The ocean isale bridge3/29/2023 Modern-day Ocean Isle Beach really started to take shape during the late 1940s, when Odell Williamson began purchasing tracts of land that would lay the foundation for the town. The digging of the manmade inland channel carved a barrier island that was only accessible for boat for the next 16 years. Prior to this, the area was not an island and you could easily walk or drive from the mainland to the ocean. The geography of Ocean Isle Beach, which was known as Hale Beach prior to 1949, changed dramatically in 1934 with the arrival of the Intracoastal Waterway project. Also during the 1920s, the first commercial structure on Ocean Isle Beach, a dance hall/honky tonk near the site of the former Gause Manor, marked the Jazz Age and attracted young flappers from as far away as Whiteville who wanted to dance the Charleston and partake in bootlegged gin. The isolation of this area made this nefarious trade big business until Prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933. Even today, you may still find liquor bottles scattered in the woods around town from where locals transferred smuggled alcohol into other containers to avoid arrest. ![]() During the 1920s, sailing vessels often smuggled rum and other spirits from the Bahamas, Jamaica and Canada into Brunswick County via Tubbs Inlet. The next notable era in Ocean Isle Beach’s history was the age of Prohibition, when it was illegal to produce, transport, or possess liquor. While many believe fire later took Gause Manor, no one knows exactly what happened to the grand home that President George Washington visited on April 27, 1791. Eventually scavenging pirates discovered the area as well, but by the early 1700s the world around what is now Ocean Isle Beach began drastically changing as English settlers arrived to forge a more permanent lifestyle with plantations, including Gause Manor, which was part of the tar and turpentine industry. The first inhabitants arrived in about 10,000 BC and were mostly Cape Fear Indians. Stretching 8 miles long, it faces due south, a rarity among East Coast beaches, and is on the same latitude as Los Angeles, Calif., and Damascus, Syria. One of four barrier islands in Brunswick County, Ocean Isle Beach is located halfway between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. The area has endured many ups and downs throughout its rich history, shaping it into the bustling and beautiful town that it is today. ![]() Ocean Isle Beach is a popular vacation destination as well a permanent home to 614 people.
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