Rodanthe and its historic district were once a small community centered on Rodanthe Harbor, with a fish house, a lifesaving station, a school, a store, a church, and homes stretching a mile south along a ridge from the present Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, and this remained Rodanthe until the 1940s. Across the street stand the 1911 and 1874 Chicamacomico U.S. Life-Saving Stations, among the most complete U.S. Life-Saving Stations still standing. For generations, members of Outer Banks families served here in the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard between 1874 and 1954, while families also depended on fishing and hunting. Rodanthe Harbor, also called the creek, Black Mar Gut, or The Landing, is still used by watermen and today serves as the Hatteras Island emergency transit access site. In earlier years, schooners and later the Hattie Creef shad boat carried passengers, U.S. mail, and seafood trade from the harbor's docks. Historic homes remain in Rodanthe, including the John Alle Midgett Sr. home built in 1890, the 1908 Cornelius P. Midgett house on the station grounds, and the Levene W. Midgett Foursquare house built around 1925. The former Rodanthe School is now the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community building, which hosts the annual Old Christmas Celebration in January, a community holiday tradition lasting more than 200 years. Rodanthe was originally called Chicamacomico, an Algonquin Native American word meaning sinking down sand.