Scarp was still home to more than 200 people in the 1880s, all crofting and fishing for a living, but the population fell through the twentieth century as families left for Harris and beyond. The school closed in 1967 and the post office the following year; the last family left the island on 2 December 1971.
In 1934 the German engineer Gerhard Zucker tried to fire mail by rocket across the sound that separates Scarp from Harris, launching from a beach on the island with 1,200 letters aboard and special stamps printed for the occasion. The rocket exploded on launch and scattered the letters across the sand; the surviving covers are now collectors’ items.
Boat trips run from West Loch Tarbert, on Harris, taking about an hour to reach Scarp and landing on a beach at the north end; kayaks and charter boats also cross from Hushinish, the closest point on Harris. Ruined croft houses still stand around the old village, facing Hushinish across the water.
