Finding Aid of the Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, PHC.129

Abstract

Card photographs of the Swan Island Club, Currituck County, North Carolina, c. 1890-1900, depicting the dock, what appear to be people on the dock, boats in the water, a picket fence, and some decoy houses, as well as the overall exterior of the Swan Island Club building and surrounding buildings and landscape.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Swan Island Club Photograph Collection
Call Number: PHC.129
Creator: Unknown
Date: 1890-1900
Language: English
Repository: State Archives of North Carolina

Series Quick Links

Collection Contents

Restrictions on Access & Use

Access Restrictions

Available for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], PhC.129, Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina; Raleigh, NC.

Collection Overview

Arrangement Note

By item level call numbers.

Biographical/Historical note

Swan Island is located in Currituck County, NC, in Currituck Sound, near the more well known Knott's Island.In the nineteenth century, northern businessmen discovered the wealth of wild birds in this area and began buying up tracts of the marshes and small islands in the sound to construct hunt clubs. Hunters from New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey would come in the winter months down to Currituck to these clubs to hunt and fish. Local residents served as caretakers, servants, and guides, providing them with a sorely needed source of income.The Swan Island Club is a guided duck hunting club and was established in 1872. According to tradition, a group of seven sportsmen sailing from Boston to Florida ran aground at Swan Island. They were so enamoured with the wildfowl hunting opportunities on Swan Island that they did not continue on to Florida. They enjoyed the hunting there so much that they returned and built a clubhouse on the island which became the Swan Island Club. Each year the members elected one of their number as president to oversee the club's operations. As the years went by, older members left their memberships to younger men along with their guns and decoys. Today the Swan Island Club is still a popular private club and is a favorite winter travel destination to notable artist/painter Bob Timberlake, among others.More information on the Swan Island Club can be found in Arts in Earnest: North Folklife by Daniel W. Patterson and Charles Zug, p.37, Wildfowl Traditions of the Past chapter (Duke University Press. 1989).

Contents of the Collection

Collection Contents

8" x 4.75" card with a 4.5" x 7.75" albumen print, poor condition, depicting the dock, a small unidentified group of people on the dock, boats, picket fence and some decoy houses.

PhC.129.1

8"x10" card with fancy border and the words with an albumen (?) print, very faded, measuring 4 1/8"x7 1/8" and depicting the exterior of the Swan Island Club and surrounding buildings and landscape (very similar to PhC129_3).

8" x 4.75" card with a 4.5" x 7.75" albumen print, poor condition, depicting the dock, a small unidentified group of people on the dock, boats, picket fence and some decoy houses. (Also in the General Negative Collection N.2008.5.22)

PhC.129.2

8 1/2 "x5" card with a 4 3/8"x7 3/4" print appearing to be a gelatin silver print depicting the exterior of the Swan Island Club, surrounding buildings, and landscape. Also General Negative Collection N_2008_5_23

8.5" x 5" card with a 4.5" x 7.75" print depicting the exterior of the Swan Island Club and surrounding buildings and landscape. (Also in the General Negative Collection N.2008.5.23)

PhC.129.3

Also General Negative Collection N_2008_5_22

8" x 10" card with ornate border. Inscribed, "J. J. Faber, 21 Bank Street., Norfolk, VA." with an albumen print, very faded, measuring 4.5" x 7.5" and depicting the exterior of the Swan Island Club and surrounding buildings and landscape. Similar to PhC.129.3.

PhC.129.4

Subject Headings

Swan Island Hunt Club

Hunting and fishing clubs

Currituck County

Outer Banks (N.C.)

Swan Island (N.C.)

Acquisitions Information

Donated to the State Archives of North Carolina April 2008 by Richard Casabianca of Southampton, NY. Before he acquired them, the photos belonged to a Mr. Leverett Squires of Good Ground, NY (now Hampton Bays, Long Island, NY).

Processing Information

Processed by Kim Cumber, April 2008

Encoded by Kim Cumber, April 2008