Secrets by the Sea

Tucked among the white sand dunes on Bird Island, a lone mailbox has held secrets of the heart for almost 50 years. People have trekked from around the globe to visit the Kindred Spirit Mailbox and share their innermost feelings on the worn journals that lie within.

The late Frank Nesmith with the mailbox he put up almost 50 years ago. Photo courtesy of Lynn Nesmith.

Growing up near Sunset Beach, Lynn Nesmith barely remembers when her father Frank Nesmith put up the mailbox.

“It was just another one of his fun ventures that we didn’t think much about at the time,” she says. “Dad and his friend, Claudia Sailor, thought it would be a good, quiet place for people to come to just sit and reflect, maybe write down their thoughts, because it was so peaceful and remote. They put a journal inside and left the box open to see what would happen.”

In the first few years, no one was keeping count, but maybe a dozen people visited, mostly locals who heard about it from other neighbors.

But soon, things picked up, even though the nearest place to park was more than a mile away.

“There were no signs, and you had to wade through Mad Inlet,” she says. “I went down there the other day, and about 10 or so people were standing around waiting for their turn to journal. It’s not like that every day, but particularly in the spring and summer, it’s pretty busy.”

During the high season, a notebook can be filled in a day or two.

“We’re all kindred spirits, and the reflections people have shared here are proof that it’s never a waste of time to be on this earth.”

“People have been respectful of a lone mailbox filled with writings from strangers from around the world,” she says. “They pick up a journal and sometimes just stare off for a bit, or they may flip through a few pages before adding their own thoughts, a few pages or just a word or two.”

She’s seen notes from couples who came to Bird Island to become engaged by the mailbox. Notes from someone whose spouse has died, parents who have lost children, individuals seeking hope for relief from hard times are punctuated by happy messages about the birth of a child, finding a soul mate or expressing gratitude for a friend or mentor.

For nearly half a century, Kindred Spirit mailbox has remained stalwart, through hurricanes, high winds, rising tides and shifting sands. Although the first metal mailbox has been replaced more than a dozen times, and the placement of the mailbox has changed on the whims of Mother Nature, the sturdy wooden mount is original.

Photo courtesy of NC’s Brunswick Islands

“In the early days, the mailbox often washed away during hurricanes,” Lynn says. “It took some searching along the beach, but we always found the old post amid the dunes of Bird Island.”

Lynn now lives in Seagrove, Florida. A few Sunset Beach locals maintain the two benches and the mailbox and retrieve journals that are filled.

“Until Daddy was 90 years old, he walked or rode his three-wheel bike to Bird Island almost every day,” Lynn says.

Frank passed away in July 2020 at the age of 93. Lynn returns to Sunset Beach every few months to keep connected to her father’s legacy, often reflecting on her childhood and lessons about the stars, the wonders of nature and the influence her father had in her life. She remembers that on one of his last visits to Bird Island, he explained how they came up with the concept of the Kindred Spirit saying: “We’re all kindred spirits, and the reflections people have shared here are proof that it’s never a waste of time to be on this earth.”

“Daddy had no idea what he was doing when he planted that first mailbox on a deserted stretch of sand,” Lynn says. “It’s been a gift for anyone who has been here or will come here. It’s a powerful place.”