The Carolina's Surf City Pier......A Historic Fishing Icon

Just up the coast from Carolina Beach, passing through Wrightsville Beach, NC you get to the small beach town of Surf City, NC on Topsail Island. Unlike a lot of beach communities, Surf City is a bit different. It’s a place where the things that we recall from our younger days have not been forgotten. Things like quiet walks on an uncrowded beach and enjoying a cool breeze on the porch of the cottages available for rent. It’s a place where families have returned to for generations and probably will continue to do so in the years to come.

The focal point of Surf City is the Surf City Pier. With countless piers along the Atlantic coast, Surf City Pier is special. What makes it special is the people and the pier’s history. Originally built just after WWII, the pier was primarily constructed of steel. However, in 1974, it was nearly destroyed by a Thanksgiving nor’easter. It was rebuilt the following year but was again destroyed in 1996 by Hurricane Fran. It was rebuilt once more and remains in service today.

Now you have to understand that the Surf City Pier is not just a fishing pier. It’s many things to many people. It’s a place to fish and a place where people gather to enjoy each other and have good conversations about the events of the day and solve the problems of the world (or at least have their opinions on it). It’s where many folks take a casual walk on the pier some mornings to enjoy the new day and watch the sun come up. The early fishermen will be there preparing their bait and tackle signaling the start of another fishing day. They will stop in the Surf City Pier Grill for a hot cup of coffee as they pass through. The scene repeats itself as folks, after a long day at work, make their way to the pier to enjoy the breeze and the setting sun, forgetting the day’s troubles. Some are young and some are old, but they are all there for the same thing. At the end of the day, having enjoyed the Surf City Pier.

The pier is the fishing home to anglers from all over the eastern United States. Every summer they come, as many have for years. It’s where they started their love of fishing at this pier as a child and brought their children as they grew, who now bring their children. They come to a pier that’s built like most other piers of its kind, but few fishing piers have the character and sense of belonging. It’s a place where people can walk over every day to fish. Others drive hundreds of miles from their homes to spend the week in a cozy bungalow and fish from the Surf City Pier. And they do year after year after year, and all for the same reason.