Discover Sealevel: Maritime History and Down East

Sealevel and the Routes Through Down East

Sealevel is one of the ten Down East villages along Highway 70. The town’s history is closely connected to fishing and transportation routes. The communities of Down East, including Sea Level, were historically accessible only by water. Built in the 1920s and 1930s, Highway 70 connects these communities. Waterways and roads thus mark distinct periods in the region’s development.

The landscape also places Sealevel within Down East: it more closely resembles the islands of Ocracoke and Portsmouth than other landscapes in the county. The Outer Banks Scenic Byway runs just outside the village. Distinct from it is the section of U.S. 70 that runs through Down East. It is designated a North Carolina Scenic Byway and offers expansive views of working waterfronts, wind-swept marshlands, and historic fishing villages. When planning your route, you can distinguish the Outer Banks Scenic Byway’s immediate route from the regional landscape along U.S. 70.

Fishing and Processing

In the 1930 census, most men in Sea Level made their living by fishing. The 111 households were fishing households; the exceptions mentioned included a few seafood dealers, truck farmers, and freight-boat captains. Fishing was therefore not just a single occupation but shaped everyday life in the village at the time.

Valentine and Maltby Taylor’s oyster cannery operated from about 1910 to 1930; it has since been demolished. Between 75 and 100 employees worked at the cannery to preserve “Core Sound Brand Oysters.” The scale illustrates the extent of processing in Sea Level at the time. Another business, The T.A. Taylor & Sons Seafood, packed and shipped soft-shell crabs.

The buildings associated with the fishing industry are also part of the town’s history. In 1937, The T.A. Taylor & Sons Seafood built a timber-frame building at Nelson Bay in Sea Level. Around 1960, Monroe Taylor built a fish house at the mouth of Cedar Creek on Styron Bay. Sea Level was also a center for sharpie boatbuilding. Together, these examples represent different waterfront activities: seafood processing and shipping, fish-house construction, and boatbuilding.

Homes and the Village’s Origins

The peninsula from which the village of Sea Level grew was the Nelson family plantation. Its building history includes two distinct homes: in 1912, Maltby Taylor had a stylish I-house built in Sea Level. Around 1945, Almeta Taylor had a Tudor Revival-style cottage built there for herself. The dates place these buildings in different decades and complement the history of local fishing with the development of residential architecture.

Waterways and Road Connections

The ferry’s history is also part of getting your bearings in Sea Level. In 1959, the Taylor Brothers of Sea Level established a car and passenger ferry to Ocracoke. The state bought the ferry in 1964. A separate road connection is NC Highway 12, which runs from Sea Level to the ferry at Cedar Island. If you include a ferry trip in your travel plans, check the current schedule in advance.

If you’re looking for hotels in Sealevel, the town’s history offers several distinct themes: the former fishing industry, oyster and crab processing, boatbuilding and fish-house construction, and the history of residential architecture. Road and ferry connections add the development of routes through Down East to this local history.

Discover more destinations: Morehead City, Indian Beach, Harkers Island, Emerald Isle, Newport, Cape Carteret, Beaufort, Atlantic Beach

For the broader travel overview: Carteret County.