By Peter Vankevich
The Friends of Portsmouth Island have canceled this year’s Homecoming that was scheduled for April 25.
“As many of you know our Portsmouth Homecoming in April 2026 has been plagued with many obstacles and challenges,” said Connie Mason, FPI president, in a text message to members and posted on the FPI website. “These include Haul Over Dock badly damaged and no land transportation available for hauling equipment and people across the island.”
While the group worked closely with the Cape Lookout National Seashore, who made effort to make the event happen, she said their budgets and lack of equipment and manpower have been hampered by Mother Nature and “other outside forces.”
So, for safety reasons, the Friends board canceled this year’s event.
Acting Cape Lookout National Seashore Superintendent Catherine Cushinberry was asked for comments but had not responded by the time this was posted.
Portsmouth Island Homecoming is a biennial event held every two years in late April.
Organized by the nonprofit Friends of Portsmouth Island and Cape Lookout National Seashore, the FPI mission is to reunite descendants, preserve history and celebrate the island’s abandoned village.
In the past years, FPI volunteers have been active, working with the Seashore staff to repair damaged buildings in the village.
Homecoming originated as informal family gatherings in the late 1970s. It became official in the early 1980s under the National Park Service.
This is the second time in recent years that it was canceled. The other time was in 2020 due to post-Hurricane Dorian which in September 2019 ravaged the village followed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event resumed in 2022 with the resilient theme “Portsmouth Rises.”
Homecoming 2024 drew more than 400 attendees. Most arrive from Ocracoke taking the 20-minute boat ride across Ocracoke Inlet in one of the flotilla of shuttling boats from Ocracoke.
Activities include a hymn sing in the Methodist Church, and an opportunity to visit the remaining homes, including that of Henry Pigott, the school, the Life-Saving Station and the post office.
Cape Lookout staff and FPI volunteers play the role as greeters and docents providing historical background.
Melissa Garrish Sharber, on assignment from Ocracoke’s post office, and Hatteras post office Postmaster Vivian Barnett have processed post cards and envelopes with the Portsmouth Island cancellation stamp in the past events.
A ceremony under a tent with remarks by dignitaries and a history of the island concludes with the traditional Roll Call of the Families that had descendants who are present briefly stand when their families were named. At its conclusion is a potluck luncheon.
Friends of Portsmouth Island (FPI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in late 1989 under the Carteret County Historical Society to promote preservation of Portsmouth.
