In 1967, Henry Pigott sold his North Carolina island home to help create Cape Lookout National Seashore; a life estate allowed him to remain until his death as the last male resident of Portsmouth Village.

When the federal government began converting eastern North Carolina’s windswept barrier islands into protected parklands, a quiet property deal near Pamlico Sound helped end the history of a once-thriving coastal community. In 1967, Henry Pigott agreed to sell his property on Portsmouth Island to help create Cape Lookout National Seashore. As part of the deal, he received a life estate, allowing him to remain in his ancestral home for the rest of his life. The land purchase, recorded in historical narrative scripts and administrative records published by the National Park Service (NPS), marked an important step in the creation of the national seashore. It also made Pigott the last male resident of Portsmouth Village, an isolated 18th-century settlement that was already slowly disappearing.Portsmouth Village was established by the North Carolina Colonial Assembly in 1753 as an important “relieving” port. Heavy ocean-going ships would unload their cargo onto smaller, shallow-draft ships, which could then move through the dangerous inlets of Pamlico Sound. By 1860, the town had grown to almost 700 residents. But the opening of deeper inlets nearby, powerful hurricanes and changing trade routes caused a steady decline throughout the 20th century. The closure of the local United States lifesaving station in 1937 and the post office in 1959 further weakened the island’s connection to the mainland economy. By the mid-1960s, only a small number of elderly residents remained on the roadless island. One of them was Pigott, a black postman, guide and craftsman who was born there in 1896. His grandmother had lived on the island during slavery, and Pigott spent his entire life closely connected to the town and its people.

The life estate allowed Pigott to stay

When federal agencies began purchasing property on the Core Banks to create Cape Lookout National Seashore, Pigott agreed to sell his 1902 yellow clapboard house while maintaining the right to live there for the rest of his life. The agreement allowed the government to acquire the land for conservation while ensuring that long-time residents were not forced to abandon their homes. NPS records show that Pigott remained an important part of the shrinking community during his final years. He cared for his home, transported mail and supplies across the water, assisted hunters, carved decoys for waterfowl, and checked on the village’s only other full-time residents, Marian Gray Babb and Elma Dixon. Historical records compiled by Friends of Portsmouth Island and the NPS say Pigott died in January 1971. His death ended permanent life at the historic settlement. Without Pigott there to support them, the two remaining women left for the continent that same year. Portsmouth Village was left completely empty for the first time in more than 200 years.

Preserved historic village

After the island was completely depopulated, the 250-acre Portsmouth Village Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The National Park Service later preserved more than 20 historic buildings, turning the abandoned town into a living museum of coastal and maritime history. The Henry Pigott House remains one of the town’s main historic sites. Thanks to conservation work carried out by the National Park Service and the volunteer organization Friends of Portsmouth Island, the house has been repaired, protected from the elements and furnished with period objects. Inside, visitors can see original belongings that belonged to Pigott and her sisters. The exhibits also explain his role as the town’s last male resident.The house has suffered damage from major storms over the years. Hurricane Dorian in 2019, for example, caused severe interior damage. Cleanup work and window replacement projects helped protect the building and allowed it to continue serving as an educational site for visitors arriving by ferry or private boat. Today, Portsmouth Village can only be reached by water and remains part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Its quiet streets and preserved buildings offer a physical reminder of the barrier island communities that once shaped the Outer Banks before declining population, changing commerce and conservation transformed the landscape. Pigott’s decision to sell his house while retaining the right to live there also became part of that story. His death marked the final chapter of permanent settlement in a town that had survived for more than two centuries.