the Azalea
Festival.
Wrightsville’s 1953 summer season
was described as "not poor, but onlv
fair."
For readers not familiar with that
territory, here's the way Wrightsvillc
lies:
It is a short strand, very narrow,
extending from Moore's Inlet — bare¬
ly a puddle — to Masonboro Inlet,
which is usable for boats not drawing
more than 3 or 4 feet of water.
It is about 10 miles from Wilming¬
ton. and the intervening country has
been pretty well built up. It enjoys
several distinctions:
Toward the mainland side the in¬
land waterway passes close to shore.
Between the waterway and the banks
channel so familiar to our coast, is
large and useful Harbor Island, itself
THE STATE, march 6. 1954
21