VISION
Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center envisions coastal communities of eastern North Carolina in which culture, community, education, economy and the environment are fully integrated for a high quality of life for all residents.
FOUNDING MISSION
To establish a facility that will enhance the community, state and region by creating a resource which brings together the historical, cultural, artistic, environmental, and educational elements needed to preserve the rich waterfowl heritage of eastern North Carolina associated with the Core Sound area.
HISTORY
Decoy making has long been an established tradition in coastal North Carolina. Like other everyday activities that become obsolete with a changing lifestyle, the practice of turning wood into ducks had been taken for granted, ignored, possibly even forgotten. What was once an everyday practice might have become extinct had it not been for those whose love and appreciation for the art had been passed down through generations and outweighed the changes taking place around them.
1987 Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild established, founded by the “Original Seven” and led by Wayne Davis and David Lawrence
1988 First Annual Core Sound Decoy Festival hosted by the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild and hosted by Harkers Island Elementary School
Building on the revival of Core Sound decoy carvers envisioned by the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild and the very successful Core Sound Decoy Festival, the groundwork for a facility dedicated to waterfowling traditions in eastern Carteret County began in February of 1992.
1992 Core Sound Waterfowl Museum is established; Billy Smith of Atlantic chosen as board chairman
The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, Inc. was created and a 21-member Board of Directors was appointed including carvers, area businessmen, and local government representatives. The first meeting took place in March where a preliminary proposal for a museum project was presented.
After investigating all the undeveloped sites on the island it was determined that a tract of land within the National Park Service property at Shell Point provided the greatest potential for a museum project. It was decided to pursue a lease agreement with Cape Lookout National Seashore as a building site for the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on November 30, 1993, permitting construction of the Waterfowl Museum within Cape Lookout National Seashore on Harkers Island.
1993 Core Sound Waterfowl Museum opens the temporary museum at the old clinic building on Harkers Island; the museum would operate from this location for ten years
1994 Museum membership reaches 1,000
1995 Mr. Homer Fulcher of Stacy and Mr. Jul Hamilton of Beaufort receive the North Carolina Heritage Award as the first decoy carvers to receive this lifetime achievement award by the NC Arts Council
homer fulcher
julian hamilton
1996 Capital Campaign begins; Leonard Safrit named as Building Committee Chair; John Parker of Synthesis Architecture selected to design the CSWM
Fund raising for the new museum facility began in May of 1996 with a goal of $1 million for the first phase of site development. Construction on the building began in February 1999, the exterior completed in 2000 (with only back porches and decks to be done) and the second floor framework completed. Despite hurricanes and floods and the fund raising challenges during the fall of 1999 brought to eastern North Carolina, progress continued, although not at the pace Museum officials had hoped. The economic effects of Floyd drained both local resources and foundation giving as counties inland worked to rebuild their communities.
1999 Construction begins; Thomas Simpson Construction, General Contractor
2000 Fundraising reaches $1 million
2003 Museum moves to new facility’s Community Education Hall in May
The educational hall was completed spring 2003 and the Museum operations and programs moved from the temporary location into this new facility and began the community outreach that would become the backbone of the Museum.
2004 Core Sound leads the NC delegation to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
2005 Core Sound Waterfowl Museum adds “& Heritage Center” to its name, now known as the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center
2008 Wetlands Restoration Project completed
2009 Core Sound Museum Gallery opens in October
A great celebration throughout the fall of 2009 highlighted the amazing statewide community support this accomplishment represented, especially with the economic challenges of 2008-2209. Partnerships with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the NC Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative helped make the transition possible, along with the continued giving from our members and the hard work of staff and volunteers.
2010 “Raising the Story” honors the long tradition of menhaden fishing in Carteret County
2012 “Core Sound Workboats” Exhibition comes home!
2013 “Coresounders” documentary premieres at NC Museum of History
2015 CSWM&HC Hosts Smithsonian Hometown Teams exhibition
2016 Lewis Family Boatbuilders receives NC Heritage Award
(From ncarts.org)
Nowhere does North Carolina’s boatbuilding tradition run deeper than ‘down east’ on Harkers Island, and the Lewis Family Boatbuilders personifies that mix of art and work that marks the Harkers Island tradition. Established in 1954 by brothers Houston and Jamie Lewis, the operation is now run by Jamie and his son James, with help from the rising generations. They ground their reputation for quality in an inherited sense of design and style. Their generations-old knowledge of how a boat handles in the water and holds itself in the wind and tide is unmatched even on Harkers Island. “This has just been a way to make a living,” is what Jamie Lewis will tell you, but his boats say much more. The Lewis Family’s unspoken commitment to the Harkers Island boatbuilding tradition is evident in every boat, and it has been that commitment that has supported this business for three, almost four, generations.
Burgess Lewis, the patriarch of the Lewis family, was part of that original generation of Harkers Island boatbuilders that “laid the keel” for a strong community occupation in the early 1900s. Originating on nearby Shackleford Banks, this vital boatbuilding trade was critical to subsistence living on the Banks, and later became Harkers Island’s economic development engine. Makers designed and crafted their boats to work the waters of Core Sound. These designers knew the waters intimately. They knew the shallows, the tides and currents, the prevailing winds, the way the nets had to pull from the stern; they were first watermen, then boatbuilders. Burgess Lewis developed a style all his own that is still talked about around the harbors and marinas of Carteret County and beyond. His graceful balance of length to width can be seen even at a distance. He passed this style on to his sons, Jamie, Houston, Paulie and Stevie, all masterful in their own right as boatbuilders, model makers and boatyard workers. And today Burgess’ grandson works full-time at the Lewis Brothers Boatworks and his son, Dereck, works after school and during the summer. This legacy continues and will carry forth in the next generation.
The Lewis Brothers build boats that will last and their family represents the continuation of a tradition that remains a living occupation for many Harkers Island residents.
“Each day, members of the Lewis family work side by side sculpting their prized boats. By fastening planks and frames one piece at a time, they are keeping alive a Harkers Island tradition that has survived for generations … The Lewis brothers build most boats by a time-honored technique called ‘rack of eye.’ It takes the eyes of master craftsmen like Jamie and Houston Lewis to see that a boat has the right dimensions and design...”
– Ann Green, Coastwatch magazine
2017 Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center celebrates its 25th Anniversary
The 25th Anniversary celebration with exhibitions, a video production, programs and gatherings, honored a dedicated staff and board, hundreds of members and volunteers, and an undaunted commitment of its lifetime members, sponsors, major contributors and the local business community.
From the 25th Anniversary exhibition:
The work continues and the challenges are many, but the history of this organization tells the story of men and women who are dedicated to the vision this institution has set forth to serve this community as a "keeper" of the past, a "gathering place" for our communities today and a "visionary" that will make sure that future generations will never forget the truest meaning of Core Sound heritage.
2018 September: Hurricane Florence leaves behind more than $3 million in damages to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center and devastation throughout Down East and Eastern NC
Hurricane Florence moved closer to Carteret County with everyone Down East preparing in earnest. The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center was no different. Staff and volunteers packed, wrapped, moved, hauled and prepared as best they could and went home. “We’ve done this before we said …”
And then the storm came and would not leave.
The museum sustained major damage due to a failed roof, 30 inches of rain and power outage that left behind major mold infestation. The entire was emptied with 75% of the sheetrock removed and 90% of the flooring pulled-out. ALL artifacts, decoys, exhibitions, artwork, documents, recordings and records were moved to safe location.
And the communities of Down East were left behind with the greatest damage to this area since the Storm of ’33.
2018 November: Core Sound Museum Store opens at 806 Arendell Street as our temporary operations center and Museum Store
Packing, cleaning and storing was unending, fund-raising for the community and the museum in full force and everyone dealing with their own personal damages, but in December, less than three months after the storm, Waterfowl Weekend was held in the building with this welcome to members and supporters from across the region.
Welcome to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center “the way it used to be!” For years, we held this event in this “hull of a building” to prove to believers (and non-believers) that this PLACE was (and still is) worthy of their investment! And look what we have … Waterfowl Weekend 2018 will be yet another testament to our determination to hold our community together and rebuild stronger than ever!
2019 Fund-raising for the building continues, reconstruction begins in May, Waterfowl Weekend held in Dec
Core Sound’s Raise Our Roof campaign brought in more than $200,000 from individuals, businesses and foundations, with an additional $100,000 from the State of NC Department of Cultural Resources, that along with our “hard-earned” insurance proceeds, provided resources for a complete building repair and much-needed maintenance and improvements. Membership and event support continued throughout the year with the Museum’s location in Downtown Morehead City becoming a critical community outreach location for the Museum.
2020 Plans set for April 1 Reopening and in March, the Covid-19 virus strikes.
Message from the Museum, April 10:
We have learned much since Florence came almost 20 months ago. The storm, the devastation, the cleanup and recovery, the rebuild and now this unbelievable world crisis, have made us stronger as families and more thankful for our communities and the people who give of themselves to hold us all together, no matter what comes our way.
“Our day” is coming, a “new day” at the end of the road, now even more precious than it would have been April 1st. We are looking forward to that time with renewed spirits and reassured commitment to one another and our community, in hopes that you and yours will be here to share the victory and join with us in giving thanks for all that Core Sound means to every one of us.
