Historical Ocean City Beach Inducted Onto The North Carolina Civil Rights Trail
NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, NC – The Ocean City Beach Community will be honored for its historic role in North Carolina’s civil rights history with a marker on the state’s Civil Rights Trail. Founded in 1949, Ocean City was the only place African Americans could purchase coastal property in North Carolina, 15 years before the Civil Rights Act.
Today Ocean City is part of the Town of North Topsail Beach. It is an eclectic mix of historical homes, historical community buildings, and historical firsts. It is the location of the state’s first African-American-owned fishing pier, located on the site of a former U.S. Navy “Operation Bumble Bee” observation tower. Ocean City is already a tourist favorite on the Jacksonville Onslow African American Heritage Trail. This new state designation will only increase its visibility and popularity. Hikers, bikers, and kayakers use the Mountain to Sea Trail that starts in Appalachia to traverse the community. The annual Ocean City Jazz Festival attracts concert-goers from across the country.
The Ocean City Beach Community will be memorialized with one of the 50 markers for the state. It will read, “OCEAN CITY BEACH. An African American beach community est. 1949. Home to families, motel, pier & Episcopal camp. Devastated by Hurricane Fran in 1996.”
The growth of the North Carolina Civil Rights Trail is supported by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation and presented by the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission in partnership with the North Carolina Office of Archives and History and Visit North Carolina.
About the Historic Ocean City Community
After World War II, Edgar Yow, an enterprising white Wilmington attorney and former mayor purchased six miles of beach property on Topsail Island. As mayor, Yow was acquainted with many members of the Black community and realized that in the Jim Crow era there was a need for beachfront recreational opportunities for African Americans.
Yow called upon Black community leaders Dr. Samuel Gray and later Wade Chestnut and his siblings Bertram, and Robert and Louise Chestnut. Gray and the Chestnuts purchased several tracts of land from Yow and formed an inter-racial corporation, Ocean City Developers for the development of the community. Ocean City Beach was established in 1949 and is the first community in the state where African Americans could purchase oceanfront property.
The close-knit community, now a part of North Topsail Beach, continues to grow. Despite the passing of time, Ocean City remains a community united in values and tradition.
About the North Carolina Civil Rights Trail
The North Carolina Heritage Commission has joined communities across the state to physically mark sites critical to the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina. In addition to Ocean City, these include sites of protests, rallies, and sit-ins; birthplaces and primary residences of civil rights icons; educational institutions; legal offices and courthouses; churches and spaces for organizing; and visits by civil rights icons. Between 2021 and 2023, 50 markers will be placed in counties across the state, highlighting and acknowledging tireless civil rights efforts that are well known and, in some cases, as of yet unsung.
Learn more about the North Carolina Civil Rights Trail
Learn more about the Ocean City Jazz Festival
Learn more about The North Carolina African American Heritage Commission