Since being constructed in the sixties, Rodanthe Pier has been a vantage point to explore during  storms. This image dates back to the Fall of 1999. After a series of poundings from the ocean, much of the pier had collapsed, including the pier house. These gentlemen weren’t locals, but likely had spent time catching fish there. 

I don’t think pay phones exist here any more and this particular one may have been one of the last vestiges of that technology. Needless to say, the pier was closed and the phone didn’t work. I can only imagine the many folks that used this telephone. Surfers called their friends when the waves were good, or teenage girls huddled around it calling boyfriends.

The original pier house was strewn all over the beach. Bobby and Dickie Ferrell had built it with cypress from their Currituck sawmill. The weathered siding was still beautiful. I salvaged many of those boards and saved them for projects around my house.

Much shorter than it used to be, that old pier has been rebuilt and repaired constantly. Not only has it been a fishing experience but a social one as well, and its battle with the sea continues.