The Hooper Brothers of Salvo

This week I am on vacation with my family in one of my favorite places in the world, the Outer Banks North Carolina. So I thought I would test my photojournalism skills a little and give you a small exposé of my wanderings.

Anyone who knows me knows that it’s rare for me to meet a stranger. Wherever I go, I love meeting the locals and finding out what life is like on a day-to-day basis.

Yesterday, as Ellie and I were driving down to Buxton to pick up a mess of “apple uglies” for the gang (I’ll write about that later), something caught my eye. In all my years of coming down to the Banks I don’t think I’ve ever noticed it before - the old Salvo N.C. Post Office.

So today while we were out, I just had to stop - and boy were we in for a treat. Stepping out of my car I was greeted by one of the friendliest men I’ve ever met, Bill Hooper. A spry, talkative man of 79, Bill grew up in the banks just “right across the road there, where that bench is” he said pointing. “Used to be a two story house where my brother and I grew up.” At this point, Bill’s older brother Ed chimed in, “We moved across the street here on August the 12^th and on August the 14^th I turned 14.” Parenthetically Bill told me, “We’re the last surviving members of our immediate family.”

Ignoring my mild protests, Bill called for Ed soon after we arrived, saying “I don’t have the key on me but if you want to see the inside I’ll go get my brother - he was the postmaster.” Ed, who is now in his 80’s, lives with Bill in their family home just a few yards behind the smallest Post Office I have ever seen. “It tied for first place,” the Hooper brothers told me proudly. “There’s one down in Ochopee [FL] that’s about the same size. They have a smaller perimeter but the work space inside here is a little smaller.”

“Wait ‘till I’m in my position!” Ed hollered at me as I snapped a few shots of him in front of the building. “I sit up on the railing.” Ed, obviously an old pro at posing for pictures, talked to me about his old post. Built in 1910 the building is only about 8x13 feet, with two rooms on the inside. “We use it now for storage. You know, everyone needs a place to put things and when you have empty space…” Bill said laughing. Pulling out a handful of old skeleton keys, Ed singled out the one modern looking key on the ring (a little disappointing) and popped the door open to the old post office. “This door comes from an old ship,” he told me, patting it with the palm of his hand.

Bill wasn’t kidding when he said he used the old place to store all his things, but standing amidst the piles of old chairs, books, and boxes, including one filled with the old metal doors that were used for the post office boxes, my wife and I quickly got the idea of how it used to run. The room is split in half by a wall with a door in it. Ed proudly took his position in the doorway. “I use to sit right here and this is where I worked.” Smaller then most people’s closets, this little building served the community of Salvo from 1910 until it was retired in 1992.

“I think this fall when it gets a little cooler, I’m going to replace the roof and give it a paint job.” Bill told me as we walked back to my car. “If y‘all are ever around again stop by and we’ll sit and have a cup of coffee, or maybe iced tea.” He cocked his hand up to his mouth as if he was going to tell me a secret. “We don’t drink anything stronger than coffee here and if it’s hot like today, it’ll probably be sweet tea,” he said smiling.

So if you’re ever on highway 12, driving south through the Outer Banks, stop in at the old post office in Salvo and say “hello” to the Hooper bothers. You’ll be glad you did.