Does anyone remember Anderson's Beach Store which was near the Kitty Hawk Pier. My family rented cottages from them in the late 50's, early 60's. I have an old postcard which I will post at a later date. Also wondering if there was a hotel that had a roller skating rink on the bottom floor. I remember skating there but can't recall the name.

I lived one street back from Anderson's in fall of 1983. There are some pics here in the Vintage Forum of the place, prolly under "Kitty Hawk." Are you thinking of the roller skating rink down in Nags Head?

Yes! I remember that place! We did the same, but rented late 70's early 80's. Great place, still remember buying comics there. I'll have to ask my dad if there are any old photos he can send me.

Andersons building is still there. it's "kind of" a workshop for a local, independent cabinet maker. They also had a campground on the beach side of the road. We own a home just south of the old site in KH.
I will have to scan the old pictures that we have gotten from several local residents and post them. I also have a copy of the Andersons postcard.

Would this be Barefoot Bill's? Fond memories of buying invisible ink as a kid...

Please share any pictures you can. Bill Anderson was a distant relative, but we always knew him as uncle Bill. The last time I saw him was in '86, at my sisters wedding. None of us kids have any pictures of the old placeonly memories of the character Bill was.

I remember Anderson's store very well. My grandfather owned a cottage in Kitty Hawk in the early fifties. My brother and I got an "allowance" of fifty cents a day while we were vacationing and as soon as it was handed to us each morning we would head to Mr. Anderson's store for a shopping spree. I remember Mr. Anderson sitting at his place at the cash register making pennies appear mysteriously behind his ear. It was great fun going there. I remember his son Bill, also. My husband and I are vacationing in Colleton next week and I plan to try to find the old store site.

There was just an article or news release that the Anderson Store on the corner of Byrd Street was just demolished. It apparently had been an abandoned workshop. Personally I thought the Store was closer to the Pier. Oh well that was a long, long time ago

Guess that's why I couldn't find it last week when we vacationed at COLINGTON. My apologies to you natives for misspelling it in my first post. I really thought I remembered it spelled as Colleton. Like you say, it was along time ago.

I lived in Southern Shores for the summer and was a stock boy at Anderson's. The original store was across the street on the ocean side and was owned by Bill Anderson's father and his mother, Lulu. There were at least 7 other stock boys at Anderson's and having a job at the store offered a never ending parade of girls whose parents rented one of Bill's thirteen rental cottages. The only other store to shop was Wink's a few miles to the south. We would date these girls and go to the famed Nag's Head Casino to dance, drink, bowl and have fun. I saw Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald there in the summer of '58. Bill was the Justice of the Peace and I was a witness to many weddings performed in his office. We never worried about finding our selves in trouble because just a mention that we worked for Bill would usually calm things down. Dare County is a dry county so we would have Jimmy, the Sealtest milk man, pick up our booze as he passed the ABC store on his way down the beach to deliver milk. When Bill's wife died all the stock boys were pall bearers at her funeral in Elizabeth City. We followed the hearse in an air conditioned Cadillac when back then, few cars were air conditioned. It was a great time that came to an end when we finally had full time jobs in our home towns. If any other of Bill's stock boys remember, please send in your thoughts of that wonderful time. My first name started with an F who are you?

Thank you, pennyhill!
What great memories for you to share! I’ve been coming to the banks since ‘68. My parents owned a house in Nags Head for 30 years. Daddy died in 2008 in that house and Mom died just three years ago. So many memories!
Please share some more of yours if you can.
Do you still visit?

Guess that's why I couldn't find it last week when we vacationed at COLINGTON. My apologies to you natives for misspelling it in my first post. I really thought I remembered it spelled as Colleton. Like you say, it was along time ago.

Hi Banks 68,
I don't know how to answer others posts but here is a try. I started going to the Outer Banks in '52 with my parents. My father played Old Tom in the Lost Colony and we stayed in Manteo for the summer. I knew Andy Griffith and many of the the other cast members.
We built a house in Southern Shores in 1953 and enjoyed full summers at the beach. I was 12 at the time and fished, swam and played with other kids from Southern Shores. I saw the Kitty Hawk pier being built as well as the bridge over Oregon Inlet. There was a beach comber who lived in the coastguard station south of Duck. He had a beach buggy my friends and I drove all over the dunes setting fire to the grasses as it backfired. I later got a job pumping gas a Cartwright's gas station/store that was located on the south side of the big curve of the beach highway as it turned south from crossing the then timber bridge over the sound. The new by=pass highway wasn't yet built. I once made the operator open the draw so I could sail a little Sailfish sailboat through. With my vast experience pumping gas, I was able to get a job at Anderson's that I held until I was about 18. In following summers, we would race cars on the unfinished by-pass highway and use it to make a quick trip to the Casino for dancing at night. After all I worked for the justice of the peace and was imune to trouble. I met Mr. Drinkwater at his 80th birthday. He sent the telegram announcing the Wright Bros. photocopies of which were hung around the Sea Ranch dance floor. The Sea Ranch was a very modern motel opened by Buck and Linda Sykes in the 60s.
We would sneak in one of the two bomb fields in Duck and pick up unexploded bombs then carry them back home. We squirted lighter fluid on them so they would explode at night with a huge burst of fire. There are still unexploded bombs in those bomb fields and rocket powder can still be found laying on the sand. We went deep sea fishing every summer when one of my friends had his birthday party. People have no idea of what the beach was like in the 60s.That's enough for now.

Wow! Just wow!
Thank you, Pennyhill!
You should write a book about this! I’m serious! I’ll wager you have more stories and long lost or forgotten information about those times than anyone!
I’d love to hear it all!

PS
My son and his family left this morning for Ocracoke. Fourth generation of my family to love the Banks.

Hi Banks 68
Having spent a month every summer on Ocracoke Island, my wife of 52 years has just as many stories. She and her family drove from Baltimore to Atlantic NC where they left their car and took the mail boat Aleta on the 4-1/2 hour ride to Ocracoke Island. This was in '52, the last year the Aleta was in operation. The next year they rode the Old Bay Line to Norfolk and drove to Hatteras. Frazier Peele had constructed a crude ferry from two whale boats with planks nailed across them to form a deck that would carry two, maximum three cars from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke. My wife's parents left their car at Hatteras and depended on Charlie Mack, who now delivered the mail, to drive them to the village. If it was low tide he would drive the beach or a more challenging route through the dunes if the tide was high. Every day Jake Alleygood would drive them from the Wahab Hotel to the beach with their cooler, umbrella and fishing gear. My wife's father was an avid fisherman learning of Ocracoke when stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 40s. Every Saturday night most of the town's people would attend the dance held at the school. They would ride the wild horses and play devilish tricks as kids did at her age. We lived around the corner from each other and discovered we both went to NC starting at an earlier age. We were married and spent our honeymoon at Southern Shores. While there we took a trip to Ocracoke finding few changes had taken place. My wife talked with some of her childhood friends while the time passed by. Realizing we were getting late for the ferry line i put the pedal down trying to pass as many cars as I could to insure a good place in the waiting line. Out of nowhere a state trooper pulled me over. As he walked towards our little Corvette and my wife recognized a friend from earlier years. "Why Bobby O'neal she scolded as many times as we raced up and down this beach, you have the nerve to pull us over for speeding" recognizing who she was the trouper replied "Why D... that was a while ago and this is my job now". Who could have imagined getting a ticket on Ocracoke Island in the 60s. During her years at the beach the ferry boat crew would call ahead to the town announcing when troupers were on the ferry and life turned very peaceful for a few hours.
Yes Banks 68, I have given thought to writing a short book chronicling life growing up in the summers on the OBX. I have many years of fun memories. How about Candy the chimpanzee living in Duck or the endless parties we threw when one of our friends was entrusted with his house for the summer. I lost ten pounds. We served Bill Anderson's beer. Do you think people would find it readable? Stay tuned.

Boy did I enjoy reading that, Pennyhill! And I’d love to read more! I devour anything about the banks I can get my hands on.
As a matter of fact, my husband and I would love to sit and talk to you sometime. Do you ever visit?
We too honeymooned on the Banks! We rented a beach front house in SNH for $250 for the week.
Beautiful place! That was 41 years ago this past May! We got down there around 2 in the morning. It was so dark and lonely! We were so thankful the 7 Eleven at Whalebone Junction was open so we could get a bag of pretzels to go with the bottle of Champaign we had. The only thing we saw was a chain gang working on the beach road! Kind of made my hubby nervous. Happy times!

Pennyhill, you can put down for a copy of that book! Just finished reading 5000 runs down the beach, some entertaining stories, but not as intriguing as what you’ve posted!

Pennyhill,
Check your PM’s