O’Boyle-Bryant Cottage

Story
Decoys
Credits

🟡 LARGE RESEARCH VOLUME

OWNERS

Earl and Agatha O’Boyle
child–Phyllis

1938-1941
b. March 17, 1940

OTHER ASSOCIATIONS

WWII–used by Army personnel

Dr. Ralph C. Bryant, Jr late 1940s

Hilma and Cecil Phelps July 1961

LOCATION
Cape Lookout Village, Southern Core Banks

Story

do you know more? contact me.

Title

Although America was not yet directly involved in WWII, the 1939 to 1941 era found a small military presence at Cape Lookout.

The O’Boyle’s were one family stationed there and daughter Phyllis spent her early life there.

Earl O’Boyle joined the Navy in the early 1930s, and in May 1938, he was ordered to Cape Lookout to serve as one of a five- member crew stationed at the Navy’s di- rection finding station. Not long after arriving at the cape, while on shore leave, Earl met Agatha Frances Adams of Morehead City.

Agatha and Earl were married at Morehead City on November 3, 1938, and immediately took the mail boat back to Cape Lookout, where Earl had rented Odell Guthrie’s small cottage a short distance from the Coast Guard Station.

Within a short time, the couple decided to build their own house, which was completed in April 1939 at a cost of $500, which covered materials and two carpenters, as well as furnishings purchased from Sears- Roebuck.

The O’Boyle’s only child, Phyllis, was born on March 17, 1940, at the hospital in Morehead City, and by early April, the entire family was back at Cape Lookout.

In May 1941, Earl was re- assigned from Cape Lookout as the Navy was preparing to close all of its direction finding stations, including the one at Cape Lookout. His daughter believes that they sold the house at that time, but since they did not own the land on which it sat, no deed was recorded at the county courthouse.

O’Boyle-Bryant Cottage–Historic Structure Report (click link below)

Click to access O-Boyle-Bryant_hsr_508-2.pdf

In the late 1940s, the cottage was acquired by Dr. Ralph C. Bryant, Jr. (professor of forestry at N.C. State University). In 1961, the Bryants sold the cottage to Wilma and Cecil Phelps of Marshallberg. The cottage was described as a four room cabin with bath and one garage building.