Portsmouth Traditions
Table of Contents
For fast navigation, click the points to be taken to where they are on the page.Portsmouth Decoys
Portsmouth Decoy Carvers
Portsmouth, now deserted, was once a busy seaport for all of North Carolina. Its waterfowl history has been very important to Core Sound as it was one of only a few “Banks communities” where hunters could work the beach and marsh side.
Several well-known carvers from Portsmouth were Ben Salter, Tom Potter, Tom Bragg and Jodie Styron. Their work is highly collectible because of the age of the decoys and the fact that former Portsmouth families have scattered so.
Rule Collection
Photo of a decoy from the Rule Collection; Photo courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Talton Collection
Photos 1 and 2: Photos of the Jesse Babb’s Shore Bird from the Talton Collection
Photos courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Photo 3: Photo of Calvin Harris’s Shore Bird from the Talton Collection
Photo courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Photo 4: Original inscription on the base of Calvin Harris’s shore bird. The inscription states that is was carved by Calvin R. Harris himself in 1912, and later given to his friend Julian Hamilton on March 12, 1964.
Photo courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Poems of Portsmouth Island by Rosalee Dondarro
An Oral History by Ada Roberts Styron
January 19, 1979
Portsmouth Traditions
Photo 1: Portsmouth Musicians; Photo courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Photos 2-9 capture traditions and culture from Portsmouth. Photos courtesy Friends of Portsmouth Facebook page
Photos 10-11: Article from News and Observer on Fig Tradition and Image of Elma Dixon with fig preserves. Courtesy Chester Lynn