Brunswick beach towns balance growth, small-town vibe

Published: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:52 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:52 p.m.

There was not much on the beach strands, but they were virtually wiped clean, and the story of the development of the islands started anew.

The chance Hazel afforded to start over perhaps wasn't an unmitigated tragedy.

To wit: "In 1950, Daught Tripp at Shallotte Point built a very popular dance hall," Fred R. David and Vern J. Bender wrote in their 2009 book, "The History of Ocean Isle."

"Teenagers came to the dance hall from hundreds of miles away to square dance. Large speakers were mounted in trees at the Shallotte Point Dance Hall and the music blasted (Ocean Isle Beach) every Saturday night. Hurricane Hazel destroyed the dance hall in 1954 and it was never rebuilt."

"We are a family destination, not a party destination," Sunset Beach Mayor Ron Watts said, repeating a refrain heard up and down the Brunswick coast. "We all have policies that discourage graduation parties and that sort of thing.... If we can encourage anything to Myrtle Beach, that's what we share with them," he said with a laugh.

"We like what we have here a nice, quiet atmosphere and we want to continue to promote that as best we can."

The common hyphenated buzzword: Family-friendly.

"Most of those who live here and who have family vacation homes would love to put us in a time capsule," Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace said. "Oak Island was originally plotted out as single-family residential. There were a lot of deed restrictions, and it was geared toward the blue-collar working man, and fishing. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of homes here that are 1,000 square feet, a couple of bedrooms," Wallace noted. "A lot of them are cinderblock.

"We want to keep that. We don't want to get into the insanity that you can find at Wrightsville Beach three stories, 10 to 12 bedrooms, all just a vacation beach. When you look out here, you might see two stories on stilts, but on either side is an 800- to 1,000-square-foot small little bungalow, and you see that not every vacant lot even has a structure on it."

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Brunswick beach towns balance growth, small-town vibe