The Civil War was yet another blow as many people fled to the mainland when Union soldiers came to occupy the Outer Banks.

Many didn't return after the war had ended and the Village of Portsmouth continued its decline, sped along by the occasional hurricane.

The last two elderly residents, Marian Gray Babb and Nora Dixon, left the island in 1971 after the death of Henry Pigott, who although approximately the same age was essentially their caretaker.

The state never built a separate school for Blacks, so African Americans who remained on the island in its declining years never received the benefits of a formal education.

[7] Of these the Salter House/visitor center, the one-room school, the Methodist Church, the Life-Saving Station, Henry Pigott's house and the Post Office/general store are open to the public during the summer.

Facilities are very limited with a compost toilet near the Life-Saving Station and a restroom in the Salter house/visitors center, with no potable water, food, or electricity available.

The homecoming began as a church- and family-based event but has become increasingly a secular celebration of Portsmouth's heritage, under the aegis of the National Park Service.

[9] Portsmouth Island lies to the east of North Core Banks, to which it is connected at most states of the tide.

The plant hardiness zone in Portsmouth is 8b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 17.5 °F (-8.1 °C).