A romantic whim evolves into an improbable landmark and a beloved destination along the North Carolina Coast
Nearly half a century ago, a simple mailbox miraculously appeared amid the dunes of Bird Island. On a long-ago summer’s day, Frank Nesmith and Claudia Sailor came up with a crazy scheme to place an old-fashioned metal mailbox on a deserted stretch of beach just to see what might happened. A plain spiral ring notebook and a ball-point pen were placed inside with an invitation for anyone who happened upon their creation to share his or her thoughts and read the musings of others. They called it the “Mailbox of the Kindred Spirit.” Needless to say, only a few souls found their way to the Mailbox to leave messages that first season.
At the time in the late 1970s, Bird Island was separated from the established town of Sunset Beach by Mad Inlet. Back then, a trip to the Mailbox was always an adventure. With the daily ebb and flow of the tides, beachgoers needed to plan their trip to coincide to be able wade through the inlet at low tide. If one dawdled, one could find yourself in chest-deep currents.
No matter the obstacles along the journey, the destination was always worth it. Although easy to miss perched amid the dunes unless you were looking, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox started garnering a few more visitors every year. When a tree trunk washed ashore, it ended up as resting place for weary visitors. The first official bench was crafted of lumber that washed up after Hurricane Hugo.
By the early 1990s shifting sands closed Mad Inlet which made Sunset Beach and Bird Island a continuous stretch of beach. The journey was definitely easier, but it could take a year for one or two journals to be filled up. But thanks to word of mouth and media coverage, the Kindred Spirit Mailbox was becoming a local legend and a beloved landmark. Now in the summer, a journal might be filled up completely in a day.
There’s no question that Sunset Beach and the world in general have changed dramatically over the years. Much of the mailbox’s enduring appeal is the old-fashioned satisfaction of putting down a private thought on paper. Or maybe, it’s the fact that in this age of social media those who write in its journals can remain as anonymous as they’d want to be. While some people include a full name with a hometown, most leave no name or sign off with an initial or simply a doodle.
Those who make the pilgrimage once to the Mailbox often return time and again. Some people come to celebrate a marriage proposal, beating cancer or other happy events, while other return to commemorate a loved one’s death. Whatever the reason or the season, a heart-felt epistle is left in the journal for delivery to the Kindred Spirit. Although some entries revolve on grief and loss, there a multitude of message of joy, hope, faith, grace, and of course, love.
Both of the co-founders of the Kindred Spirit Mailbox have passed away, but in recent years a few wonderful volunteers continue to make sure the Kindred Spirit lives on. Blank notebooks are regularly placed in the Mailbox and signed journals are delivered to UNC Wilmington, where they are held in the Williams Madison Randall Library archives.
Directions:
The Kindred Spirit Mailbox is approximately 1.7 miles from Gazebo / Pier Parking area and 1.4 miles from 40th Street access. To reach the Mailbox, get on the beach on turn right and start walking to the west. The Mailbox and its two benches are a few hundred yards past sign in the dunes marking the Bird Island Nature Trail. If you get to the jetty, you’ve gone about half a mile too far.
