Summers in Morehead City
"Both figures in the foreground were posed by my Son Scott during 1978 when the guys wore their hair fairly long. His best friend Rusty Rollins is in the back- ground walking toward the water with a net. There are actually seven figures in this painting, which is a panorama of the sound near Morehead City. A low bridge, which is no longer there, can be seen on the extreme right of the painting." R.B. Dance

Growing up, we spent a few weeks each Summer in Morehead and often stayed into the Fall , when the blues were running (thanks Mr. & Mrs. Flippin). Dad's paintings chronicle a lot of that life: Fishing, seafood, sand fleas and sand burrs, wooden boats, the Sanitary Fish Market (Tony sent me this page), Dee Gee's, warm beer, cold Cheerwine, Carrot Island, wild horses, salt water taffy, exploring, Fort Macon, firecrackers, sailing, boating, Cape Lookout, Harker's Island, seashells, thunderstorms, shooting stars, pretty girls, holding hands (and falling in love)- and always, ...adventure.

Scott Dance, March 2005

Morehead City Memories 

I grew up on the 14th block of Morehead City.[My Grandfather, E.C. Willis, was a Contractor and built and owned most of the houses on Arendell and Evans Street on the 14th Block, so we lived at 1401 Arendell and 1408 Evans growing up.] Growing up here I often thought how lucky I was to have the greatest parents, Millie and Vance Mason, and two big brothers, and live in the coastal town of Morehead City, a place where people had to drive to come and vacation, and I lived right here all my life. 

We walked to school, came home for lunch, and spent countless hours with our friends that lived all around us. Every Friday night was a pajama party for all my friends, where we stayed up all night laughing and learning to dance, right in my living room. Mama always enjoyed everyone coming to our house, and then she knew where I was and what I was doing. We had a wonderful wrap around porch where we sat in the swing, and could see who was dating whom at the Morehead Theatre. Right down the street was a store named Lindsey’s where you could get frozen kool aid in a paper cup, which was just want you needed on a hot summer day. The Morehead Recreation Center was the place we spent most of our time. There was a metal double slide that we would climb to the top and think that we could see all over Morehead. We spent lots of time just sitting up there and talking with our friends. Inside the recreation center were ping-pong tables, and basketball court. You checked out the paddles and could play for hours. The dances were a lot of fun too. The night that the Center burned to the ground, I sat on my front porch in the swing, and cried to think of all the wonderful memories I had shared there with my friends..

My grandmother Blanche Styron lived at 1010 Shepard Street, when I spent the night with her, I would lay on the bed and look out the window at Atlantic Beach, there were so few lights I would start to count and by the time I got to ten I would be asleep. It was a very safe place to grow up, and friendships I made during this time are still with me today. 

Summers, Mama would pack a picnic and we would go to the Sound Beach Pool, where The Crow’s Nest Marina is at Atlantic Beach. There was a concession stand, a big rope you could hang on and jump in the water, and a great place to swim with your friends. When we went to Atlantic Beach we always went to the Main Beach, where the Pavilion was, you could always hear the music playing while we made sand castles.  

For years starting at age 11, I was the papergirl for the NewsTimes in the Promise Land of Morehead. No one ever locked their doors, and most of the time I hand delivered the papers, since I knew everyone on my route. Collecting was kind of of a drag, because I had to do that on Saturday morning, so I would always get my best friend Janet to go with me to help pass the time. Collecting at Christmas time made up for the Saturdays because I got lot of money and gifts from my customers. Finally when I made cheerleading my mother let me give up the route, I thought that was the end of work for me, but summers came and Moses and Zola Brown bought the Tommy’s Pancake House, so Janet and I got jobs waitressing and did that for our high school years.

I believe that we are what we are because of where we have grown up. Those of us that grew up here have the salt water and the sand in our blood, and never really want to leave. Talk to someone that grew up here, if they have moved away they are trying to move back here.

Ethel Mason Taylor

The MCHS Marching Band, The Recreation Center, the Morehead City Drug Store, the New Stand and the Mullet Bucket

The Morehead City HS Marching Band: In 1952, in Morehead, for one four-year-old girl living at 1611 Arendell Street, nothing was quite as exciting as hearing the Morehead City High School band in the distance. That was my signal to run into the house, get on the uniform I had received from Santa, and of course, my baton, and be ready to march with the majorettes as they passed by…they, on the street; I, on the sidewalk. I kept my eye on Mr. (Ralph) Wade’s serious face, knowing that if he put that whistle in his mouth, the band would play as they passed my block. I still remember how Mr. Wade walked, always like he was marching … upper body so erect…face forward… feet in measured steps - like a proud soldier.
The Morehead City Recreation Center: It covered a whole city block between 14 th and 15 th streets. The building rose between the two alleys, extending from Shepard to Evans Street. To its east was a playground on the north side and tennis courts in the middle. To its west side was a parking area and a playing field that was used for all sports. Inside was magical. The two main rooms were a contrast. The first one always seemed darker, cooler, and quieter. There were tables and chairs and sofas that somehow angled around poles. There were smaller rooms on either side. To the left were offices; to the right lay a ping-pong room, an off -limits kitchen that had a door towards the tennis courts and a front game room. Between the two main rooms, there were a number of small storage rooms, one of which was an audio booth from which the popular songs of the day emanated. The transition into the second room was almost startling. Large windows at the top of high ceilings flooded the room with light. There were badminton nets hung from one side to the other. The nets were taken down every Friday and Saturday night to make way for the Teenage Club, where, if you were twelve or older, you could hang out and dance from 7-10. Bands like the Embers and the Tams performed on the stage in that big room. NC’s version of Bandstand was broadcast there in the summers. Lots of memories of young laughter and romance at its most innocent.
The Morehead City Drug Store, & the Newstand: Before it burned down in 1970, one of the social centers of downtown Morehead City was the Morehead City Drug Store. The drugstore had booths and counters and many people stopped there for a coke and nabs, if not a sandwich. MCHS students went there after school and on Sundays, folks from the downtown churches would stop there between and after services. Next-door was the Morehead City Newstand, with its cave-like entrance. It was not unusual for people to sit in their parked cars with a coke and sit and watch people go in and out of the drugstore and newstand. We would tap on the horn if we saw someone we knew and they would come over and talk. Our children (or grandchildren) today might roll their eyes but back then, it was pretty cool.
The Mullet Bucket: There was always excitement in the air on Fridays but this was THE Friday, the Morehead –Beaufort football game. The field seemed so far away but it was only where Carteret Community College is today. Trees separated the field from the water; I thought it was a forest. Every thing seemed so big to me. It seemed like we walked forever to get to the field. Daddy would park far away so that he could get out early. He would tell me where I could be and that I had to check in with him. Mother and my siblings would come later. I loved watching the band, the majorettes, and the cheerleaders. I knew the cheers by heart… red, white, dynamite…. I made sure I could still see my father who paced the sideline so intensely. Those players were his guys. He knew them all by name, knew their strengths, encouraged them. Every once in a while Daddy’s eyes would search into the stands. I would stand and wave and he would smile and turn back to the game. Shortly after the third quarter, he would come and tell me who was taking the family home and I would have to go sit with my mother. He was going ahead to get the hamburgers ready for the Mullet Bucket. I still remember the how the white paper wrapped burgers lay lazily in the wooden bucket with steam emanating from them. We got to stop at Dom’s Lunch on the way home to see the crowd and wave to Daddy We never ate a hamburger. It was Friday and we were Catholic.
Ann Femia Del Tatto, February 2007

Granddaddy and hurricane Hazel   

I was 10 years old when one of the worst storms of the century came through Carteret county." Hurricane Hazel" is well remembered in my mind as it came roaring through Morehead City.How well I remember! The lights all went out as hurricanes tend to come ashore at night. My family and I were living with my grandfatherJoseph W. Smith on Fisher Street at the time. As the water rose from the river, it came in under the doors and Mama put me and my brothers and sisters on her big iron "bed-stead", as the beds in those days were called. Sitting on the bed, I leaned over and watched the water "eddy-ing" around the "bed-stead" legs. As it rose higher, we were taken into the attic. I remember looking down the hatch from the attic and saying to my granddaddy, "Granddaddy, please ask God to stop this hurricane because if it doesn't I don't believe I'm going to make it to 11!"    After the storm passed, we children were told not to go outside as the hurricane had flushedout lots of snakes, especially fresh water moccasins. When the floor in the house was dry enough to walk on, we looked out the windows and sure enough, you could see the snake heads bobbing up and down in the water.     My grandfather was a commercial fisherman and had tethered a small skiff to the side of the house. Having grown up in the down east community of Atlantic, he was as familiar with the water as the back of his hand. Granddaddy announced to my older brother Cliff and I that he was going to check Arendell Street to see how far the water had receded. How well I remember that skiff ride! Granddaddy had strong arms and rowed from 8th and Fisher Street across Bridges Street and finally to Arendell Street. He would stop at intervals and in his quiet way, explain to us some of the workings of nature.     Remembering now, looking down Arendell Street, it looked as though the Atlantic ocean and Bogue sound had merged until it had become one big ocean to my 10 year old mind. As granddaddy rowed us back home I can remember him looking around and saying "Young'uns, I reckon this is a day you'll never forget!"And I didn't, especially when he handed me the oars and said, "Thelma Marie, this next half-block will 'shore' teach you how to row this skiff you're always saying you want to know how to row!"     As we got back and walked the little dock to the house, granddaddy said to Cliff and I, "Young'uns I hope the next time we go a skiffing you all can see some dolphins swimming and not have to worry about looking down the white mouth of some oldsnake!"     Fond, fond memories of Granddaddy... 

Thelma Holland Barselow, January 4, 2007

Dom Femia at Dom's Lunch

Some of my best middle and high school memories include listening to WBMA (AM) on summer evenings in Beaufort, NC. As the theme song for “Night Train” began to play on my green Zenith portable radio, I was welcomed aboard the Night Train from high-a-top Dom L’s on Atlantic Beach. Junior and senior high school student disc jockeys, such as Bobbie Dennis, Sue Webb and Bunny Moore, played the latest hits by the most popular artists and dedicated songs to teenaged sweethearts living in and visiting Carteret County. We were reminded that “For food that excels, eat at Dom L’s” and we did--as often as possible.

After I traded my bike for a driver’s license, I “lived” at Dom L’s. The drive-in was situated on a triangle-shaped parcel of land with palm trees on the side between the old and new bridge highways. To get in and out was easy for inexperienced drivers mesmerized by the glass booth with the live DJ. As queen of the night, she drove the night train and educated us to such concepts as “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Johnny Be Good”. Twenty-five-cents-a-gallon gas provided us an inexpensive, entertaining evening---driving around to see and to be seen by those who were also driving around to see and to be seen. For some of us, those were the days when duck pants, circle pins, Weejuns, Gant shirts, madras, and link belts were “cool”, but socks were about as “cool” as taking parents with you on a date.

Sometimes we would congregate outside our cars or pile into a few cars for a trip to the “circle” (which was really a triangle) at Atlantic Beach. This ritual continued all year, but was more fun in the summer when accompanied by friends from Raleigh, Goldsboro, Pink Hill, Snow Hill and Crow Hill. Between 9 and 9:45 pm, couples who had been to the movies would arrive and the music became slower. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis (fast) were replaced by the Five Satins, the Platters, and Elvis (slow). Curb service and a window tray full of cheeseburgers, pizzaburgers and onion rings combined with the music to fill summer evenings and winter weekends.

All this Dom L’s activity was moderated by Mr. Dominic S. Femia, the owner. Known to his friends as Dom, my father-in-law was one of those visionaries World War II introduced to the South via the US Marine Corps. Because he decided to marry his beloved Geri and to open a place to get something to eat after 5 PM (as he had been used to in the Northeast), he brought food, music, and wonderful times and memories to generations of young people in eastern North Carolina. By establishing a safe, adventurous, and fun place to grow up, he (not a “Moreheader born”), had a positive impact on “Moreheaders bred” as well as many other people in Carteret County and other parts of North Carolina in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Our parents never worried about us. They knew that Mr. Femia, whose presence was formidable yet friendly both inside and outside the restaurant, would take care of us. He always made very clear that no conflict would take place in his parking lot and we never failed to take his suggestions. What he said made sense, we knew he meant it and we respected him. Because he was a strong, confident community leader (who also served as police commissioner), there was no trouble at Dom L’s except for a heartbreak or two.

After Mr. Femia died prematurely at the age of fifty-two, his daughter Ann and son John operated Dom L’s successfully for a year until it was sold. So ended a tradition—there will not be another generation to take up our rallying cry, “Meet you at Dom L’s”. Yet this truly special place continues to live in the hearts of Carteret County natives and others who share their stories with friends and families.
Daniel Nelson, Class of 1963, Beaufort HS

 

Memories of Morehead City

I remember . . .The Morehead City Drug Store when it was on the 800 block of Arendell Street,
• Parking in front with the family on Saturday nights to watch  the folks go by,
• Ordering fountain Cokes and having them delivered by bicycle,
•meeting my Baptist friends there between Sunday School and church for a fountain Coke and nabs,
• Faye and Aunt Hazel,
• Sissy Wallace,
• Catching the Camp Morehead bus to the dance on a summer night.
• Sunday School picnics at Fort Macon,
• Playing on the big sand dune,
• Homemade (wasn’t everything?) fried chicken, deviled eggs, potato salad, pimento cheese (my Daddy made the best) sandwiches and the best cakes ever, washed down with fresh squeezed lemonade made by my Gramp in a galvanized trash can.
• Sitting on the porch on a summer evening visiting, singing and telling stories,
• Flit guns and smoking oil-soaked rags to chase the mosquitoes away,
• Kick the can under the street light,
• Football on the corner lot,
• Running home when Mother rang the cow bell.

Making “pop calls” with my parents to “Miss” Gretchen and Bull’s house and to “Miss” Elsie and Capt. Fred’s—Hurricane Ione when 17 window panes blew out upstairs and my daddy was scared—The Dixie Dairy on North 7 th Street. What a treat!—Fred’s Barbeque where RBC Centura Bridges Street parking lot is now, the only place we ever ate out— Walking to and from school and going home for lunch—Climbing the giant magnolia tree in the Thornton’s yard—The Morehead City Hospital, where Harbor View is now, Dr. Ben Royal and Dr. Sam Hatcher

• Baked flounder for supper the night the Potomac exploded. We left everything on the table to evacuate and went to Fleming’s Restaurant parking lot to watch the ship burn. Whew! Those dishes sure did smell “fishy” when we got home several hours later and had to clean up the table.
• When the Morehead City High School football field was on Arendell Street where CCC is now.
• Cheering for the MCHS Eagles in Talbert’s Temple,
• Mr. Gannon Talbert, beloved teacher and coach,
• Breaking Beaufort’s 92 game winning streak in that same gym.
• Chorus with Mr. Ralph Wade upstairs in the Harry North Building.
• Pep rallies in the MCHS auditorium. We made the lights swing.
• Carteret Drug and Geraldine’s grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.
• The Teenage Club where Shevan’s Park is now, m eeting there after ballgames and waiting for the ball players to get there, d ancing on Saturday nights, Capt. Fred Lewis, Mrs. Mamie Taylor and Mrs. Marie Laughton who gave their weekends so the youth of the town could have a place to meet and socialize, Teen Canteen filmed there during the summer.

It was a magical time…growing up in Morehead City in the 50’s and 60’s.
Diane Davis Willis, February 2007

The Home that once stood at 1700 Arendell St. (current site of Morehead Drug Co. & the Salvation Army)

The home was purchased by Daniel E. Williams and wife Helen in 1947. The first picture is of Mr & Mrs D.E. Williams in front of this home in 1947 The second picture of the home is as it appeared in the early 1950's.

D.E. Williams was originally from the Riverdale Community near New Bern.  Born in 1889, he had moved to South Carolina as a young man in the early 1900's. After working in Charleston as a photographer, he eventually owned studios in Sumter, Columbia, Orangeburg and Florence. He sold his business and he and his wife, Helen R. Williams, moved to Morehead City in 1947.

After moving to  Morehead City, he operated an train ride and bumper cars on the "circle" at Atlantic Beach.  He sold that business and then became a landlord of several apartments and small houses in the Morehead City and Newport areas.  He sold his home at 1700 Arendell Street in the early 1970's , and eventually moved to a home on Friendly Road.  He passed away in 1981; and his wife in 1999.