According to numerous accounts, surfing's foundations on the East Coast can be traced as far back as 1912. Surfing Magazine, a leader in the surf publishing industy, posits that in 1912, "East coast surfing officially begins with "Wave shooting" contest in Virginia Beach, using canoes and dories; that same year, VB's James Jordon receives a Hawaiian board as a gift and makes newspapers. Summer: Duke bodysurfs Steel Pier -- better late than never."¹

Returning from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Duke Kahanamoku visited the eastern seaboard - showcasing his surfing and swimming talents in New Jersey.² For many, this was considered the birth of modern surfing on the east coast. In 1916, “Duke again went to the east coast of the United States of America and this time not only put on demonstrations of swimming, but also of surfing at Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in Nassau County, Long Island, New York."³

By the mid 1920's, surfing could be found in small pockets up and down the east coast. Some of the earliest forms of surfing were seen at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina around this time. John Metts, now 87 years old, remembers spending his summers either body surfing or shaping and riding 3-4 foot belly boards in a prone position (seen below) in Wrightsville's surf. Metts says, "we didn't call it ‘surfing' back then. We said we were going to 'ride the waves' or go 'wave riding'."⁴

Canoe Racing, Wrightsville Beach, 1910.


These pictures are for educational purposes only and are courtesy of: Block, Susan Taylor. Cape Fear Beaches. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2000.



Katherine Meier posing with surfboard, 1937.

"Riding the Surf, Wrightsville Beach, NC."
Postcard courtesy of the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History.