Pea Island's Bridge to Nowhere.

Pea Island's Bridge to Nowhere.

The bridge that seemingly goes nowhere at mile marker 34 on Pea Island was actually part of two bridges built in the 1930s at the height of the nation's Great Depression. They were constructed after a hurricane opened two inlets across the remote island. Although there were no paved highways on the Outer Banks at the time, a few hardy souls paid to have their gasoline powered trucks and cars ferried from the mainland. Once on the Outer Banks they drove up and down the beaches along the surf line. The two new inlets created a natural barrier to these hardy off road drivers. A careful study of the problem at the time revealed the inlets were too narrow and shallow for a ferry crossing. Instead, it was decided two wooden bridges should be built across the channels. The northern bridge (pictured) is the better preserved of the two. All that remains of the southern bridge are pilings. Soon after the bridges were built, nature closed the inlets making the bridges obsolete, just another reminder of the unstable nature of the Outer Banks,

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