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Burke Bridgers Brings Hawaiian Surfing to Wrightsville Beach
Surfing on the East Coast got its start in a small North Carolina beach town back in 1909.
Burke Haywood Bridgers, a local from Wrightsville Beach, read an article about Hawaiian surfing in Collier’s Weekly and thought, “Why not here?” He soon built boards from juniper wood, the same stuff used in local boats. That summer, Bridgers and his friends took their creations to the waves.
They even held a contest at Lumina Pavilion on Labor Day where only the lightest boys could stand up on the boards. When Bridgers wrote to Hawaii for tips, his letter became the first proof of East Coast surfing…