His Recollections of Growing up in Oriental in the 50’s and 60’s
Do you remember when…..
- The old wooden two lane bridge over Smith Creek and Green Creek was a great place to jump 20 feet into the water for summer swimming. The current 60’ high bridge was constructed in 1972.
- At Mr. Red Lee’s Restaurant, he sold hamburgers for 25 cents and never increased the price. Because of this, he was written up in a national magazine and people on sailboats would come to the store and order 80 hamburgers at a time- still it was only 20 bucks! He had a juke box that played a record for 5 cents and a pool table and was a favorite place where all the teenagers hung out.
- Oriental had two stop lights during the 50’s: one at the movie theater and one at Will Smith’s store (Steamer). James Ragan was the mayor when Oriental got those two stop lights. He was Judge Ragan’s daddy. He and his wife, Miss Sue Ragan, owned the saw mill on Midyette Street and there was always a huge pile of saw dust there upon which the kids would slide down and build tunnels through it. Miss Sue was a Cub Scout leader for many years.
- Ben O’Neil’s grocery story had a pot belly stove and all the men would sit around it and sharpen their pocket knives and talk, but when a woman came in, all the men stood up.
- Wit’s Inn was a bar that was another favorite hang out for Butch and his buddies when they were about 13 and 14 years old for playing cards. Nobody worried where the kids were- even in the bar- because everyone looked out for each other and everyone knew that Annis Gwaltney, the owner, would make sure everything was as it should be.
- The Ragans started the Oriental Marina and with that began an influx of people from other areas coming to Oriental. They were called “Come Heres” by the local people and still are, according to Butch.
- John Bond was a great contractor and a great man. Butch recalled how John built a house for his mother at his cost after hers burned down and she was left without much insurance money by the company.
- Butch remembers Tom Smith’s parents were one of the finest, most gentile Southern couples he ever knew and felt the same about Larry Gwaltney’s parents, Joe and Anne Gwaltney whom he said were also “superb, classy” people. The apple does not fall far from the tree in both cases!
- The Bottle House was built in the late 50’s by Mr. Branch Hodges. He built it all out of glass bottles. Very few of them have broken. It measures 12’x12’x12’ and the wooden front door came from Butch’s mother’s house that burned down and was added in 1977.
- Kids would lie on the floor in the Smith’s movie theater watching movies, like The Three Stooges, for about 25 cents admission. Tom or Hubert would set up a fan blowing air over a big chuck of ice from Garland Fulcher’s Ice House to cool off the theater.
- Before the 50’s, there was no break wall in Oriental. The wide, white sand extended from the Marina to Whittaker Point. The break wall was built in 1954.
- Minnesott Beach’s beach also was much, much wider during that time. Since then the Neuse River has steadily widened and is the widest river in the US, with a girth of over 3 miles at the Cherry Point/Minnesott ferry and 5 miles at the mouth.
- The School House had 3 buildings. The one on the left bottom floor had four classrooms with 2 grades in each room, and the library was upstairs. The building on the right was the auditorium and cafeteria. The metal building on the left was the gym and the site of many wonderful Halloween Carnivals, basketball games and square dances.
- There were two pot bellied stoves in the school gymnasium and Butch remembers how the steam would rise up off the boys when they got sweaty from running back and forth playing basketball.
- Mr. Ned Delamar served as Pamlico County’s representative in the NC state legislature from 1955-1965. During that time he co-sponsored and introduced the Community College Act of 1963 which started the NC community college system 51 years ago. He also wrote letters of recommendation for many local young men who were applying for the apprentice school in the shipyard in VA, including Butch.
- The present location of Pamlico Community College came about because the county had been promised a bridge where the ferry is now, which led to hopes that many people from Havelock and Morehead would come over the river and up Hwy 306 to attend PCC. Sheriff Whorton donated the land for the college.
- The pavilion at Minnesott beach was still in business although it was moved from its original site built over the water to inland. Butch remembers going there to “watch the Marines fight.”
- “Oriental was the best place in the world to grow up!”
Thank you, Butch, for sharing your memories of Oriental, “back in the day” with us. We have often wished we had a time machine to travel back to experience life as it was then. Your recollections paint a picture that is the next best thing!
James (Butch) Hardison was born on Midyette Street in Oriental and was graduated from Oriental Elementary School and then Pamlico High School in 1966. After attending Pitt Community College, Butch ran his own company, Hardison Heat and Air Conditioning, until 2007 when he sold his successful business and retired. He is a member of Silverhill Christian Church, Mt. Vernon Masonic Lodge in Oriental and the Pamlico Co. Shrine Club. Butch has a sister and brother who live in the area, a son, Dan, in Ohio with three grandchildren, and a daughter, Tonya, deceased. He currently lives in Minnesott Beach with his wife, Peggy.
Our readers are invited to return to the top of this article and add your special memories of growing up in Oriental using the “comment/reply” button.
Interview by Lorraine M. Yaeger
Photo by Chuck Hill