In our upcoming July/August issue, we include an article called Beach Fun Back in the Day that covers how people enjoyed vacations at North Carolina beaches a century ago.
We had many more fascinating images than we could include in that article. So here, we include a photojournal of some of the amazing images Eric Medlin was able to find and contextualize of North Carolina beach fun early in the 20th century.
Two women on beach at Nags Head, Dare County, ca.1914. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Man in novelty boat at Lumina Pavilion, Wrightsville Beach, NC, c. 1910s. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Views of Tourists, Beach Cottages, Piers, Nags Head, NC ca. 1910 (postcard). Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Family at unidentified NC beach, probably Shell Island, ca. 1923. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
One of the earliest surviving photographs of the Outer Banks community of Rodanthe, North Carolina, 1899. Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks HIstory Museum
Boatman at Nags Head. Note reads, "Nags Head Inlet -- cut by August storm, 1899." Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks History Museum
Men standing at Nags Head Lifesaving Station. Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks History Museum
Early 20th century women's swimwear. Photo courtesy of the Wrightsville Beach Museum postcard collection
A group of young boys on Roanoke Island, early 20th century. Note says "Fort Hugerat Wares Point, Historic Roanoke Island." Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks History Museum
Mahala Meekins, likely of Elizabeth City, dressed in beach attire, Nags Head, N.C., 1916. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Duck shooting from bush blind, Pamlico Sound, N.C., ca. 1900. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Duck Hunting at Lake Mattamuskeet, 1938. Photo courtesy of State Archives of North Carolina
View of beach cottages, Nags Head, ca. 1910 (postcard). Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
The Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, 1905-1915. Photo courtesy of State Archives of North Carolina.
Atlantic Hotel scene, c. 1915. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
Members of the Medical Society of North Carolina in front of the Atlantic Hotel, Morehead City, N.C., June 1913. Photo courtesy of General Negative Collection, State Archives of North Carolina
David Stick, famed historian and developer of the North Carolina Outer Banks, and a companion goggle fishing on a board (sometimes viewed as a precursor to surfing), 1938. Photo courtesy of the Outer Banks History Museum