THE HISTORY, TRADITION, AND BEAUTY OF THE KURE BEACH FISHING PIER
man! you should have South of Wrightsville Beach, the Kure Beach Pier is the oldest fishing pier on the East Coast. For 95 years,
it has remained under private family ownership, offering 24-hour admission from Good Friday to the Sunday
after Thanksgiving for those who want to fish, take in the views, or relive moments of history.
It’s 6 a.m. on a humid summer morning at Kure Beach Pier. The sun begins to rise over the ocean. Shades of blue and
magenta grow more prominent with each passing minute. There are fishermen at the end of the pier. Some have been here
for hours; the pier is open 24/7 for 240 days a year. There’s a family on the beach. A child jumps in the ocean, letting the
golden, glimmering waves smack into his back.
Then there’s Patti Rose, capturing it all while cradling her puppy, Sunny, in her arms, as she starts her daily livestream of
the sunrise.
“The pier is really the anchor of this town,” Patti says. “It’s the heart of many memories for a lot
of people.”
The pier serves as the heartbeat of Kure Beach, its history and lineage as interesting as the
man who built it and the sons who continued to reshape, rebuild, and even rebrand this
destination.
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WBM november 2018