#TBT: A solution to segregated beaches

OCEAN CITY BEACH, NC (WWAY) — This TBT we’re looking at a local beach town that made sure everyone could have fun in the sun back in the days when segregation kept some folks from enjoying our beach communities.

Ocean City Beach on Topsail Island was created by a white Wilmington attorney named Edgar Yow, who wanted a place where African American families could own beach houses just like white families. He shared the idea with a client of his, a a black Wilmington physician named Dr. Samuel Gray. Gray did think he could devote enough time to the project, so he got some of his friends on board and each bought a tract of land on the island.

One of those investors, Wade Chestnut, came up with the name Ocean City and in 1949 Chestnut and his wife bought the first home there.

The community included a number of homes, a motel, a chapel, camp dormitory and dining hall.