Portsmouth, a small village on a remote island, was chartered by North Carolina's colonial legislature in 1733 to serve coastal trade and for more than two years was one of the most important ports on the East Coast. From the late 1700s until the Civil War, it was also one of the most important lightering ports on the eastern seaboard, where goods from Europe were transferred from larger vessels to smaller boats called lighters for the final trip to the mainland because the sound was too shallow for deep-draft shipping. The Civil War and the opening of other inlets on the Carolina coast reduced Portsmouth's importance, and although the town continued as a small fishing port, it finally died when the last two villagers left in 1971.