State

The Old Atlantic Hotel It was a great place in its day and time, and Moreliead City never lias seemed efuite the same since the Atlantic burned down several years ago. lift GKRTIU ni: S. CAW R AWAY MOREHEAD CITY. long known as “The Summer Capital of North Carolina," has never seemed exactly the same since the old Atlantic Hotel was burned down several years ago. For more than half a century this hostelry was one of the most popular places in the state for sum¬ mer vacationists. It was a long, rambling, three-story, frame struc¬ ture. The rooms were not what you might call pretentious, but they were comfortable. Preten¬ tiousness dosen’t pay at a beach- resort hotel where many of the guests insist on visiting one another in wet bathing suits and feet that are covered with sand. People used to say that the hotel was a fire trap. They asserted that some reveler, who might have im¬ bibed too freely, would go to bed some night with a cigarette in his mouth, set the bed afire and burn down the whole hotel. Their pre¬ dictions. however, were never ful¬ filled. Plenty of revelers went to bed with cigarettes in their mouths, but the cigarettes always went out without doing any damage. The hotel burned down when there wasn’t a single guest within its walls. Fifty years ago, people went down to the Atlantic and spent the entire summer there. Those were the days before good roads and easy transportation facilities. Everybody made the trip by train and, inasmuch as this took con¬ siderable time, it was generally felt that it would be foolish to stay just a few days. So the guests remained at the hotel for weeks and weeks. There was no bridge across the sound to the ocean. A pier in front of the Atlantic Hotel was used by gas-boat captains for load¬ ing and unloading hotel guests who wanted to enjoy the surf. A charge of 25 cents was made for each Eerson. It usually required about D minutes to get to the other side of the Sound. Then there was a walk of about 10 minutes over rough planks to the actual beach. A dance-hall, a soft-drink stand and a dilapidated bath-house were the only buildings on the ocean front in those days. Late in the afternoon, the crowds would walk back to the sound side and wait patiently for the boats to come along and carry them back to the hotel. Sometimes they had to wait quite a while. The picture on the opposite page is one of the few extant showing the hotel during its prime about 50 years ago. The original is owned by Dr. Richard N. Duffy, of New Bern, who is the third boy from the right in the forefront of the photograph. Inquiries over a period of several years have failed to identify most of the persons in the group, al¬ though they undoubtedly were well-known and were prominent citizens of North Carolina. Perhaps some readers of The State will be able to assist in the process of identification. Of particular interest are the old-fashioned dresses and hats. Women's fans and men's canes also are very much in evidence. At the extreme right, a boy named Har- ri 11, from Raleigh, holds a fighting cock in his arms. On the balcony, the woman in black leaning far forward near the post is the late Mrs. Elizabeth Ellis, of New Bern. Standing next to her is the late Miss Maud Green, later Mrs. A. T. Dill, of New Bern. The man on the balcony, over to¬ ward the left, is Judge Brown Shepard, of Raleigh. His son also is in the picture, wearing a straw hat and standing in the middle front of the downstairs group. Jones Fuller, of Durham, is a little to the left of the center of the group in front. He is wearing white trousers and a dark coat, without a hat. and has his finger in his mouth. Miss Etta Manson, of Beaufort, is on the front row, a little to the right of center. She is wearing a black skirt, with her hands folded in front of her. The second girl to her left is Anne Duncan, who later become Mrs. Henry Gregory. The second person to Miss Man- son’s right is Etta Perry, of Ra¬ leigh. She’s the little girl with long dark curls. Anne Duncan is looking over Miss Manson's left shoulder. Dr. Duncan and Mrs. Paul Smith, of Raleigh, and Bette Davis, their cousin, are said to be standing on the front row slightly to the right of center. George Ives, of New Bern, is the man with sideburns leaning against the post at the right side of the porch. John Ives is standing near him. Mrs. Bates is just behind. Mrs. George Ives is between the two posts. Others said to be in the picture arc Mr. and Mrs. Charles Grainger, of Goldsboro, then a bride and groom; Mrs. Ben Perry. Miss Jennie Watson, of New Bern, now Mrs. Thomas L. Craig, of Gastonia, and a Mr. Dortch of Goldsboro. Mrs. Grainger says that the photo¬ graph was taken after a morning german held at the hotel. The large ballroom at the Atlantic was the center of all social activities at Morehead City. Dur¬ ing the last fifteen years or so. you may recall the huge crystal ball, suspended from the ceiling, that scattered vari-colored circles of light all over the floor and walls. In the old days, the dances and other social functions were of a decidedly more formal nature than they were in later years. The hotel also was a favorite place for conventions. More than a dozen large gatherings were held there every summer. There were approx imtely 250 rooms in the hotel, which means that about 750 guests could be cared for. Sleep¬ ing three or four in a room was nothing unusual. It was a great place, and even now. when you mention the old Atlantic in a group, you'll usually hear some member of it sigh and exclaim: "My, my, my! The good times I used to have at that place!" 5