Cape Lookout National Seashore

Portsmouth

GEORGE DIXON HOUSE

HISTORIC STRUCTURE 

REPORT

Cultural Resources, Southeast Region

National Park Service

2004
Cultural Resources

Southeast Region

National Park Service

100 Alabama St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

(404) 562-3117

2004

Historic Structure Report 

George Dixon House

Cape Lookout National Seashore (CALO)

Portsmouth, NC

LCS#: 12519

Cover photo of Dixon House, 1984 (CALO 

Coll.) 

The historic structure report presented 

here exists in two formats. A traditional, 

printed version is available for study at the 

park, the Southeast Regional Office (SERO) of 

the National Park Service, and at a variety of 

other repositories. For more widespread access, the historic structure report also exists in 

a web- based format through ParkNet, the 

website of the National Park Service. Please 

visit www.nps.gov for more information.
George Dixon House

Historic Structure Report

Contents

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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Executive Summary 1

Historical Summary 1

Architectural Summary 2

Summary of Recommendations 2

Site 2

Foundation 2

Structure 3

Roofing 3

Doors 3

Windows 3

Porches 3

Exterior Finishes 3

Interior 3

Administrative Data 7

Locational Data 7

Related Studies 8

Cultural Resource Data 8

PART I DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

Historical Background & Context 9

Chronology of Development & Use 17

Physical Description 23

Associated Site Features 23

Foundation 24

Structural System 24

Roof 26

Doors 26

Windows 27

Exterior Finishes 28

Porches 28

Interior 29

Room 100 29

Room 101 30

Room 102 31
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Room 103/104 32

Room 105 33

Room 200 34

Room 201 35

Room 202 35

PART II TREATMENT AND USE

Treatment and Use 39

Ultimate Treatment and Use 40

Requirements for Treatment and Use 41

Alternatives for Treatment and Use 42

Recommendations for Treatment & Use 45

Site 45

Foundation 45

Structure 46

Roofing 46

Doors 46

Windows 47

Porches 48

Exterior Finishes 48

Interior 49

REFERENCE

Sources of Information 53
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List of Figures

1 View of Portsmouth from the north, c. 1970, with arrow indicating George 

Dixon house at head of Doctor’s Creek. (CALO Coll. #C-09) 11

2 Norah Dixon in the parlor of her parents’ house, c. 1908. (CALO Coll., #A-27) 13

3 Bettie Williams (1847-1929) at the Community Cemetery, c. 1920. (CALO Coll., 

#B-22) 14

4 Norah and Elma Dixon, c. 1953. (CALO Coll., #B-57)) 15

5 Reconstructed original plan of Dixon House. The distance of the kitchen from 

the main house is approximate. (T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 18

6 Plan of Dixon House after relocation of kitchen in the early twentieth century. 

(T. Jones, NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 19

7 Earliest known photograph of George Dixon House, c. 1952, shortly after its 

remodeling by Philip Ball. Note wooden enclosure of foundation. (CALO 

Coll., #A-51) 20

8 Aerial view of Dixon House, c. 1969. Extent of associated property is clearly 

evident in this image. (CALO Coll., #C-07) 24

9 View of front and north side of Dixon House. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 24

10 View of rear or southwest side of Dixon House. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 25

11 View northeast of front sill, showing typical joist/sill connections and wooden 

piers. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 25

12 View to northwest Room 202. Historic ceiling has been removed. (NPS-SEROCRS, 2002) 26

13 View of original, 6/6 window with typical wood frame for screening. Original 

location for back door opening was at window at extreme left in this 

image. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 26

14 View of added asphalt siding. Note part of shutter hinge on adjacent window 

casing, which is original. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 27
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15 View of front porch; column at left is original. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 28

16 View of hallway (Room 100) from front door. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 29

17 View of south wall of Room 101, showing typical door in house. (NPS-SEROCRS, 2002) 30

18 View of fireplace opening in Room 101. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2001) 31

19 View of typical window casing and wall paneling. Note pivoting sash stay at 

center, typical of original windows. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2001) 31

20 View north in Room 101, showing window that infills earlier door to nowmissing kitchen wing. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 32

21 View west showing what was Room 103, now combined with Room 104. (NPSSERO-CRS, 2002) 32

22 View east showing Room 104, now combined with Room 103. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002) 33

23 View west in second floor hall. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 33

24 View south in Room 201. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2001) 34

25 View of wallpaper-covered paneling on north wall of Room 201. (NPS-SEROCRS, 2002) 34

26 View west in Room 202. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 35

27 View south in Room 202. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002) 35

28 Two typical exterior doors in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. (from 

The Elements of Style.) 47

29 Proposed plan for treatment and use. (T. Jones, SERO-CR, 2003) 51
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Project Team

Project Manager Danny Scheidt, Historical Architect

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Historical Research,

Building Investigation &

Report Author

Tommy H. Jones, Architectural Historian

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Program Reviews Bob Blythe, History

Allen Bohnert, Curatorial & Museum

Services

Danny Scheidt, Historical Architecture

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA

Condition Assessment Tommy H. Jones, Architectural Historian

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

Atlanta, GA
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Foreword

We are pleased to make availabe this historic structure report, part of our ongoing effort to provide 

comprehensive documentation for the historic structures and landscapes of National Park Service 

units in the Southeast Field Area. Many individuals and institutions contributed to the successful 

completion of this work. We would particularly like to thank the staff at Cape Lookout National 

Seashore, especially the park’s facility manager Mike McGee, cultural resources manager Michael 

Rikard, and superintendent Bob Vogel. We hope that this study will prove valuable to park management and others in understanding and interpreting the historical significance of the George Dixon 

House at Portsmouth Village.

Chief

Cultural Resources Division

Southeast Regional Office

December 2004
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Executive Summary

The George Dixon House is one of only twenty historic structures 

remaining in historic Portsmouth Village at Cape Lookout National Seashore. The house was leased as a temporary lodge for 

hunters and fishermen under one of the park's special use permits 

until the mid- 1980s but has now been vacant and deteriorating for 

over fifteen years. It is one of a handful of nineteenth- century 

structures remaining in the village.

Historical Summary

The 1982 historic resource study of Cape Lookout provides extensive documentation for the eighteenth- and nineteenth- century 

history of the village but very little for the twentieth century. Most 

of what is known about twentieth- century Portsmouth in general, 

and the Dixon House in particular, has come from the park's compilation of oral interviews with former residents and descendants 
Executive Summary

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of those who lived in the village. Research in 

early twentieth- century Federal censuses and 

county records during the present project provided additional contextual information.

Architectural Summary

Located between the two branches of Doctor’s 

Creek and facing in a northeasterly direction, 

the Dixon House is a wood- framed, end- gabled 

house, a story and a half high. Built around 

1887, it measures about 31’ end to end and 22’ 

front to rear, encompassing about 1,100 square 

feet of floor space in six main rooms, a center 

hall, and a small bathroom. Vernacular design 

and construction broadly define the character 

of the Dixon House; like most of the other 

buildings at Portsmouth, the house is a simple, 

utilitarian structure that was built in response 

to specific needs and circumstances, with little 

consideration of architectural style or refinement of detail.

The roof of the house was recently restored 

and is in excellent condition. Significant termite damage has been done to the structure’s 

framing, and repairs made prior to the 1980s 

were hapazard at best. Part of the floor framing 

has collapsed under the center of the house, 

and there are major structural issues with the 

walls at several locations. In addition, the majority of the historic finishes were removed 

from the exterior and many from the interior 

after World War II when the building was remodeled as a hunting and fishing lodge.

Summary of Recommendations

In spite of the damage done by termites and insensitive remodeling, the building’s original 

form, floor plan, and fenestration remain 

mostly intact and readily discernible. Large 

portions of the original finishes remain intact as 

well, but the original exterior doors and the 

mantle piece in the parlor have been lost as has 

most of the exterior wood siding.

Because of the building’s importance to the 

cultural landscape at Portsmouth, exterior restoration to its appearance before remodeling 

after World War II is recommended for the 

Dixon House. Because of the loss of interior 

finishes, the interior can be simply rehabilitated 

for modern use. Existing historic finishes 

should be carefully preserved, so that if interpretation of the interior should become a priority for the park, interior restoration will remain 

an option.

Site

• Plan program of archaeological investigation of the entire site (approximately 

one acre).

Foundation

• Repair/replace piers as necessary, 

seeking to restore original pier configuration.
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Structure

• Replace sill at southeast end of house 

and collapsing sill running through 

center of the house; repair other sills as 

necessary; raise and level building 

structure.

• "Sister" new floor joists to broken 

joists.

• Inspect stud connections to sills and 

plates and repair as needed.

Roofing

• No work required.

Doors

• Replace front door with four- panel 

door similar to those that remain on 

the interior.

• Replace window on northwest side of 

Room 102 with a four- panel door, similar to the other exterior doors.

• Remove and close existing back door.

• Restore original back door opening, 

using typical four- panel door.

Windows

• Remove existing windows in Room 103 

and replace with original window now 

in Room 102.

• Repair all existing sash, replacing those 

that are missing or too badly damaged 

to repair.

• Restore and reinstall louvered shutters.

• Close window on northeast side of 

Room 102 if kitchen wing is reinstated.

• Install aluminum- framed half screens.

Porches

• Reconstruct rear porch deck, replicating existing decking and using wooden 

piers similar to those used under the 

main body of the house.

Exterior Finishes

• Remove existing asphalt siding, preserving at least one complete panel in 

the park’s permanent collection.

• Identify original 1” by 8” siding material, and re- install all sound material as 

lapped siding, replacing missing material as necessary.

• Paint siding and trim as dictated by 

careful analysis of surviving finishes.

Interior

• Preserve existing interior finishes, 

especially the original double- beaded 

tongue- and- groove boards that have 

survived.

• Remove existing bathroom.
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• Install new bathroom in Room 202, 

avoiding alterations to the ceiling in 

Room 102.

• Install modern kitchen in Room 102.

• Rebuild wall between Rooms 103 and 

104.

• Reconstruct ceiling in Room 202.

• Reconstruct missing walls and ceiling 

at front (east) end of center hall.

• Repair finishes in Room 201, preserving as much of the historic wallpaper as 

possible.

• Install modern electrical and plumbing systems.
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104 101

103

100

102

N

201

202

200

Note 2

Note 3

Note 6

Note 4

Note 5

Note 1

Note 7

105

Note 8

Note

1. Replace front door 

with reproduction of 

an historic design.

2. Remove existing 

window and replace with window from west side of Room 

102.

3. Close exisiting 

door opening.4. Move existing 

window to opening in 

Room 103; install 

reproduction door 

similar to that used at 

front door.

5. Remove kitchen 

from Room 103 and 

install new kitchen in 

this room.

6. Reconstruct 

missing wall.

7. Reconstruct 

missing wall.

8. Partition west side of Room 202 and 

install bathroom.
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

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Administrative 

Data 

Locational Data

Building Name: George Dixon House

Location: Portsmouth Village

LCS#: CALO 12519

Portsmouth Village
Administrative Data 

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Related Studies

Burke, Kenneth E. “The History of Portsmouth, North Carolina, From Its 

Founding in 1753 to Its Evacuation in 

the Face of Federal Forces in 1861.” 

Unpublished undergraduate thesis, 

University of Richmond, Richmond, 

Virginia, 1958. Revised 1974, 1976.

Denver Service Center. General Management 

Plan/Development Concept Plan, Cape 

Lookout National Seashore. December 

1982.

Ehrenhard, John E. Cape Lookout National 

Seashore: Assessment of Archeological 

and Historical Resources. SEAC, NPS, 

1976.

Holland, F. Ross. A Survey History of Cape 

Lookout National Seashore. Department of History, Office of Archeology 

and Historic Preservation, NPS, 1968.

Cape Lookout National Seashore, “Portsmouth 

Village, Historic Structures Management Recommendations,” August 

19844.

Olson, Sarah. Historic Resource Study, Portsmouth Village, Cape Lookout National 

Seashore, North Carolina. NPS- DSC, 

1982.

Van Beck, Sara L. Cape Lookout National Seashore, Archives and Records Management Review. NPS, 2000.

Cultural Resource Data

National Register of Historic Places: Contributing structure in Portsmouth Village Historic 

District, listed Nov. 1979

Period of Significance: 1890- 1930

Proposed Treatment: Structural stabilization, 

exterior restoration
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PART 1 DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

Historical 

Background & 

Context

Established by an act of the colonial legislature of North Carolina 

in 1753, Portsmouth was laid out in half- acre lots “with convenient 

streets” on fifty acres at the north end of Core Banks. The town is 

located on the south side of Ocracoke Inlet, which was the principal access into Pamlico Sound and the North Carolina seaports 

until a storm opened Hatteras Inlet in 1846. Founded as a port 

town, Portsmouth flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with the Federal Government establishing a customs house there in 1806, a marine hospital in 1827, and a post 

office in 1840. The town reached the zenith of its growth in 1860 

with more than 600 residents and 109 dwellings.

Evacuated during the Civil War, Portsmouth never fully recovered 

its population or its economic vitality, and the customs house was 

abolished in 1867. As the population declined, the number of 

houses in the town dwindled as well, falling from a peak of 109 in 

1860, to 59 in 1870, to 44 in 1880. By 1883, the shifting sands of the 

Outer Banks had closed Ocracoke Inlet to any shipping at all, forc-
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ing a dwindling population to turn to fishing 

for a livelihood. 

In 1893, the U. S. Life- Saving Service authorized 

a life- saving station at Portsmouth, which 

opened the following year near the site of the 

old marine hospital. Over the next four decades, a number of Portsmouth residents were 

able to find employment at the life- saving station, which became part of the U. S. Coast 

Guard in 1915.

Many buildings must have sat abandoned in the 

late nineteenth century, including the marine 

hospital which burned in 1894; those that survived hurricanes and a generally harsh environment were dismantled or relocated as the 

village slowly contracted.

Hurricanes were a constant threat, with the socalled San Ciriaco or “Great Hurricane” of 

1899 being one of the worst. Winds at Hatteras 

reached 140 mph before the anemometer blew 

away, and the entire island was submerged under as much as ten feet of water. A Washington 

Gazette reported shortly after the storm that 

“Ocracoke is a complete wreck as a result of the 

fierce storm which swept the entire coast of 

North Carolina, leaving ruin and disaster in its 

path. . . . Practically every house on the island 

was damaged to some extent.”1

 Low- lying 

Portsmouth, just across the inlet from Ocracoke, must have suffered heavy damage as well.

The tidal surges that accompanied storms often 

did as much or more damage than wind. In 

September 1913, for example, a relatively weak 

hurricane swept Portsmouth, but with a storm 

surge that destroyed the Primitive Baptist and 

Methodist churches. The community was still 

strong enough, however, to support reconstruction of the Methodist church by 1915.

On August 23, 1933, another moderate hurricane swept across the Outer Banks, dumping 

rain but not particularly strong winds on Portsmouth. Less than a month later, on September 

16, a strong hurricane hit Portsmouth with sustained winds of 100 mph and torrential rain that 

flooded most of the island and destroyed many 

houses. So much damage was done that, according to one resident at the time, "everybody 

just left."2

 Particularly hard hit were the residents of the Middle Settlement and Sheep Island to the southwest of the present village, 

both of which were essentially abandoned for 

residential use after that time. 

In 1937, the Coast Guard's lifesaving station was 

closed, further diminishing the town’s vitality. 

By 1940, there were only 42 permanent residents, and after another hurricane devastated 

the island in 1944, that numbered dwindled further, with the population standing at only fourteen by the 1950s.

A number of the old buildings were adapted for 

temporary use by sport fishermen, especially

1. Merlin S. Berry, “History of Northeastern North Carolina Storms,” <http://

www.rootsweb.com/~nchyde/HURICANE.HTM> (28 November 2002).

2. Sarah Olson, Historic Resource Study, 

Portsmouth Village, Cape Lookout 

National Seashore (NPS, Denver Service Center, 1982), p. 93.
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Figure 1 View of Portsmouth 

from the north, c. 1970, with 

arrow indicating George Dixon 

house at head of Doctor’s 

Creek. (CALO Coll. #C-09)

after World War II, including the old U.S. Coast 

Guard Station which was declared surplus 

property in 1946 and used as a sportsmen's club 

until at least 1958.3

 The post office was discontinued in 1959, and by the time the Cape Lookout National Seashore was authorized in 1966, 

only a handful of permanent residents remained. With the death of the village's last surviving male resident, Henry Pigott, in 1971, the 

two other residents still living at Portsmouth, 

Elma Dixon and and her niece Marion Babb, 

moved to the mainland, and Portsmouth was 

abandoned except for seasonal use.

The Dixon House was reportedly built by 

George Dixon and his wife Martha “Patsy” 

Williams, who raised their family there in the 

late 1800s and early 1900s.4 George Dixon was 

born March 19, 1857, in North Carolina, probably on Portsmouth Island, the son of Solomon 

and Hetty Tolson Dixon. Hetty Dixon died, 

perhaps in childbirth, when George was quite 

young; and in 1861, Solomon Dixon, who was a 

pilot, married Bersheba Hill.5

3. Olson, Historic Resource Study, Portsmouth Village, pp. 94-95.

4. Ben B. Salter, Portsmouth Island: 

Short Stories and History (Doris S. 

Willis, 1972), p.55; Amy Elizabeth 

Atwell, “Portsmouth Village,” unpublished mss., 1991, pp. 32-33.
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The first recorded evidence of George Dixon is 

his appearance in the 1870 census where he is 

shown with his older sister Amanda in their father’s household, along with their stepmother 

and three younger half- siblings. That census 

also listed George’s occupation as fisherman, 

although he was not yet thirteen years old. By 

1880, George and his sister Mandy were living 

with their grandmother Elizabeth Tolson.6 

Their father was living nearby, however, with 

his second family, and there were other Dixon 

relations in the neighborhood as well.

Among the Dixons’ closest neighbors were 

Betty, Claudia, and Patsy Williams, the children 

of John and Esther Robinson Williams, who 

were married in Carteret County in February 

1847. Patsy, who was born on 13 March 1859, 

was not yet a teenager when her father died 

sometime before 1870. Esther Williams appears to have died before 1880, and if either of 

the parents were buried at Portsmouth, their 

graves have now been lost.

On 22 June 1887, George Dixon married Patsy 

Williams, the youngest of the Williams sisters. 

The marriage was performed by the local minister J. R. Cannon and was witnessed by Patsy’s 

brother William and their neighbor John R. 

Grace.7

The Dixons’ daughter believed that George and 

Patsy built their house around the time they 

were married. No deed for the land was recorded, however, and it is not known how and 

when they acquired the land on which the 

house was built, which was across Doctor’s 

Creek from Patsy Dixon’s widowed sister Claudia Daly.8

George Dixon was a fisherman by trade, but 

Patsy also worked to support the family by operating a store, something she may have begun 

at an early age. The deaths of both of their parents before 1880 left Patsy and her siblings to 

their own resources and may have been the impetus for opening a store. Although there appear to have been no full- time storekeepers at 

Portsmouth after 1870 (at least none are listed 

in the census), there remained enough business 

on the island to support a store until after 

World War II, and Patsy Williams and her older 

sister Betty, who never married, were able to fill 

that niche.9

According to Patsy’s daughter, the first store 

was located on the north side of Doctor’s Creek 

along the road to Henry Pigott’s house. Later 

Patsy acquired or built a larger store directly 

across the road from the Dixons’ house on the 

south side of Doctor’s Creek- - Elma Dixon remembered that “[y]ou could step off the road 

onto the steps of the store.” How long it oper5. See Federal Census, 1860-1880. ated has not been documented, but it was evenSolomon Dixon’s second marriage is 

recorded in Carteret County’s marriage records; his first is not.

6. The 1880 census mistakenly lists 

George and Amanda as children of 

Elizabeth Tolson.

7. Carteret Co. Marriages, p. 22-C.

8. Atwell, “Portsmouth Village,” p. 32.

9. Interviews with Patsy’s daughter Elma 

Dixon provide virtually all of the documentation for the store. Sources 

conflict as to whether Betty or Patsy 

actually owned the stores.
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tually moved across Doctor’s Creek (probably 

after Patsy’s death in 1914) and remained the 

community’s primary store and location of its 

post office until both were closed in the 1950s.10

Surprisingly, considering she was only 17 at the 

time, Patsy Dixon was appointed postmaster at 

Portsmouth on September 21, 1876, when Mary 

L. Abbot, the first female postmaster at Portsmouth, resigned from the position.11 Patsy 

served as postmaster until her brother William 

was appointed to the position on 28 November 

1887, two months before the birth of Patsy’s first 

child. The postmaster position remained in the 

family when Ellen Daly, daughter of William 

and Patsy’s sister Claudia, was appointed postmaster in 1899. Like Patsy, Ellen was only 17 

years old when she became postmaster.

In January 1888, George and Patsy Dixon’s first 

child, Arthur Edward Dixon, was born. In September 1889, a second child was born and 

named Harry Needham Dixon. Three more 

children were born to the couple, all daughters: 

Norah Elizabeth Dixon, born in March 1892; 

Lillian Mae Dixon, born in July 1896; and Elma 

Morgan Dixon, born in July 1903. Elma Dixon 

would be one of the last two residents of Portsmouth when the town finally died seventy years 

later.

Figure 2 Norah Dixon in the 

parlor of her parents’ house, c. 

1908. (CALO Coll., #A-27)

Patsy Dixon was plagued by heart problems- -

”heart dropsy” her daughter called it- - and periodically went to Washington, North Carolina, 

for medical treatment. In February 1914 a late 

winter storm struck Portsmouth, and as they 

usually did during bad storms, the Dixons 

sought shelter at the Dalys’ house across the 

creek. In doing so, however, Patsy was soaked, 

and her daughter remembered that “she didn’t 

live long after that.”12 Patsy Williams Dixon 

died on March 4, 1914, only fifty- five years old,

10.CALO Interview with Elma Dixon, 18 

August 1979; Atwell, p. 32.

11.United States Post Office, Record of 

Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-

Sept. 30, 1971, M841, roll 92, National 

Archives and Record Administration.

12.CALO Interview with Elma Dixon, 18 

August 1979.
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Figure 3 Bettie Williams 

(1847-1929) at the Community 

Cemetery, c. 1920. (CALO Coll., 

#B-22)

and was buried in the nearby Community 

Cemetery.

Both of the Dixons’ sons grew up as fisherman, 

but both were also carpenters, with Harry 

noted for his boat- building ability.13 Harry 

married Lida Woolard and, around 1918, 

bought Capt. David Willis’ small frame house 

nearby. Ten years later, they reportedly rebuilt 

the house, which is one of the few residences 

surviving at Portsmouth today.14

The Dixons’ daughter Lillian married Jesse 

Babb around 1915, and they, too, set up housekeeping nearby. The Babbs’ daughter Marion, 

who was born in 1917, would inherit the Babbs’ 

house and, with her aunt Elma Dixon, be one of 

the last residents of Portsmouth.15

Fishing did not always provide an adequate income for the family, and in the early twentieth 

century, George Dixon sometimes worked as a 

guide for the hunters who began to frequent 

the island. In addition, when the Portsmouth 

Fisheries Company opened on Casey Island in 

1916, he and his sons “picked up some extra 

work” there. George worked as a night watchman at the company; but in November 1919, he 

fell while on his rounds after suffering what his 

daughter described as “one of his bad spells in 

the head.” The kerosene lantern he was carrying was ignited and he was burned severely. His 

family heard his cries for help from across the 

water and Ed and Harry rowed out to bring 

him home. He did not recover, however, and 

died on 24 November 1919.16 He was buried 

next to his wife in the Community Cemetery 

across the creek from their house.

Patsy Dixon’s oldest sister, Elizabeth “Bettie” 

Williams, never married and lived with the Dixons for many years and by some accounts actually owned the store that Patsy ran. She 

probably moved out of the Dixon house after 

Patsy Dixon died in 1914, and by 1920, was 

boarding with Amanda Dixon, George’s older 

sister, who was also unmarried. Bettie Williams 

died in 1929 and was buried in the Community 

Cemetery.

13.Ellen Fulcher Cloud, Portsmouth: The 

Way It Was (Havelock, NC: Print 

Shop, 1996), p. 151.

14.Salter, p. 56; Atwell, p. 33.

15.Salter, p. 55.

16.CALO interview with Elma Dixon, 

August 18, 1979; Atwell, p. 32.
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After George Dixon’s death in 1919, his son Ed 

continued to occupy the old family home, 

probably with one or both of his unmarried sisters, Norah and Elma, although Ed is listed 

alone in the household in the 1920 census.17 In 

1930, the household was composed of Norah 

and Ed, while Elma was living nearby with their 

sister Lillian Babb and her husband. Their 

other sibling, Harry, and his wife Lida lived 

nearby as well until Harry died in 1931.

The hurricane in September 1933 did terrible 

damage to Portsmouth and accelerated the exodus from the island that had been ongoing 

since the Civil War. Unlike many island residents, the Dixons made repairs and continued 

to live in their old house, although it was in increasingly poor repair. When the Coast Guard 

lifesaving station closed in 1937, a number of 

buildings became available for reuse and Ed 

Dixon bought what is now known as the 

McWilliams- Dixon house (built c. 1910), thinking it would be cheaper to move and repair 

than it would be to repair the family’s old 

house. In 1939, with the help of some of the 

Coast Guardsmen, he moved the house to its 

present location just east of the Methodist 

church. Although in better shape than the old 

Dixon house, the new house still required extensive repairs, including construction of a new 

kitchen. On November 1, 1939, the “new” 

house was ready and Elma, Nora, and Ed vacated their parents’ old house for good.18 

Figure 4 Norah and Elma 

Dixon, c. 1953. (CALO Coll., #B57))

According to Elma Dixon, her brother “didn’t 

bother to fix [the old house] up and sell it because by that time there was no one to buy it.”19

Ed Dixon died in October 1945 and, because of 

arguments over ownership of the Community 

Cemetery, was buried on a low rise behind his 

sisters’ house. The small cemetery is now 

known as the Babb cemetery.

In December 1951, the Dixon sisters finally decided to sell their parents’ old house to J. W. 

and Mary P. York of Wake County, North 

Carolina.20 For unknown reasons, in April 

1952, the Yorks conveyed the property to Philip 17.Elma and Norah Dixon appear not to 

have been enumerated in the 1920 

census of Portsmouth.

18.CALO Interview with Elma Dixon, 18 

August 1979; Atwell, p. 33.

19.Ibid.

20.Carteret Co. Deeds, Book 141, pp. 45-

46.
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K. and Edna Ball who made significant alterations to the house for use as a part- time residence.21 The Yorks sold the house to Doward 

H. Brugh and Frank Wardlaw in January 1965.22

Nora Dixon died in 1956, but Elma Dixon continued to live at Portsmouth. After 1967, however, she no longer stayed on the island during 

the harsh winter months. Lillian Dixon Babb 

died in 1969, leaving her daughter Marion 

Babb, Henry Pigott, and Elma Dixon as the last 

residents of the island. In poor health, Pigott 

finally had to leave the island permanently in 

1971, and when he did, Elma and Marion left as 

well. Elma Dixon died in Beaufort, North 

Carolina, in February 1990.

21.Carteret Co. Deeds, Book 141, p. 105.

22.Carteret Co. Deeds, Book 259, p. 101.
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Chronology of 

Development & 

Use

George and Patsy Dixon are believed to have built the house 

around the time of their marriage.23 Initial park research assumed 

that the marriage occurred in the late 1870s and so a date of ca. 

1875 has been given for the house’s construction. However, Carteret County’s record of marriages show that the couple was actually married some ten years later, in June 1887.24 The character of 

the house’s original materials, including the use of circular- sawn 

lumber and cut nails, is consistent with an assumed construction 

date of ca. 1887.

No builder for the house has been documented nor has the source 

of the circular- sawn lumber used in its construction. Unlike some 

Portsmouth buildings, the Dixon house’s materials do not appear 

to have been recycled from earlier buildings. Balloon- framed, the 

house appears to have originally been finished on the exterior 

with 1” by 8” lap siding, but the extent of the 1950s remodeling

23.Atwell, p. 32; Salter, p. 55.

24.Census records confirm this marriage date.
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Figure 5 Reconstructed 

original plan of Dixon House. 

The distance of the kitchen 

from the main house is 

approximate. (T. Jones, NPSSERO-CRS, 2002)

make that conclusion uncertain. Undoubtedly, 

it was roofed with wooden shingles.

The first floor of the house had two rooms on 

either side of a central hall that had both a front 

and back door. Walls and ceilings were originally paneled with double- beaded, tongueand- groove boards.

The second floor appears to have had a ceiling 

paneled with 31⁄2”- wide tongue and- groove 

boards. However, the continuation of the balustrade around three sides of the stairwell and 

the stairwell’s relationship to the flanking walls 

suggest that the upstairs was not originally partitioned as it is now. At an early date, however, 

partitions were constructed using 41⁄2”- wide, 

double- beaded, tongue- and- groove boards, 

thus creating Rooms 201 and 202 with a hall 

(Room 200) betweent the two. The layers of 

wallpaper on the walls in Room 201 indicate 

that this occurred as early as the 1890s or early 

1900s.

Interviews with Elma Dixon in the late 1970s 

provide some information about the family’s 

use of the structure. The “best room” or parlor 

was the front room on the northeast side of the 

hall, while the two rooms (now combined into 

a single room) on the southwest side of the hall 

were used as bedrooms. Elma herself was born 

in the bedroom at the rear, which was probably 

her parents’ bedroom. The fourth downstairs 

room, behind the parlor, was also used as a 

bedroom, apparently for the boys. In the interviews, Dixon does not locate her aunt Betty 

Williams’ room, but it quite likely was the second floor room on the south side of the house. 

Elma Dixon remembered that she and her 

bedroom parlor

bedroom bedroom

kitchen

100

101

103 102

104

105
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George Dixon House 19

Figure 6 Plan of Dixon House 

after relocation of kitchen in 

the early twentieth century. (T. 

Jones, NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

siblings often slept in the other room on the 

second floor in the summer because they were 

better able to catch a breeze there than on the 

first floor.25

Elma Dixon also remembered the house’s original kitchen which, like many at Portsmouth, 

was a separate structure off the end of the main 

house, connected by a porch or breezeway. 

Apparently located off the northeast end of the 

house, the structure served as both kitchen 

and dining room until, Elma remembered, “a 

cyclone tore [it] off its blocks” sometime before 1919. The storm, which may have been the 

legendary San Ciriaco or “Great Hurricane” of 

August 1899 or the 1913 hurricane that destroyed the Methodist church, did not destroy 

the kitchen, however. When George Dixon 

started repairs, he decided to move the kitchen 

a few feet and connect it to the main house “so 

they wouldn’t have to go outside,” according to 

Elma. Her father replaced the window on the 

north side of the bedroom behind the parlor, 

connecting the old bedroom to the relocated 

kitchen. After that, the Dixons began using the 

old bedroom as a dining and sitting room.26 

Probably at the same time, the window on the 

west side of that room was replaced by a door 

to the back porch.

By the late 1930s, the Dixon house like many 

others on the island was “in bad repair,” and 

Ed Dixon began to make repairs before deciding to fix up the McWilliams house instead.27

25.CALO interview with Elma Dixon, 18 

August 1979.

bedroom parlor

kitchen

bedroom

dining 

room

103

104 100 101

102

105

26.Ibid.
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Figure 7 Earliest known 

photograph of George Dixon 

House, c. 1952, shortly after its 

remodeling by Philip Ball. Note 

wooden enclosure of 

foundation. (CALO Coll., #A-51)

The McWilliams house required extensive renovations, too, including construction of a new 

kitchen and privy. Dixon also moved a small 

wood- framed structure from his parents’ place 

for use as a wash house. It had originally been 

built by Ed Dixon as a workshop or store house 

for their father and was later used as a summer 

kitchen by Elma and Nora Dixon.28 Other 

sources outside the family indicated that this 

building may have been the original kitchen at 

the old Dixon house, but there is no evidence 

for that.

The Dixons moved into the “new” house on 

November 1, 1939, and essentially abandoned 

the old house since there was little demand for 

real estate on the island at that time. After 

World War II, economic conditions improved, 

and in December 1951, the Dixon siblings sold 

the house to J. W. York. A few months later, 

York conveyed the house to Philip Ball, who 

“had it all done over,” according to Elma Dixon.

Ball may have been responsible for removing 

the old kitchen wing, if the Dixons had not already done that. When it was removed, the 

27.CALO interview with Elma Dixon, 

June 1978.

28.CALO interview with Babb and 

Gaskins, 1979.
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door on the north side of Room 102 was replaced by the present one- over- one window. 

In addition, the house was renovated, both inside and out, including replacement of the 

beaded- board walls and ceilings in Rooms 100, 

101, 103, and 104 with the present plain tongueand- groove boards. The surviving doublebeaded tongue- and- groove boards beneath 

the sheet paneling in Room 102, beneath the 

stairs, and on the second floor are typical of the 

original material.

There is no ghost of a mantle on the present 

wall boards in Room 101, indicating that it was 

lost at the same time the original finishes were 

removed. At that time as well, the wall was removed between Rooms 103 and 104 in order to 

create a large combination living room and 

kitchen.

The exterior of the house was also stripped of 

its original siding. Old siding and material removed from the interior appears to have been 

used to resheath the house with flush- laid 

boards that were then covered with the present 

asphalt composition panels. The old woodshingled roof covering remained in place but 

within a few years had been replaced by green, 

asphalt- composition, “hurricane” shingles.29

The Balls appear to have created the bathroom 

at the west end of the central hall. The toilet is 

dated 1979 but it may be a replacement fixture, 

with the bathroom actually constructed earlier. Construction of the bathroom necessitated closure of the door from the hall to the 

back porch and it was replaced by the present 

window. To replace the lost back door, a new 

door opening was created between Room 103 

and the back porch. The present door was installed at that time, along with a similar door 

that was installed at the front entrance to the 

house.

In addition, Ball’s work probably included removal of the window on the south side of 

Room 103, which was replaced by the present 

windows on that wall. The window that was 

removed was then apparently reused to replace 

the door that originally opened between the 

porch and Room 102.

Later alterations to the house appear to have 

been minimal. In the late 1990s, the house suffered significant storm damage. Major repairs 

to the roof were necessary and a new woodshingle roof covering was installed at that time.

29.These shingles creates an interlocking 

pattern meant to resist hurricane 

winds.
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Chronology

June 22, 1887 George and Martha marry and build a new house around that time

January 1888 First child, Arthur Edward Dixon, born

September 1889 Son Harry Needham Dixon born

March 1892 Daughter Norah Elizabeth Dixon born

July 1896 Daughter Lillian Mae Dixon born

August 1899 “Great Hurricane” floods Portsmouth

ca. 1900 Second floor of house partitioned; household includes Patsy’s sister Elizabeth “Bettie” Williams.

July 1903 Last child, Elma Morgan Dixon, born

August 1913 Hurricane destroys Methodist church

March 4, 1914 Patsy Dixon dies

November 24, 1919 George Dixon dies

September 1929 Bettie Williams dies

September 1933 Possible damage to Dixon house; after hurricane, “everybody just left”

1939 Ed Dixon moves McWilliams House; Dixons vacate old house

October 1945 Ed Dixon dies

December 1951 Dixon siblings sell parents’ house to J. W. and Mary York

April 9, 1952 Yorks sell to Philip K. and Edna Ball- - Balls renovate house

September 1956 Norah Dixon dies

1959 Portsmouth post office closes

1960 Fourteen residents remaining in Portsmouth

January 2, 1965 Balls sell house to Doward H. Brugh and Frank Wardlaw

1969 Lillian Dixon Babb dies

1971 Elma Dixon and Marion Babb, the village’s last residents, move to the 

mainland

c. 1985 Dixon house abandoned

February 1990 Elma Dixon dies
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Physical 

Description

The George Dixon House is a one- and- a- half story, wood- framed 

house built around 1887. Three bays wide, the house has seven 

rooms and measures approximately 30' by 22'- 8", containing just 

over 1,000 square feet, not including front and back porches that 

run the length of the house.

Associated Site Features

 The house is located just southwest of the northern bridge over 

Doctor's Creek. The house faces in a northeasterly direction on a 

grassy, level site surrounded on three sides by marsh. Small cedars 

or junipers are growing on the north side of the site, with a larger 

tree on the south side of the front yard. No other site features can 

be identified, although a cistern and privy must have been associated with the house at one time. There are known to have been 

other outbuildings on the site, including the original kitchen, 

which has been lost, and the small wood- framed structure now 

known as the McWilliams- Dixon House’s “summer kitchen.”

A plan of the existing building is 

included at the end 

of this section.
Physical Description

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Figure 8 Aerial view of Dixon 

House, c. 1969. Extent of 

associated property is clearly 

evident in this image. (CALO 

Coll., #C-07)

Figure 9 View of front and 

north side of Dixon House. 

(NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

Foundation

The house's wood frame rests on a series of cedar or cypress piers 8" to 10" in diameter set 5' 

to 6' apart. As is typical of many of the structures at Portsmouth, piers are so arranged that 

none appear immediately under the building's 

corners, where the pier/sill connections could 

be more easily damaged by storm surge during 

hurricanes. The piers are irregularly spaced 

and have been poorly maintained and repaired. 

At least one pier appears to be missing on the 

north end of the house and at least one pier appears to have been displaced or damaged, allowing partial collapse of the beam that runs 

through the center of the house.

Structural System

The house was constructed with a modified 

"balloon" frame using circular- sawn cypress 

and pine and a combination of mortise- andtenon and nailed connections. Construction 

method, nails, and variable lumber dimensions 

are consistent with a construction date in the 

1880s.
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Sills and Plates: Perimeter sills have undergone 

extensive repairs and modifications, especially 

on the southeast side of the house where the 

original sill has been replaced by a stacked trio 

of boards, 2" by 6- 1/2". The 6" by 8" sill at the 

front wall of the house appears to be typical of 

the original sills. A beam, 6' by 7", runs through 

the house from end to end and supports the 

walls above that separate front from rear 

rooms. Support piers near the middle of this 

beam (under the central hall) appear to have 

been undermined and/or otherwise been displaced. As a result, the beam has broken and 

partially collapsed, causing nearby joists to split 

and allowing the center of the house to drop 

several inches.

Top plates are generally 4" by 5- 3/4" to 6". The 

plate at the front of the house was badly damaged by water penetration and its southern half 

was entirely replaced when the roof was recently repaired.

Posts and Studs: Corner posts are also around 

4" by 6", while posts at window and door 

openings are about 4" by 4". Posts are mortised to plates and sills. Studs are generally 1- 3/

4" to 2" by 3- 3/4" to 4" and continuous between sill and top plate. They are irregularly 

spaced, 20" to 30" on centers, and are connected to sills and plates using cut nails.

Joists: First floor joists are about 1- 7/8" by 7- 3/

4", set about 24" between centers. Joists run 

front to rear in the house and are notched and 

lapped over front and rear sills and over the 

collapsing center beam. Most are in good

Figure 10 View of rear or 

southwest side of Dixon House. 

(NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

Figure 11 View northeast of 

front sill, showing typical joist/

sill connections and wooden 

piers. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

condition; but at least one joist has split as a result of the collapsing beam.

Second floor joists (which are the first floor 

ceiling joists) are 1- 3/4" to 2" by 6" to 6- 1/4" and 

are laid on a ledger, 1- 1/2" by 6", let into the 

studs about 3' below the building's top plate.
Physical Description

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Figure 12 View to northwest 

Room 202. Historic ceiling has 

been removed. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002)

Figure 13 View of original, 6/6 

window with typical wood 

frame for screening. Original 

location for back door opening 

was at window at extreme left 

in this image. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002)

Joists are nailed to studs and so have the same 

irregular spacing as do the studs.

Roof

Rafters are 1- 7/8" by 4- 7/8", irregularly spaced, 

24" to 34" between centers, and joined at the 

ridge without a ridge board. Perhaps a third of 

the rafters were replaced during the recent roof 

repairs and small plywood grommets were also 

added at all of the rafters' ridge connections. 

The ceilings for the rooms at the second floorlevel are framed using 1- 1/2" by 4" joists that are 

nailed to the rafters and act as a wind brace for 

the roof.

The roof was originally decked with randomwidth boards, 6" to 10" wide, probably covered 

with sawn wooden shingles. Much of this 

decking was replaced with 1" by 4" boards during the recent roof repair. The existing woodshingled roof was installed in the 1990s, replacing mid- twentieth- century, asphalt- composition shingles in an unusual interlocking design.

Doors

The house has two entrances, one from the 

front porch and one from the back porch. The 

front door is an original opening, 3'- 0" by 6'- 6-

3/4", approximately centered in the facade. 

The design of the original front door is not 

known, since it was replaced with by the 

present door in 1979, but it was probably a fourpanel door like those that remain on the interior. The existing door, which swings outward, 

is wooden and has three horizontal panels be-
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low and six lights above. There is a screen 

door, which swings inward and appears to be 

older than the door.

The original back door was closed when the 

bathroom was created and a small window installed in its place. At that time, a new door 

opening, 2'- 8" by 6'- 8", was created from the 

back porch into Room 104. The door is identical in design to the front door but in much 

poorer condition with the lights in the upper 

part of the door missing and replaced by plywood.

Windows

Original first- floor window openings were 2'-

10" by 5'- 4" with six- over- six sash, 1- 1/4" thick. 

Original upper sash can be identified by their 

10" by 14" panes, lower sash by 10" by 15" panes. 

Not all sash are in their original positions. The 

windows have fixed upper sash and the lower 

sash are not counter- weighted. The lower sash 

were originally held up by rotating wooden 

sash stays mounted to the window stop.

The original sash in the window on the north 

side of Room 102 was replaced by the present 

one- over- one sash when the kitchen was 

moved to another site in 1939. On the south 

side of what was Room 104, the original window opening was reconfigured into the present 

openings on that wall when the rooms were 

combined after World War II. Both openings 

are fitted with wooden, fixed sash, 2'- 10" by 2'-

0".

Figure 14 View of added 

asphalt siding. Note part of 

shutter hinge on adjacent 

window casing, which is 

original. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

In the gables at the second floor level are pairs 

of windows, 2'- 4" by 3'- 10" with six- over- six 

sash, 1- 1/8" thick, fitted with rotating wooden 

sash stays mounted to the window stop. Sash 

are missing entirely from one opening in Room 

201, but one of them appears to be stored in 

Room 202. The upper sash in one of the openings in Room 202 is missing all of its muntins.

All of the first floor window openings appear to 

originally have been fitted with louvered shutters, but only broken remnants of the hinges remain on some casings. Five fixed- louver 

shutters are stored on the second floor in Room 

202 and appear to be some of these original 

shutters.

The windows on the front porch and one window on the back porch have wood- framed 

screens over the lower sash. These probably 

once existed at all of the windows, although
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Figure 15 View of front porch; 

column at left is original. (NPSSERO-CRS, 2002)

they are not original. When they were installed, use of the shutters was abandoned.

Exterior Finishes

Siding: The house is presently finished with asphalt- composition panels installed after World 

War II. Measuring 16" by 36", these panels have 

a design meant to imitate random- range, 

dressed- face ashlar. On the southeast end of 

the house, all of the panels have been replaced 

by rolled asphalt roofing. On the northwest 

end, a quarter or more of the panels are missing, leaving the underlying wood sheathing exposed. Panels are badly damaged elsewhere.

The house was entirely sheathed with the 

present flush- laid boards, installed horizontally 

prior to installation of the asphalt siding. At the 

northwest end of the house, much of the wall is 

sheathed with narrow tongue- and- groove 

boards, some of them beaded; in the gable at 

that end, just under the back porch roof, and at 

the southern corner of the house, wider plainsawn boards, approximately 1” by 8”, are visible. Paint lines on these boards suggest that 

they were probably some of the siding used 

originally to finish the house.30 Plywood was 

used for recent temporary repairs to part of the 

sheathing on the southeast end of the house.

Trim: Much of the original window and door 

casing remains in place. Jamb casing is typically 

1- 1/4" thick, 3- 3/4" wide; header casing is 

slightly wider and has a plain wooden drip cap. 

Window sills are extraordinarily thick, being 

around 2- 3/4". Sills and drip caps do not extend beyond the outside edge of the casing. 

Unboxed eaves extend about 8" from the wall 

faces. Eaves are finished with a plain 1" by 6" 

fascia.

Porches

Porches about 26'- 7" by 7'- 4" span almost the 

full width of the house at the front and the rear. 

Each has a wood- framed, shed roof, paneled at 

each end with narrow, vertical, tongue- andgroove boards. Neither porch has a ceiling but 

both have been recently reroofed. The front 

porch is reached by two wooden steps, now in 

30.The relaying of original lap siding as a 

flush sheathing to accomodate modern replacement finishes like the 

asphalt brick was a common occurrence in the mid-twentieth century.
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poor condition. There are no steps at the back 

porch.

Both porches have wood- framed decks that appear to have been largely rebuilt, probably in 

the 1950s. Each was originally framed with 

three joists running end to end; decking is now 

supported by four joists running end to end. 

Decking is typically 1" by 6". The front porch 

deck is in fair condition, but deteriorating. The 

back porch deck is in poor condition, with the 

center of the outside sill collapsing and major 

deterioration of the decking itself. 

The front porch header has been completely 

replaced and there are at least two generations 

of 2" by 4" rafters visible. Framing of the rear 

porch differs and appears to be older, or at least 

incorporates older framing material into its 

structure. The header there is only 3" by 4" and 

rafters are unusual in being about 2- 3/4" 

square. Porch roofs are supported by 4" by 4" 

posts, all of them modern except perhaps for a 

single column on the front porch which is 

probably original. It measures 3- 1/4" by 3- 3/4", 

6'- 10" high, and has corners chamfered from 

about 23" from the base to about 12" from top.

Interior

The house has a central hall plan with two 

rooms on the north side and what was originally two rooms, now combined into one, on 

the south side. The second floor contains a 

windowless stair hall with two unequally- sized 

rooms, one on each side. The smaller room on 

the south side also features two small closets at

Figure 16 View of hallway 

(Room 100) from front door. 

(NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

front and rear. Ceilings on the first floor are set 

at 7’- 4” and at 7’- 11” on the second floor. 

Room 100

This narrow central hall, which is 5’- 5” wide 

and 18’- 5” long, was truncated at its western 

end by installation of a bathroom in the 1970s. 

Doors open from the hall to all of the other 

rooms on the first floor and a steep, narrow 

staircase ascends to the second floor along its 

south wall.

Floors: Flooring is 5”- wide, painted, tongueand- groove boards. The collapsing sill that 

runs through the center of the house has
Physical Description

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Figure 17 View of south wall 

of Room 101, showing typical 

door in house. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002)

caused major deflection of the floor around the 

middle of the hall.

Walls and Ceilings: Walls and ceiling are finished with the same tongue- and- groove boards, 

3” wide, all of it painted. Three- inch- wide, 

double- beaded, tongue- and- groove boards, are 

used in the paneling beneath the stair case. 

These boards are probably original.

Trim: Door casing consists of 1” by 3” boards, 

laid flush with the wall boards. There are no 

baseboards or crown molding.

Doors: The front door, which swings outward, 

is 3’- 0” by 6’- 6- 3/4” with six lights above three 

horizontal panels. It was probably installed in 

the 1950s replacing the original door, the design 

of which is not known. A wooden screened 

door is hung on the inside of the opening.

Doors to the other rooms on this floor open 

from this hall. See individual rooms for descriptions.

Staircase: The staircase to the second floor is in 

this room. The rise and the run of these stairs 

are both 8- 1/2”, creating a very steep stairway. 

Treads are plain, without nosing. The newel 

post is 3- 3/4” by 3- 3/4” with a 6”- square cap. 

The bannister is ellipsoidal in section, 1- 7/8” 

thick and 5” wide. Balusters are 1” by 1”, two 

per tread, and set into a routed channel on the 

underside of the bannister.

Lighting: A single, porcelain, keyless socket is 

mounted on the ceiling near the foot of the 

stairs.

Room 101

This room measures 11’- 10” by 13’- 4”, making it 

the largest room on the first floor. It was probably the parlor or best room, although there is 

little to distinguish it from the other rooms except for the fireplace.

Floors: Flooring is 5” tongue- and- groove and is 

painted. The saddle is missing from the door 

opening to the hall.

Walls and Ceilings: Walls and ceiling are typical 

3”- wide, painted, tongue- and- groove boards.

Trim: A 2- 1/4” bed molding is used at the juncture of the walls and ceiling. A 1” cove molding 

finishes the corners of the room. There is no 

baseboard.
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Door: The opening to the hall is 3’- 0” by 6’- 5”. 

The door has four, vertical, raised panels, with 

stiles and rails 1- 1/16” thick and with throughmortise joinery. The door also has a common 

rimlock with metal knobs, which are probably 

replacements of earlier, mineral knobs.

Windows: Windows are 2’- 10” by 5’- 4”, six over 

six. Casing is 3- 1/2” wide; sash stop is 3/4” by 1-

1/4”; stool is 1- 1/4” by 3- 1/8”. The top sash is 

fixed and the bottom sash is not counterweighted but has a single wooden sash stay that 

can be used to keep the lower sash raised.

Fireplace: The original mantle appears to have 

been lost when the present wall boards were installed; no evidence for it remains. The opening in the wall paneling for the fireplace was 

about 3’ by 4- 1/2” but has been closed with 1” by 

6” boards, now partially removed. A terracotta flue for a stove is located about 5’ off the 

floor.

Lighting: A single, porcelain, fixture is 

mounted near the center of the ceiling, with a 

switch mounted near the door.

Room 102

This room measures 9’- 6” by 13’- 4”. It was 

probably originally used as a dining room.

Floors: Flooring is typical 5”- wide, painted, 

tongue- and- groove. The saddle is missing from 

the door opening.

Walls: The walls of this room have been paneled with thin, 4’ by 8’ sheets of wood paneling. 

Figure 18 View of fireplace 

opening in Room 101. (NPSSERO-CRS, 2001)

Figure 19 View of typical 

window casing and wall 

paneling. Note pivoting sash 

stay at center, typical of original 

windows. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2001)
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Figure 20 View north in Room 

101, showing window that 

infills earlier door to nowmissing kitchen wing. (NPSSERO-CRS, 2002)

Figure 21 View west showing 

what was Room 103, now 

combined with Room 104. 

(NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

The original double- beaded, tongue- andgroove paneling is visible behind the paneling 

on the east and west walls, and it may remain 

on the other walls as well.

Ceiling: The ceiling is paneled with plain, 3”-

wide, tongue- and- groove boards similar to 

those used in Room 101.

Door: The door opening to the hall is 3’- 0” by 

6- 5- 1/2” and has a typical four- panel door, complete with rimlock and its original mineral door 

knobs.

Windows: When the kitchen was repaired after 

the 1933 hurricane, a door was created out of 

the original window opening on the north wall 

in order to connect the relocated kitchen and 

this room. When the kitchen was moved in 

1939, the door was replaced by the present window, which has one- over- one sash.

When the original porch door from this room 

was closed after World War II, the sash that had 

been part of the window on the south wall of 

Room 103 appears to have been recycled to fill 

this opening, since it matches the original sash 

in Room 101 and elsewhere.

Room 103/104

This space, which measures 10’- 3” by 21’- 10”, 

was originally partitioned into separate rooms 

at the header still visible about 9- 1/2’ from the 

west wall.
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Floors: Flooring is 5” tongue- and- groove and is 

painted. The saddles are missing from the door 

openings to the hall.

Walls and Ceilings: Walls and ceiling are typical 

3”- wide, painted, tongue- and- groove boards 

installed after World War II.

Cabinetry: The base cabinets and sink on the 

south wall appear to have been added when the 

rooms were combined after World War II. The 

wall cabinets, which are different from the base 

cabinets, were probably installed at a later date.

Miscellaneous: The cast- iron pump mounted to 

the cabinets on the south wall may have been 

installed when the rooms were combined or it 

may be an earlier fixture reused at its present 

location. It was made by Sanders Co., Inc., of 

Elizabeth City, NC.

Room 105

Created after World War II, probably in the 

1970s, this bathroom occupies the western end 

of the house’s original central hall.

Floor: Flooring is the original 5”- wide boards 

found in the hall.

Walls: The wall that was constructed to partition this space from the central hall is composed of plain, 3- 1/4”- wide, tongue- and- groove 

boards attached at the floor and the ceiling 

without an internal frame.

Ceiling: The ceiling is finished with the same 3” 

tongue- and- groove boards used on the hall 

ceiling.

Figure 22 View east showing 

Room 104, now combined with 

Room 103. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002

Figure 23 View west in second 

floor hall. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002)
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Figure 24 View south in Room 

201. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2001)

Figure 25 View of wallpapercovered paneling on north wall 

of Room 201. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 

2002)

Door: The door opening here is 2’- 0” by 6’- 0” 

and the door is a modern, two- panel wooden 

door, contemporaneous with creation of the 

bathroom.

Window: A small, single- sash, wooden, awning 

window, 2’- 6” wide by 1’- 9” high, fills what 

was the upper portion of the original back door 

to the house.

Fixtures: The fixtures include a standard, modern, porcelain toilet and wall- hung lavatory. 

The toilet is dated 30 October 1979.

Room 200

This hallway was created when the second 

floor was partitioned, probably around 1900. It 

is approximately 6- 1/2’ wide, making it about a 

foot wider than the hall on the first floor. Part 

of the south wall toward the front of the house 

was removed, probably when repairs were 

made to the roof.

Floor: Flooring is 3- 1/2” tongue- and- groove 

boards. The difference between this and the 5” 

flooring used on the first floor is an indication 

that the attic was not finished originally.

Walls: Walls are created by 4- 3/8” doublebeaded, tongue- and- groove boards, unframed 

but mounted to nailers at floor and ceiling.

Ceiling: Ceiling is finished with a mixture of 3-

1/2” and 4” plain tongue- and- groove boards.

Trim: A mixture of 1” quarter round, base cap, 

and cove molding is used as trim in this space.
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Miscellaneous: The balustrade around the stairwell has the same bannister used on the stairs 

themselves. The balusters are also the same, 1” 

square, set on 4- 1/4” to 4- 1/2” centers. However, the balustrade has been removed from the 

end and from the south side of the stairwell.

Room 201

This room, which was created around 1900, 

measures about 10’- 2” by 13’- 6”. It is flanked by 

closets (the only ones in the house historically) 

on the east and west.

The door opening to the rear closet is 1’- 10” by 

4’- 3” with the door constructed of 2- 1/2”, double- beaded, tongue- and- groove boards. The 

door to the front closet is about the same size 

but made up of 4- 1/2”, double- beaded, tongueand- groove boards.

Windows: There are two window openings on 

the south wall. Both are 2’- 4” by 3’- 10”, originally fitted with six- over- six sash. Sash are 

missing from the west window but may be 

those that are now stored in Room 202.

Trim: The room appears to have been trimmed 

with 2- 1/4” modled base cap at the ceiling but 

much of it is now missing.

Miscellaneous: The closets were originally paneled with tongue- and- groove boards. These 

are now missing from the ceiling, knee wall, 

and north wall of the front closet.

Figure 26 View west in Room 

202. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

Figure 27 View south in Room 

202. (NPS-SERO-CRS, 2002)

Room 202

This room measures 21’- 10” by 13’- 9”.

Floor: Flooring is typical 3- 1/2” tongue- andgroove.
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Walls and Ceiling: Walls and ceiling appear to 

have been originally finished like those in 

Room 201. Paneling on the ceiling and knee

walls is entirely missing. Plain, 3- 1/2”, tongueand- groove boards remain on the north wall. 

Typical double- beaded boards form the south 

wall.

Doors: The door opening from the hall measures 2’- 2- 1/4” by 6’. There is no door.

Windows: There are two window openings on 

the south wall. Both are 2’- 4” by 3’- 10”, originally fitted with six- over- six sash. The upper 

sash in the east window is missing.

Miscellaneous: There is a stove- pipe flue built 

into the east side of the chimney, but a stove 

may never have been installed.
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104 101

103

100

102

N

105

201

202

200

FIRST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR
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PART 2 TREATMENT & USE

Treatment and Use

Dating to around 1887, the George Dixon House is one of the oldest structures remaining in the village of Portsmouth. Dixon and 

his wife had deep roots on the island with parents and grandparents who were pilots and mariners before the demise of the port 

forced their own generation out to sea as fishermen. They raised 

five children in the house in the 1890s and early 1900s, two or 

three of whom continued to live there until 1939. One of the 

Dixon’s children, Elma Dixon, and one of their grandchildren, 

Marion Babb, were the last residents of Portsmouth in 1971.

Remodeled for seasonal use around 1952, the house lost much of 

its historic character at that time. It has been vacant for over ten 

years and suffered a significant amount of deterioration from water penetration and termite infestation.

This section of the historic structure report describes a plan for 

treatment of the Dixon House that is meant to preserve the historic building while returning it to a useful condition. The fol-
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lowing sections outline issues surrounding use 

of the building as well as legal requirements and 

other mandates that circumscribe its treatment. 

These are followed by an evaluation of the various treatment options—preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration—before describing in 

more detail the treatment recommendations.

Ultimate Treatment and Use

The authorizing legislation (Public Law 89-

366) for Cape Lookout National Seashore 

mandated the park’s establishment for the purpose of preserving “for public use and enjoyment an area in the State of North Carolina 

possessing outstanding natural and recreational values.” However, by the time the seashore was actually established in 1976, the 

area’s cultural resources at Portsmouth and at 

the Cape Lookout Light Station were also recognized.

The village and the surrounding 250 acres are 

listed on the National Register of Historic 

Places and, according to the nomination, are 

significant as the only historic village complex 

on the Outer Banks south of Ocracoke Inlet.31 

Although the existence of the village can be 

traced back to the 1760's, the nomination form 

states:

Today the charm and significance of the area is in 

the informal placement of the complexes on high 

ground in the typical low salt marsh outer banks 

vegetation. These individual sites are connected 

by narrow, winding, grassy roads or lanes. This 

site relationship is very characteristic of early 

coastal villages.

The general management plan (GMP) developed for the park by the Denver Service Center 

in 1982 states that one of the park’s management objectives is “[t]o preserve intact, as feasible, the historic resources of the national 

seashore and to recognized that dynamic natural forces have influenced them throughout 

their existence and will continue to influence 

them.”32 The GMP envisioned interpretation 

of the park’s cultural resources that would 

“emphasize man and his relation to the sea” 

with maritime history a focus at the lighthouse 

and the cultural and economic life of the Outer 

Bankers at Portsmouth Village.”33 

Three points from the 1982 GMP are particulalry relevant to treatment decisions on the 

buildings at Portsmouth.

• The 1982 plan “perpetuates the present 

level of use and development of Core 

Banks/Portsmouth Island. . . .”34

• Pointing out the resources’ state level of 

significance, the 1982 plan meant “to preserve intact, as feasible, the historic 

resources of the national seashore and to 

recognize that dynamic natural forces have 

influenced them through their existence 

and will continue to influence them.”35

31. The assemblage of houses near Cape 

Lookout itself apparently never functioned as a village in the same way as 

Portsmouth.

32.Cape Lookout GMP, p. 4.

33.Ibid.

34.GMP, p. iii.

35.Ibid., p. 4.
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• “As appropriate, some structures may be 

perpetuated through adaptive use. Contemporary public and/or administrative 

rights will be allowed with necessary modifications. The qualities that qualified these 

resources for listing on the National Register of Historic Places will be perpetuated to 

the extent practicable."36

Use: In keeping with these parameters, the historic residential use of the Dixon House should 

be resumed through rehabilitation and longterm lease or special- use permit, as is presently 

the case with a number of the historic structures at Portsmouth.

Treatment: In the early 1980s, the park proposed razing the Dixon House, the Ed Styron 

House, and others at Portsmouth if they could 

not be leased. More recently, the park has 

sought to preserve these and the other buildings that remain in Portsmouth, realizing that 

continued attrition of historic structures would 

soon result in loss of the village itself. The objective of the management staff of Cape Lookout National Seashore is to preserve as many of 

the serviceable structures in Portsmouth Village as possible to enhance and facilitate visitor 

appreciation and understanding of the cultural 

history of Portsmouth Village.

It is the belief of park management that such 

preservation can be effected through a combination of National Park Service investment, 

private contributions in the form of long- term 

and binding leases of village historic structures, 

and possibly through other private contributions from universities, etc. who may want to 

maintain a given historic structure as a public 

service. Until the early 1980s, the Dixon House 

was leased as a temporary lodge for hunters 

and fishermen under a special use permit. With 

major repairs, the house could again be useful 

in that capacity.

With major exterior restoration, the house’s 

historical significance could be more effectively 

interpreted; but because of the unfortunate interior alterations in the 1950s, interior restoration may not be justified. Nevertheless, the 

mere presence of the house upon the Portsmouth landscape is critical, given the loss of 

historic structures that has occurred over the 

last thirty years.

Requirements for Treatment and Use

The Dixon House is in poor repair with significant damage already done to the historic building. It remains an important feature on the 

landscape at Portsmouth, but in its current 

condition, it is both unsightly and unsafe. At a 

minimum, those conditions must be corrected.

Legal mandates and policy directives circumscribe treatment of the Dixon House. The 

NPS's Cultural Resources Management 

Guideline (DO- 28) requires planning for the 

protection of cultural resources "whether or 

not they relate to the specific authorizing legislation or interpretive programs of the parks in 

which they lie." Therefore, the house should 

be understood in its own cultural context and 

36. managed in light of its own values so that it may Ibid., p. 35.
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be preserved unimpaired for the enjoyment of 

present and future generations.

Modern building codes and accessibility issues 

are a major factor in designing repairs and often 

require significant changes to historic buildings. Major intervention into the structure will 

be necessary to correct structural problems, 

but with the absence of historic siding, the existing exterior finishes can be easily removed to 

facilitate those repairs. Since there are no plans 

for visitor access to the house in the foreseeable future, compliance with ADA is not a factor in considering present treatment of the 

building beyond what is necessary to ensure a 

stable structure. Should the building be 

opened to the public, code- related issues 

should be re- evaluated, especially those relating loading and maximum occupancy.

To help guide compliance with the statutes and 

regulations noted above, the Secretary of the 

Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties have been issued along with 

guidelines for applying those standards. Standards are included for each of the four separate 

but interrelated approaches to the treatment of 

historic buildings: preservation, rehabilitation, 

restoration, and reconstruction. These approaches define a hierarchy that implies an increasing amount of intervention into the 

historic building. Rehabilitation, in particular, 

allows for a variety of alterations and even additions to accommodate modern use of the 

structure. However, a key principle embodied 

in the Standards is that changes be reversible, 

i.e., that alterations, additions, or other modifications be designed and constructed in such a 

way that they can be removed or reversed in the 

future without the loss of existing historic materials, features or characters.

The key to the success of any historic preservation project is good judgment in determining 

where replacement of a deteriorated building 

element is necessary. Deterioration in a portion of an element should not necessitate total 

replacement of the element, since epoxy consolidants and fillers can repair the damaged 

area, often without even removing the damaged 

element to make the repair. While total replacement of a damaged element is often recommended, especially in rehabilitation 

projects, the success of most preservation 

projects can be judged by the amount of historic material that remains. Even "replacement 

in kind" does not typically address natural 

processes that give the historic materials an 

aged appearance that is only possible with the 

passage of time.

Alternatives for Treatment and Use

The four main approaches to treatment of historic buildings- - preservation, rehabilitation, 

restoration, and reconstruction- - require increasingly more aggressive levels of intervention into the existing building. Since the 

authenticity of the historical artifact (i.e., the 

building) decreases as more and more intervention is needed, several issues must be addressed in order to arrive at an approach that 

requires the minimum amount of intervention 

into the historic fabric of the building while 

achieving the desired goal.
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The first of these issues is the relative historical 

importance of the building, which is included 

as a contributing building in the National Register district at Portsmouth. As one of the oldest houses remaining in the village and with the 

family’s deep roots on the island, the Dixon 

House is one of the village’s more important 

historic structures. Through it, much of the 

village’s history through the nineteenth and 

twentieth centuries can be interpreted.

In addition to interpretive considerations, a 

second set of issues to be considered in determining a treatment for the house surrounds the 

building's physical condition. The Dixon 

House has lost many of its distinctive materials 

and features and some of the interior spaces 

have been altered. Deterioration is widespread 

and extensive repair and replacement of materials will be required. Unfortunately, the nature 

of the building's present exterior finishes make 

a simple preservation approach to treatment 

difficult at best. The asphalt siding which replaced (not just covered up) the historic siding 

after World War II is itself now missing from 

most of the northeast and southwest ends of 

the house. Additional damage can be expected 

as repairs are made to the building’s framing 

and exterior sheathing. A suitable substitute for 

the asphalt siding is no longer manufactured, 

which necessitates installation of an entirely 

new siding system or, alternatively, using unpatterned asphalt roofing as a substitute for areas where the original asphalt siding is missing 

or damaged.

However, given the park's treatment of the 

other buildings on the site, which is based on 

the National Register's definition of the village's historic period of significance as 1890-

1930,37 preservation of the asphalt siding is not 

recommended. Rather, restoration of the exterior of the Dixon House to its appearance during the historic period is recommended.

A restoration goal is complicated, however, by 

the loss of the kitchen wing in 1939. If further 

research shows that the “summer kitchen” at 

the McWilliams- Dixon House is the old 

kitchen from the George Dixon House, it might 

be possible to return it to its original site or to 

reconstruct a replica. A cursory examination of 

the McWilliams- Dixon summer kitchen revealed no evidence of the structure’s having 

once been a part of the George Dixon House. 

A careful study of the interior and exterior of 

the summer kitchen as well as a careful examination of the framing of the house when the 

ashpalt siding and wood sheathing are removed 

may provide evidence of the summer kitchen’s 

attachment to the house. If the kitchen cannot 

be identified, then treatment options are more 

limited at the Dixon House. Archaeology 

might be useful in determination of the 

kitchen’s dimensions and, in either case, could 

be useful in determining the kitchen’s exact relationship to the main house.

Alternatively, the exterior of the main house 

could be restored while interpreting the missing kitchen through signage or other means. 

37. Sarah Olson, Historic Resource Study, 

Portsmouth Village, Cape Lookout 

National Seashore, North Carolina

(NPS, Denver Service Center, 1982), p. 

6, gives dates of 1890-1920 [sic] for 

the interpretive period for the village.
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Certainly that would be the most viable alternative in the short term.

Interior finishes are mostly intact, except for 

some water damage and lost material on the 

second floor. Repairs would be straightforward; but, since many finishes date to the postwar renovation of the house, preservation of 

the existing interior would be of little interpretive value. Unfortunately, there is little documentation to support recreation of the original 

interiors nor is there an obvious interpretive 

value to doing so unless the park intended to 

open the house to the public. Because so little 

of the house’s historic interior remains intact, 

the park might be better served by a simple rehabilitative approach to treatment of the interior.
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Recommendations 

for Treatment & 

Use

The recommended approach to treatment of the Dixon House is 

restoration of the exterior of the existing house to its appearance 

prior to its remodeling in the early 1950s. The interior should be 

simply rehabilitated, being careful to preserve the surviving historic finishes (which are few). The house could be leased under a 

special use permit without compromising the integrity of the historic structure.

Site

In addition to the missing kitchen, a privy and other outbuildings 

were associated with the house. Archaeological investigation 

could probably locate some of these features and also provide 

documentation for Patsy Dixon’s store that once stood across the 

road.

• Plan program of archaeological investigation of the entire 

site (approximately one acre).

Foundation

The existing foundation for the house consists of wooden piers 

sunk to some indeterminant depth. At least one of the piers be-
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neath the beam that runs through the center of 

the house has failed, which has allowed the 

partial collapse of the sill in that location. The 

piers across the front of the house appear to be 

in relatively good condition; the remainder 

need to be checked individually for deterioration and repaired or replaced as necessary. After repairs to the buidling’s framing, piers that 

have been added to stabilize deteriorating 

members might be removed in order to restore 

the original pier configuration. This appears to 

have included five piers across the front and 

rear (including corner piers), four across each 

end (including corner piers), and three or four 

through the middle of the house.

• Repair/replace piers as necessary, 

seeking to restore original pier configuration.

Structure

The structure of the building has suffered significant termite damage. Since all of the existing exterior siding and sheathing will need to 

be removed in order to restore the original finishes (see below), the building’s wall framing 

will be exposed and can be inspected and repaired as necessary.

In addition to the collapsing center sill, which 

must be repaired, if not replaced, the sill on the 

southeast side of the house is structured incorrectly and must be replaced as well. Portions of 

the sills on the opposite end and rear of the 

house will also need repairs. Once sill repairs 

are made, broken or damaged floor joists can 

be repaired. Exposure of the wall framing will 

also allow close inspection of and, if necessary, 

improvements in the connections of the studs 

to the sills and top plates.

• Replace sill at southeast end of house 

and collapsing sill running through 

center of the house; repair other sills as 

necessary; raise and level building 

structure.

• "Sister" new floor joists to broken 

joists.

• Inspect stud connections to sills and 

plates and repair as needed.

Roofing

Roof framing was completely repaired and the 

existing wood- shingle roofing installed in recent years. Both are in excellent condition.

Doors

The two existing exterior doors are replacements of the original doors, and the character 

of the original doors cannot be documented at 

this time. While the existing doors could be 

preserved, because of their obviously- modern 

character and the fact that they are contemporaneous with the asphalt siding (c. 1953), both 

doors should be replaced with one of the doors 

shown in Figue 1. Due to the frequent high 

winds in the area, many houses had solid, paneled exterior doors, and a reproduction of the 

four- panel doors on the interior of the house 

would be an appropriate replacement for the 

existing door. However, if oral tradition is correct, the Dixons’ house was once a “show-
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place” in Portsmouth, and it is quite possible 

that they installed a door with lights rather than 

solid panels. It is unlikely that they would have 

used one of the Queen Anne doors glazed with 

colored glass that were so popular after 1890.

In order to restore the building’s historic fenestration, the back door should be returned to its 

original location at the end of the central hall. 

The half bath at that end of the hall should be 

removed and a full bath installed elsewhere in 

the house (see below). By the end of World 

War I, there was a door on the northwest side of 

Room 102, but it was replaced by the existing 

window in the 1950s. The window should be 

returned to its original location (see below) and 

the door opening to the back porch restored, 

using four- panel door similar to the ones recommended for the other exterior door.

• Replace front door with four- panel 

door similar to those that remain on 

the interior.

• Replace window on northwest side of 

Room 102 with a four- panel door, similar to the other exterior doors.

• Remove and close existing back door.

• Restore original back door opening, 

using typical four- panel door.

Windows

Alterations will be necessary to windows if the 

exterior of the house is to be restored. The pair 

of post- WWII windows on the southwest wall 

of Room 103 should be eliminated and the original single window opening, which matched the

Figure 28 Two typical exterior 

doors in the last quarter of the 

nineteenth century. (from The 

Elements of Style.)

others on the first floor, should be restored. 

The sash now located on the porch side of 

Room 102 was probably taken from this location and, with restoration of a door in that location, could be returned to its original location.

If the kitchen wing is restored or reconstructed, 

the window on the northeast side of Room 102 

should be closed. Otherwise the existing window should be repaired. The remainder of the 

window sash must also be repaired. Two or 

three sash may require complete replacement.

Restoration of the exterior would also include 

reinstatement of louvered shutters at all the 

first floor windows. A few of the original shutters remain in the attic and can be restored; 
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new shutters matching these can replace those 

that are missing entirely.

However, if the building is to be returned to a 

residential use, screens will be necessary at all 

windows. Since the louvered shutters cannot 

be used if the present wood- framed screens (c. 

1952) are in place, the wood- framed screens 

should be replaced with modern metal framed 

“half- screens” that are designed to be placed 

within the interior sash track as needed.

• Remove existing windows in Room 103 

and replace with original window now 

in Room 102.

• Repair all existing sash, replacing those 

that are missing or too badly damaged 

to repair.

• Restore and reinstall louvered shutters.

• Close window on northeast side of 

Room 102 if kitchen wing is reinstated.

• Install aluminum- framed half screens.

Porches

The floor framing and decking of the back 

porch will require complete replacement. If the 

kitchen wing is reinstated, the porch should be 

extended across the front (northwest) side of 

the kitchen.

• Reconstruct rear porch deck, replicating existing decking and using wooden 

piers similar to those used under the 

main body of the house.

Exterior Finishes

The nature of the original siding on the house is 

not certain, but lap siding appears to have been 

used originally. The re- use of old clapboards as 

flush- laid sheathing under asphalt siding was a 

common occurrence and appears to have occurred at the Dixon House in the early 1950s. 

While the asphalt brick is now considered an 

historic building material, it and the wood 

sheathing are in poor condition, and since installation of the asphalt siding occurred outside 

Portsmouth’s period of historical significance, 

restoration of the original wood siding is recommended. At least one entire panel of the asphalt siding should be preserved in the park’s 

permanent collection.

A careful analysis of the existing exterior 

sheathing will allow identification of original 

siding. Some boards will retain enough paint 

residue to confirm the color of exterior woodwork, which was probably always white.

In addition, some interior woodwork appears 

to have been re- used as sheathing, and examples of these materials, some of which should 

still retain historic paints, should be preserved 

in the park’s architectural study collection as an 

aid to any future attempts to restore the house’s 

historic interiors.

• Remove existing asphalt siding, preserving at least one complete panel in 

the park’s permanent collection.

• Identify original 1” by 8” siding material, and re- install all sound material as 
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lapped siding, replacing missing material as necessary.

• Paint siding and trim as dictated by 

careful analysis of surviving finishes.

Interior

Funds are not currently available for any treatment of the interior of the house. When funding is available, repairs to the existing tongueand- groove walls, ceilings, and floors will be 

necessary. Although the house’s historic interior finishes could be restored (minus the mantle in Room 101, for which there is no 

documentation), the proposed modern residential use of the house does not warrant the 

expense of full restoration, especially since the 

interiors will not be interpreted. Complete 

analysis of the painted finishes on the surviving 

historic interior paneling and those on the interior finishes that were re- used as exterior 

sheathing might provide adequate information 

to support a future restoration.

The present kitchen sink, cabinets and counter 

should be removed from Room 103/104, which 

would allow reconstruction of the wall that historically separated the two spaces. If that wall 

is rebuilt, the same plain tongue- and- groove 

boards now present in the two rooms should 

be used to finish it. If the existing paneling 

were replaced with the original double- beaded 

tongue- and- groove, the beaded material 

should also be used on this wall.

A modern kitchen should be installed in Room 

102. Not only will a back door be present in 

that room, it is also located beneath the area on 

the second floor where installation of a full 

bath is proposed, making installation of plumbing more efficient.

The existing half bath is not adequate for the 

proposed use and should be replaced by a full 

bath elsewhere, since the current location will 

not accommodate a full bath. The half bath 

could be maintained but that would leave a 

1950s window opening instead of the historic 

back door and the house’s exterior fenestration 

unrestored.

Installation of a new bath on the second floor 

will require construction of new walls in Room 

202, with the bath using the existing door opening into the room. A new door will be necessary 

into the reduced Room 202. Installation of 

plumbing lines should avoid alterations to the 

ceiling below in Room 102, since that is the last 

of the original beaded, tongue- and- groove ceilings in the house that remains intact. This may 

require raising parts of the bathroom floor to 

accommodate waste traps and creation of a 

“wet wall” for waste lines around the southwest 

corner of Room 102.

Ceilings should be reinstated where they are 

missing in Room 202 on the second floor, using 

plain tongue- and- groove paneling. Areas of 

damaged woodwork in Room 201 should be repaired, matching the existing material wherever 

possible. Care should be taken to preserve as 

much of the surviving wallpaper as possible. If 

it is deemed necessary to paint the room, samples of the wallpaper must be retrieved and archived in the park’s permanent collection. 

Missing walls at the northeast (front) end of the 
Recommendations for Treatment & Use

SERO

National Park Service

50

center hall (Room 200) should also be reconstructed, matching existing material in that 

space.

Although the house appears never to have had 

an electrical system, one will have to be installed if the house is to be used for residential 

purposes. Plumbing supply and waste lines 

should also be replaced. Central heat is not 

recommended but the electrical system should 

be designed to accomodate space heaters or 

electric baseboard heaters.

• Preserve existing interior finishes, 

especially the original double- beaded 

tongue- and- groove boards that have 

survived.

• Remove existing bathroom.

• Install new bathroom in Room 202, 

avoiding alterations to the ceiling in 

Room 102.

• Install modern kitchen in Room 102.

• Rebuild wall between Rooms 103 and 

104.

• Reconstruct ceiling in Room 202.

• Reconstruct missing walls and ceiling 

at front (east) end of center hall.

• Repair finishes in Room 201, preserving as much of the historic wallpaper as 

possible.

• Install modern electrical and plumbing systems.
PART 2 TREATMENT AND USE

HSR

Geoge Dixon House

http://crs.sero.nps.gov/historic/hsr/malu/e_summary.htm

51

Figure 29 Proposed plan for 

treatment and use. (T. Jones, 

SERO-CR, 2003)

104 101

103

100

102

N

201

202

200

Note 2

Note 3

Note 6

Note 4

Note 5

Note 1

Note 7

105

Note 8

Note

1. Replace front door 

with reproduction of 

an historic design.

2. Remove existing 

window and replace with window from west side of Room 

102.

3. Close exisiting 

door opening.4. Move existing 

window to opening in 

Room 103; install 

reproduction door 

similar to that used at 

front door.

5. Remove kitchen 

from Room 103 and 

install new kitchen in 

this room.

6. Reconstruct 

missing wall.

7. Reconstruct 

missing wall.

8. Partition west side 

of Room 202 and 

install bathroom.
Recommendations for Treatment & Use

SERO

National Park Service

52
HSR

George Dixon House

http://crs.sero.nps.gov/historic/hsr/malu/e_summary.htm

53

REFERENCE

Sources of 

Information

Atwell, Amy Elizabeth. "Cape Lookout National Seashore, 

Historical District of Portsmouth Village. Unpublished 

manuscript, 1991.

Berry, Merlin S. History of Northeastern North Carolina Storms. 

<http://www.rootsweb.com/~nchyde/

HURRICANE.HTM> (28 November 2002).

Burke, Kenneth E. "The History of Portsmouth, North Carolina, 

From Its Founding in 1753 to its Evacuation in the Face of 

Federal Forces in 1861." Unpublished undergraduate 

thesis, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, 1958. 

Revised 1974, 1976.

Carteret County, North Carolina. Records of Superior Court, 

Deeds & Mortgages, Births, Marriages, Deaths.

Cloud, Ellen Fulcher. Portsmouth, The Way It Was. Vol 3. 

Havelock, NC: The Print Shop, 1996.
National Park Service

SERO

National Park Service

54

Ehrenhard, John E. "Cape Lookout National 

Seashore: Assessment of 

Archeological and Historical 

Resources." SEAC, 1976.

Holland, F. Ross. A Survey History of Cape 

Lookout National Seashore. 

Department of History, Office of 

Archeology and Historic Preservation, 

National Park Service, 1968.

Olson, Sarah. "Historic Resource Study, 

Portsmouth Village, Cape Lookout 

National Seashore, North Carolina." 

NPS- DSC, 1982.

Salter, Ben B. Portsmouth Island, Short Stores 

and History. 1972 (no publ. info)

United States of America. Federal Census, 

1790- 1920.

Van Beck, Sara L. "Cape Lookout National 

Seashore, Archives and Records 

Management Review." NPS- SERO, 

2000.
As the nation’s principal conservation 

agency, the Department of the Interior has 

responsibility for most of our nationally owned 

public lands and natural resources. This includes 

fostering sound use of our land and water 

resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and 

biological diversity; preserving the 

environmental and cultural values of our 

national parks and historical places; and 

providing for the enjoyment of life through 

outdoor recreation. The department assesses our 

energy and mineral resources and works to 

ensure that their development is in the best 

interests of all our people by encouraging 

stewardship and citizen participation in their 

care. The department also has a major 

responsibility for American Indian reservation 

communities and for people who live in island 

territories under U.S. administration.

NPS D- 433 January 1997