Arts in Earnest: North Carolina Folklife

]> phc_swan_island_club_129 Finding Aid of the Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, 1890-1900 Processed by: Kim Cumber; machine-readable finding aid created by: Kim Cumber &hdrNcDncsa; 2008 Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: April 2008 Description is in English Finding Aid of the Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, 1890-1900 State Archives of North Carolina &tpNcDncsa; Descriptive Summary State Archives of North Carolina. Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, 1890-1900 Ph.C.129 Materials in English 4 For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Public Services Branch, State Archives of North Carolina. 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. Card photographs of the Swan Island Club, docks and surrounding buildings, Currituck County, NC, c. 1890-1900. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Available for research.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Ph.C.129, Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.

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

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 Carolina Folklife by Daniel W. Patterson and Charles Zug, p.37, Wildfowl Traditions of the Past chapter (Duke University Press. 1989).

Collection Overview

Card photographs of the Swan Island Club, Currituck County, N.C., 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.

Collection Arrangement

By item level call numbers.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Subject Terms Hunting and fishing clubs Swan Island Hunt Club Geographic Terms Currituck County Outer Banks (N.C.) Swan Island (N.C.) Related Collections

Additional information on topics found in this collection may be found in the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS) http://www.ncarchives.dcr.state.nc.us.

Container List Swan Island Club Photograph Collection, 1890-1900 PhC129_1 The dock, a small unidentified group of people on the dock, boats, picket fence and some decoy houses8"x4 ¾" card with a 4 ½"x7 ¾" albumen (?) print, poor condition PhC129_2 The dock, a small unidentified group of people on the dock, boats, picket fence and some decoy houses8"x4 ¾" card with a 4 3/8"x7 5/8" albumen (?) print

Also General Negative Collection N_2008_5_22

PhC129_3 Exterior of the Swan Island Club and surrounding buildings and landscape8 1/2"x5" card with a 4 3/8"x7 ¾" gelatin silver print (?)

8 ½"x5" card with a 4 3/8"x7 ¾" 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

PhC129_4 Exterior of the Swan Island Club, surrounding buildings, and landscape8"x10" card with an albumen (?) print, very faded, measuring 4 1/8"x7 1/8"

8"x10" card with fancy border and the words J. J. Faber, 21 Bank St., Norfolk, VA, 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).