AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW of OREGON INLET by Wilson Angley •

AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF OREGON INLET by Wilson Angley •

AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF OREGON INLET

by Wilson Angley • 10 January 1985

Research Branch • North Carolina Division of Archives and rlistory • Oregon Inlet, the northernmost inlet on the coast of North Carolina, is located between the lower end of Bodie Island and the upper end of Pea Island. Actually, neither of the "islands" separated by Oregon Inlet is properly designated as an island at the present time. Bodie Island is now the southern extremity of a generally unbroken stretch of barrier beach and coastline extending northward to Cape Henry, Virginia; while Pea Island is a continuous portion of the much larger Hatteras Island. Oregon Inlet is located approximately fifty-eight miles south of the Virginia state line and about forty-four miles northeast of Hatteras Inlet. It lies about four miles south of Roanoke Island and provides the principal link between that historic island and the Atlant ic Ocean. With the exception of occasional washovers, Oregon Inlet is the only source of oceanic waters for the vast sounds and estuarine systems of • northeastern North Carolina.1 Documentary and cartographic evidence indicate that one or more inlets have been in continuous existence in the general vicinity of Oregon Inlet since at least the 1580s and the time of the Roanoke Voyages. The John \\fhite maps of 1585 show two inlets in the area: Port Ferdinanda (Hatarask) and the unidentified Port Lane nearby. 2 Port Ferdinanda, the more important of the two, was located just north of the present Oregon Inlet and was named for the Portuguese pilot, Simon Fernandez . Probably this opening through the Outer Banks was discovered during the first of the Roanoke Voyages , that of 1584 under the command of Philip Armadas and Arthur Barlow. After locating this inlet, just south of Roanoke Island, Armadas and Barlow took possession of Hatteras (then Hatarask) Island and • established contact with local Indians. During their stay of several 2

weeks, the two Englishmen also conducted preliminary investigations of the nearby banks and sounds before turning their two small vessels • 3 homeward. At the time of the Roanoke Voyages, Port Ferdinando '"as , in fact, two neighboring inlets, separated only by a small island covered by vegetation. It was the upper and less important of the two inlets which came to be known as Port Lane, named for Ralph Lane. During the second and subsequent Roanoke Voyages , Port Ferdinanda served as the principal source of men and supplies for the ill-fated Engli sh colony on Roanoke Island.4 In the sunnner of 1585 Englishmen returned to the North Carolina Outer Banks on an expedition led by Sir Richard Grenville. Again, Si mon Fernandez served as pilot. It '.vas during this expedition that the first colonists were planted on Roanoke Island, and that a rather extensi ve reconnaissance was conducted of the sounds and rivers of the central and • northern coastal region, Throughout much of this activity, Port Ferdinanda served as an important base of operations. In late July perhaps as many as nine vessels were rende·zvoused there. Indeed, it seems probable that discussions with local Indians at Port Ferdinando led to the choosing of the upper end of nearby Roanoke Island as the place of attempted settlement. To supply this settlement and to provide necessary services, a slipway and other facilities were built just inside the inlet mouth at Port Ferdinanda. Grenville departed for England in September of 1585, leaving the first of the Roanoke colonists under Ralph Lane ' s command .5 On 9 June 1586 Sir Francis Drake ' s fleet arrived at Port Ferdinando.

Drake immediately established contact w,tth the ~ co lonists on Roanoke Island, who had been there for just under a year. Because of the inadequacy of • the haroor at Port Ferdinanda, Drake was obliged to anchor his larger 3

vessels well offshore. On 13 June, however , a vi olent storm struck the

area, scattering these larger vessels and wrecking many small boats and • 16th that Drake' s reduced f l eet was able pinnances. It was not until the to reassemble. On t he 18th or 19th of June Lane and his discouraged

colonists departed for England with Drake, not knowing that Si r Richard Grenville would arrive only a fe\v days later with the supplies they had so desperately needed. Upon his arrival, Grenville searched briefly for 6 the recently departed colonists, and then set his own sails for England.

On 22 July of the follmving year another group of colonists arrived

at Port Ferdinando, following a voyage of seventy-six days. Their leader was John White. It was initially intended that Whit e ' s party would proceed northward to the more promising Chesapeake Bay area; but Simon Fernandez evidently persuaded White that settlement should again be attempted on Roanoke Island. When White departed for England during the foll owing • month, he left behind the group which would come to be known as the "Lost Colony." Due to a series of misadventures and unfortunate cirClUTl.Stances, there was to be no further English contact with Port Ferdinando or Roanoke 7 Isl and until 1590.

During the intervening period, however , the area was visited by the Spanish, who discovered at Port Ferdinando the renmants of facil ities which the Engl ish had earlier established t here. From 1584 to 1588 Spanish officials received scattered and rather vague reports concerning an Engl ish

colony somewhere al ong the Atlantic coastline; and in the st.nrDller of 1588 the Governor of Florida sent out an expedition under Captain Vicente Gonzalez

in an attempt to determine its location. Sailing southward, after a futile search in the Chesapeake Bay area, Gonzalez was forced by fort une and foul • weather t o enter Port Ferdinanda, where he soon located evidence of a 4

previous Engl ish presence: Her e fortune favored him, as he had by chance arrived • at Port Ferdinando, one of the two inlets leading through the Banks to Roanoke Island. He soon discovered traces of the colonists, a slipv~ay for small vessels, and some barrels sunk in the sand to catch water.8 "Observing that the Sound stretched far to the nort hwest," however, Gonzalez made no attempt to investigate further. Prestnnably, the Spanish continued to believe that the English settlement was located el sewhere.9 The last of the Roanoke Voyages set sail in 1590 under the command of John White . After three years, it was hoped that the colonists on Roanoke

Island would still be found there in reasonably good conditi on. As events unfolded, however , little trace was found of the hapless colonists and , of course, their fate is still unknown. Moreover , White encountered tragedy at Port Ferdinando even before reaching the mysteriously abandoned settlement on Roanoke Island. On 17 August two small boats set out for Roanoke • Island from the two much larger vessels which White had anchored wel l off shore. While attempting to cross the inlet bar in heavy seas one of the boats was overturned, drowning Captain Edward Spicer and six members of his crew. Following this incident, it was only with difficulty that White ' s men were persuaded to continue onward to Roanoke Isl and. Continued foul weather and heavy seas also cut short White ' s efforts to investigate the colonists' fate after their disappearance was discovered.10 Permanent white settl ement of the Oregon Inlet area began nearly a century and a half after the failure to plant a colony on Roanoke Island.

In the 1720s Bodie Island was granted to Mathew Midgett, who soon established his residence there. Truly an island at this time, Bodi e Island was approximately nine and a half miles long, extending from Roanoke • Inl et on the north to Dugg Creek or Inlet to the sout h. ~fidgett l ived 5

on the island for several years, dying in 1734. Apparently, one or more of his descendants were still living on the island when the present • 11 Oregon Inlet was opened in 1846 . Throughout the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, inlets in the same general area as the present Oregon Inlet were referred to as Gunt or Gant Inlet, and as Dugg Inlet. The modem inlet's predecessor closed at some point between 1795 and 1808, however, and until 1846 the nearest opening through the barrier beach was New Inlet, several miles to the south. Indeed, the MacRae-Brazier Map of 1833 indicates that, at that time , New Inlet was the only inlet along the entire coast of North Carolina north of Cape Hatteras .12 The creation of the present Oregon Inlet in 1846 occurred during a violent storm on the 7th of September. A well-informed account of the event was recorded by C. 0. Boutelle, who happened to be on Bodie • Island in connection with his work as assistant superintendent of the u.s. Coast Survey. It is of interest to note that the power ful workings of nature were·. witnessed· by a probable descendant a£ Mathew Midgett, the ori ginal owner of the island:

On the morning of the September gale the sound waters were all piled up to the southwest, from the effects of the heavy northeast blow of the previous days . The weather was clear, nearly calm, until about 11 A.M. , when a sudden squall came from the southwest, and the waters carne upon the beach with such fury that Mr . Midgett, within three quarters of a mile of his house when the storm began, was unable to reach it until four in the afternoon. He sat upon his horse on a small sand knoll, for five hours, and witnessed the destruction of his property and (as he then supposed) of his family also, without the power to move a foot to their rescue, and, for two hours, expecting every moment t o be swept to sea himself. The force of the water corning in so suddenly, and having a head of two to three feet, broke through the small portion of sea beach which had formed since the • March gale, and created the inlets. They were insig- 6

nificant at first--not more than 20 feet wide--and the northern one much the deepest and widest. In the westerly winds which prevailed in September, the current from the sotmd gradually widened them; and then in the October gale, • they became about as wide as they are now. The northern one has since been gradually filling, and is nmv a mere hole at the low water ... [but the southern one] between high water marks , measured on the line, i~ 202 yards [wide , and] between lmv water marks , 107 yards. It 'vas initially predicted that the newly created Oregon Inlet would soon close, as had the small inlet just to the north; instead, however , it expanded rather steadily through the next several years to become a significant artery of trade and transportation. It is said that Oregon Inlet was named for the first vessel to pass through it--the small, side wheeled steamer Oregon, owned by one William H. Willard.14 In 1848 the first of three Bodie Island lighthouses was constructed in the vicinity of the recently fonned Oregon Inlet. Located on the inlet's south side, the 56 1/2 foot structure was completed at a cost of • $12 ,000 . Within a decade, however, it had fallen into a state of dis repair and was no longer serviceable. In 1859 it was replaced by a new and larger structure costing $25 ,000. Standing ninety feet tall, its light could be seen from a distance of fifteen 1niles. Like its predecessor, it stood on the south side of the inlet. As events 1.mfol:ded, the second lighthouse was also to operate for a brief period. During the Civil War it would be destroyed by Confederate troops; and when the time came several years later to build the third and present Bodie Island Lighthouse, a site would be chosen north of Oregon Inlet.15 Notwithstanding its gradual expansion and the construction of lighthouses to mark its location, Oregon Inlet remained a relatively minor artery of trade and transportation in the 1850s. Its importance was not • nearly so great as that of Hatteras Inlet to the south, which had been 7

opened by the same st orm in September of 1846. Characteri zed by a shal low • bar and tortuous channels, Oregon Inlet was used only by vessels which drafted relatively little \vater. When examined by Lieutenant D. P. Woodbury of the Corps of Engineers in 1853 , it was reported to be nearly dry at low water. With all its limitations, however , it nevertheless provided a convenient and direct link bet\Veen the Atlantic Ocean and the 16 widely scattered trading centers of the old Albemarle region. When the Civil War connnenced, only three fortifications were available to the Confederacy along the entire coast of North Carol ina: Fort Macon at Beaufort Inlet, and Forts Johnston and Caswell near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The Outer Banks area was virtually defenseless . To alleviate this situati on, forts were quickly thrown up at each of the principal inlets. Fort Ocracoke or Fort Morgan was built on Beacon Island, just inside Ocracoke Inlet; Forts Hatteras and Clark were begun on the • eastern side of Hatteras Inlet; and Fort Oregon was constructed on the south side of Oregon Inlet, between the inlet and the recently completed Bodie Island Lighthouse. A second line of defense for the Albemarle Sound 17 area was provided by the placement of fortifications on Roanoke Island. Fort Oregon existed for only a brief period before being abandoned by its Confederate defenders. Following the fall of Forts Hatteras and Clark in August of 1861, and the fall of Fort Ocracoke during the foll owing month, the troops stationed at Fort Oregon fled precipitously southward in what was later referred to as "The Chicamacomico Races." Prior to their flight, however , the men paused long enough to destroy the Bodie Island Lighthouse nearby. Even prior to Fort Oregon's virtual abandorunent, many of the troops formerl y stationed there had apparently repositioned them • selves on Roanoke Island.18 8

In October of 1861 a Union naval commander recorded a brief descrip • tion of the nearly deserted Fort Oregon, the site of which has long since been claimed by the soutln.,rard migration of Oregon Inlet:

On the extreme north point of Pea Island, on the point forming the south side of Oregon Inlet, quite an extensive fort has been thrown up--! should judge about 500 feet in diameter, with a magazine in the center. From the masthead we counted nine emqrasures , t'l'io facing to protect the bulkhead channel and the others the inlet and to seaward. Owing to the thick, rainy weather I could not discover whether there were any guns mounted or not. There appeared to be two houses and several tents inside the fort; only about eight or ten men were seen. The lighthouse has been destroyed.l9 In the late summer and early fall of 1861 there were recurring proposals to block the shallow and rather unstable channel through Oregon 20 Inlet by sinking one or more stone-laden schooners . Reports indicated that there were six or seven feet of water on the bar, and that schooners were using the inlet to help supply the Confederate war effort. After • considerable delay, difficulty, and disagreement, obstructions were placed in the channel at Ocracoke Inlet, but there is no indication 21 that the proposals to block Oregon Inlet were ever carried out. Early in 1862 Roanoke Island fell to Union forces under the command of General Ambrose E. Burnside. Their passage through the Outer Banks had occurred at Hatteras rather than Oregon Inlet, because of the clear superiority of the former . The victory at Roanoke Island, together with the earlier seizures of key inlets, brought the central and upper portions 22 of the North Carolina coast under Union control for the duration of the War . In 1870, five years after the Civil War ended , the Church brothers of Rhode Island established an early menhaden factory at Oregon Inlet. It was initially planned that a steamer be employed at the facility. The • plant operated for only two years, however, largely because of the 9

difficulties encountered by fishing vessels in passing through the inlet • and because of the unexpectedly low yield of menhaden from the sounds. 23 In November of 1871 work was begun on the present Bodie Island Lighthouse--the third such structure to be built in the vicinity of Oregon Inlet. Already it was clear that the inlet was migrating to the south; and by 1871 it had advanced to within 400 yards of the lighthouse which had been destroyed by retreating Confederate troops some ten years earlier. For the new lighthouse, a site was chosen on the inlet's north side. The present 150 foot structure was completed in October of 1872, at a cost of $140,000. Its beacon is visible from a distance of nineteen miles. 24 Soon after the lighthouse construction, it was proposed that Oregon Inlet be improved to provide a more dependable and safe passage to vessels engaged in the coasting trade. A survey in 1873 , however, concluded that permanent improvement of the inlet could only be achieved at a cost total- • ly incorrmensu~at_e with anticipated benef its. Both the inlet and its interior channels (particularly Old House Channel) were found to be unstable and treacherous. Moreover, it was clear that the problems of improving the inlet would be cornpm.mded by its continual movement to the south. These discouraging findings were reported by Assistant Engineer George H. Elliott to his commanding officer, Colonel William P. Craighil l : Colonel: I have the honor to submit [my] report on the examination of the Old-House Channel, Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. • . • This channel is situated in the northeastern extremity of Pamlico Sound, adjacent to Oregon Inlet, which is its outlet to the ocean. . • . Vessels entering the inlet, and bound up or down the sound , must pass through this channel, as nearly the whole of the sound in this vicinity consists of sand-flats, of tvhich a large portion are dry at low water, and as there is now a depth of but 4 feet on the bulk-head • at high-water, the channel is but little used by 10

coasting vessels. Oregon, the most northern inlet south of Cape Henry, is a breach made by the ocean through the narrow beach during a very severe storm • in 1847 ·[sic, 1846], when the tide rose, as peopl e living there then and now say, 10 feet above ordinary high-water, and carried away nearly everything moveable. It is shifting in character • . • [and] has moved southward since 1849 some three-eights of a mile •. The channel out is crooked, and the depth of water variable, averaging from 8 to 9 feet on the bar at ordinary high-tide • ... The advantages to be gained by the improvement of this channel and the inlet are, avoiding the diffi cult and dangerous navigation of Cape Hatteras and vicinity by all coasting-vessels entering Pamlico and in the case of those bound north of Hatteras Inlet for Roanoke Island, Albemarle Sound, or any of the rivers entering into it and the northern portion of Pamlico, a saving of time and distance, as at present they have to run down to Hatteras, sixty miles south of Oregon, and then return the same distance up the sound; whereas, were they able to pass in at Oregon and through Old-House Channel, they would be at the extreme north of Pamlico, and in a nearly central position with regard to all points of that and Albemarle Sotmds . Notwithstanding these advantages, I do not think them , at the present time , at all commensurate with the expense of such an uncertain undertaking as this • improvement would be, especially as nearly the whole trade of the Albemarle, and that of a large portion of Pamlico Sound, is now carried on through the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, at freight rates which compare favorably with those of other portions of the South •. . . 25 It was in the 1870s , also, that two lifesaving stations \vere established in the vicinity of Oregon Inlet by the United States Life- saving Service. The first of these, originally called the "Bodie' s Island Station," was south of Oregon Inlet and was one of the first of

such facilities to be built an~ihere on the North Carolina coast. In 1878 the second station was established, to the north of Oregon Inlet, and it was initially called "Torrnny's. HLumnock. " Later, however, the original "Bodie's Island Station" was renamed "Oregon Inlet Station," • and ''Tonurry' s Hurrnnock'' assumed the name ''Bodie Island.'' The Bodie 11

Island Station remains in service today north of Oregon Inlet, but the • inlet's southward migration has long since obliterated the site of the station established in 1874. Indeed, the inlet has now advanced to within half a mile of the relocated station.26

In 1882 Oregon Inlet and Old House Channel were again examined with the view of improving navigation for vessels engaged in the coasting trade. Contrary to earlier predictions, the inlet had broadened and deepened somewhat during the previous decade; but its inexorable migration southward and its changeable nature were still seen as impediments to its lasting improvement. Moreover, it is apparent that at least one steamboat had come to grief in attempting to navigate its treacherous channel: Oregon Inlet connects the ocean with the waters of Pamlico Sound to the eastward of the southern end of Roanoke Island. In its present condition it allows vessels drawing 9 feet to enter at low water and those drawing 11 feet at high water. The entrance is well marked by the breakers on the bar and the beach when a moderate sea prevails . • . . The width of the channel • between the breakers is about 500 yards. The channel at this time skirts the southern point of the inlet fol lowing a line parallel to the beach, and enters the deep water in a direction nearly southeast, a little to the south of the life-saving station which is very near the site of the old light-house which formerly stood to the south of the inlet. After entering the inlet a vessel strikes the Old house channel, which for about a mile carries more water than there is on the bar, and which affords a harbor of limited extent to vessels which may lie in it. At the inner end of the Old-house cl1annel lies the Bulkhead shoal over which there is only about 5 feet of water, and the channel through this ''bulkhead'' or "swas~' is extremely crooked. The bottom within and without, and through the inlet, is composed of shifting sands, which move continually under the action of lYaVes and currents ••.• The channel over the outer bar is more constant in its character, but is liable to change in depth and direction at any storm. The local pilot informs me that at one time last winter there was a depth of • 14 feet at low water for some time, 12

The latest available Coast Survey chart shows the condition of the inlet in 1873, at which date the channel skirted the northern point and opened almost due north, •• wi~ a least depth on the bar of 6 1/2 feet. An old steamboat-boiler which remains from a wreck in or near this old channel is now about one-third of a mile to the north of the present channel. The extremely unstable nature of the bar, and the great extent, very small depth, and constant shifting of the shoals within would render any attempt at improve ment at a small expense entirely futile, and would cause any improvement promising pennanence to be enormously expensive.27 For many years following the 1882 survey, little or no consideration would be given by the federal government to attempting. lasting ·impro:v.e. ments .at Oregon Inlet. Mention has already been made of the fact that Oregon Inlet had migrated continually southward since its creation in 1846. In time, this migration process claimed the former sites of Fort Oregon, the first two Bodie Island lighthouses, and the lifesaving station established south of • the inlet in 1874. From 1849 to 1909 the inlet moved nearly a mile south- lvard. During this same period there was an appreci able erosion of the beach westward or shoreward on both sides of the inlet. Despite these changes, however, it is significant to note that both the width and depth of the inlet increased markedly, although the depth was subject to rapid fluctuations. Controlling depths on the bar ranged between a low of 5 1/2

feet in 1862 to a high of 15 feet in 1909. During this same span of years the inlet' s width increased by some 900 feet to 2,500 feet or nearly half a mile. 28 In 1910 and 1911 the federal government improved facilities for the fishing vessels at Manteo by dredging a channel six feet deep and 100 feet wi de in Manteo (or Shall owbag) Bay from its entrance to the town wharves . • Several years later, Congress failed to act upon a recoJTUilendation by the 13

Corps of Engineers for additional improvements at Manteo, but maintenance • dredging of the original project was carried out in 1916, 1929, and 1934. In 1927 a study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of providing a channel six feet deep and 150 feet wide from Manteo southward through Roanoke Sound to the main channel in Pamlico Sound. It was determined, however, that the desired improvement was an impractical one, and the proJec. t was not und· ertak en. 29 In 1923 Oregon Inlet 1vas reported to have a width of about 2,300 feet, a slight decrease of about 200 feet since 1909. As in the past, it was also observed to be making "very slow general progress southward."30 A decade later conditions for navigation through the inlet were generally adequate. It continued, though, to be subject to rapid changes , and the connecting channels through the sounds still presented difficulties: [Oregon Inlet] is not a navigable waterway for deep- draft vessels . A minimum depth of about 15 feet can be found from deeP Water in the ocean to inside the • entrance, thence 8 feet to a point 3 1/2 miles inside in the sound where the depths begin to shoal rapidly to 2 or 3 feet. • . • While the history of this inlet shows it to be a persistent and fairly stable phenomenon, its locationt and also its configuration, change quite rapidly .•• . jl Additional steps were taken in 1940-1941 to improve navigation benveen Oregon Inlet and Manteo. These measures included the dredging of a channel 100 feet wide and six feet deep from Manteo through Roanoke and Pamlico sounds to the inlet, a distance of approximately thirteen miles. The inlet channel, at this time, was reported to vary between six and thirty feet in depth and between 700 and 1,050 feet in width. It was anticipated that the proposed improvements would stimulate growth in the commercial and sports fishing based at Manteo and improve the area's trade in general • • Total commerce between Manteo and Oregon Inlet had reportedly amounted to 14

6,400 tons in 1937, with the bulk of this conunerce consisting of seafood, • coal, petroleum products, and packaged freight. It was also estimated that local boats made between 5,000 and 15,000 trips annually between Roanoke Island and Oregon Inlet. 32 During the years following World War II, it was proposed that the channels through Oregon Inlet, and between the inlet and Manteo , be deepened still further. In addition, it was requested that a channel be provided to the mouth of Mill Creek near Wanchese. Local interests con tended that these improvements would stimulate further growth in the fishing industry, increase salinity in the sounds , and provide a badly needed pl ace of refuge for deep-sea trawlers fishing along the Outer Banks .

It was reported that twenty-three such trawlers had required assistance from the Coast Guard during the previous fishing season alone, and "that the masters of the majority of the boats involved declared that they could • have reached Oregon Inlet without assistance had the inlet channel been deep enough."33

In the course of studying these proposed improvements, considerable infonnation was gathered concerning Oregon Inlet and its connecting channels. The following detailed observations were among those recorded by the Corps of Engineers: Oregon Inlet, N.C. , cOimects Parnlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean through the barrier beach which separates a number of shallow sounds, bays, and estuaries from the ocean. The inlet is about 1 mile wide. The channels from Parnlico and Roanoke Sounds merge to form a gorge through the inlet. In May 194 7 the controlling depth in the gorge was 11. 5 feet between beach points, but the gorge channel is generally from 12 to over 20 feet deep. The bar channel, about 2,000 feet long, had a controlling depth of 7.1 feet. . . . A portion of the waterway from Norfolk, Va . to the sounds of North Carolina •. . passes through Croatan Sound [to the west of Roanoke Island] where • the channel has been dredged to a depth of 12 feet and a 15

width of 200 feet. . . . Old House Channel with a con trolling depth of 3 feet and Davis Slough with a control ling depth of 3.4 feet extend southwesterly from Oregon • Inlet to deep water in Pamlico Sound. The improvement authorized by Congress for Manteo Bay . • • provides for a channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water from that depth in Roanoke Sound to the town of Manteo , about 2. 6 miles; and for a cmmecting channel of the same dimensions extending south through Roanoke and Pamlico Sounds to Oregon Inlet, about 11 miles.34

It was estimated that fully three-quarters of Dare County (about 291 square miles) was commercially dependent on Oregon Inlet and its connecting channels.35 The project authorized by Congress in 1950 called for a channel four teen feet deep and 400 feet wide through the ocean bar at Oregon Inlet, with connecting channels twelve feet deep and 100 feet wide southwestward to Pamlico Sound and northward to the mouth of Mill Creek and onward to Manteo. 36 To insure stability of the Oregon Inlet channel, it was thought that lengthy rubblestone jetties might eventually be needed. Tentative • plans for the jetties at this time \vere based largely on those which had already been approved for use at Beaufort Inlet. Jetties on each side of the inlet would extend seaward at Oregon Inlet to about the fourteen-foot contour. The projected length of the north jetty was 6, 800 feet, while that of the south jetty was 4, 800. The seaward ends of the proposed jetties were envisioned as being roughly 3,000 feet apart. 37 Even at this ear.ly date, it was anticipated that the presence of jetties at Oregon inlet might bring about appreciable changes along the adjoining beaches, though it was expected that the effects inside the inlet would be negligible:

The proposed improvements would cause no changes in shore lines inside Oregon Inlet except those directly from dredging . The construction of jetties in the Atlantic Ocean at Oregon Inlet would probably affect the rate of erosion or accretion of the ocean shore • line north and south of the inlet.38 16

After a careful consideration of options, the Corps of Engineers deternrined that the proposed jetties would not be necessary, and that the desired improvements at Oregon Inlet could be achieved and maintained through dredging alone: The district engineer concludes that no plan of improvement requiring stabilization of the bar channel by jetties i~ . economically justified at this time. • • • The comparative stability of Oregon Inlet for the past 17 years or more and the present condition of the bar and gorge indi cate that, without jetties, the channel through the offsho.re bar could be maintained by a small seagoing hopper dredge at justified annual cost. 39 In time, this optimistic assessment of the ease with which the Oregon Inlet channel could be maintained would prove to be \voefully inaccurate. Specified dimensions for the project authorized in 1950 were finally achieved a decade later through extensive use of the hopper dredge Hyde . It was subsequently found, however, that the Hyde alone was inadequate • to maintain the completed channel. In 1964 the sidecasting dredge Merrill was dispatched to assist the Hyde . Still l ater, the larger sidecasting dredge ·scnweizer was assigned to full-time duty at the site. Notwithstand- ing these intensive and prolonged dredging activities at Oregon Inlet, pro ject dimensions there were achieved and maintained only sporatical ly.40 Despite the continual dredging of Oregon Inlet throughout the 1950s and 1960s, complaints concerning the inlet seemed to mount in both frequency and intensity. Fishing boats and other vessels found passage through the inlet extremely difficult and hazardous . In December of 1959 grounded fishing vessels were blocking passage of the state' s car ferry across the inlet for as long as five hours. Indeed, it was already being proposed that a bridge be constructed across the inlet, so that the trouble-plagued, • overcrowded ferry could be taken out of operation. 41 17

Ferry service at Oregon Inlet had first been provided by Captain • Jack Nelson of Colington Island, who for a brief period in 1924 towed a small barge across the inlet behind his fishing boat. Nelson was fol

lowed by Captain Toby Tillet of Wanchese, who provided ferry service at Oregon Inlet for more than a quarter century. It was not until the early 1950s that Tillet sold out to the State of North Carolina, which began its own ferry service at the inlet with a converted Navy landing craft.42 In 1953 the southern portion of Bodie Island and nearly all of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands were embraced within the newly established Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Administered by the National Park Service, this area afforded more than seventy miles of unspoiled and protected beach to sportsmen, campers, and tourists. With the swelling volume of traffic drawn by this natural area, it became increasingly apparent that a bridge across Oregon Inlet would be essentia1.43 • By the spring of 1959 Ben Dixon ·MacNeill and other Dare County residents were strongly urging the construction of an Oregon Inlet bridge. The bridge project quickly gained the support of Congressman Herbert C. Bonner. Bonner observed that the existing state ferry service was not keeping pace with the increasing demand for transportation across the inlet, even though three ferries were in use at an annual cost to the state of some $200,000 .44 In August of 1961 Bonner introduced a bill in Congress calling for construction of the badly needed bridge. Financing was to come in equal shares from the state and federal govenunents.45 Before the end of the year, tentative plans for the bridge had already been formulated.

It was projected that the structure would be 2 1/2 miles long (12 1 864 feet) , that it would curve westerly over the inlet, and that it would be 28 feet • wide and elevated 65 feet above the water.46 18

The bridge was completed by the McLean Contracting Company of Baltimore • in 1964.47 It was finally decided that the structure would be named for Congressman Bonner, even though there was a feeling among some residents of Dare County that it should be named in honor of Toby Tillet, who for 48 more than twenty-five years had operated his Oregon Inlet ferry. During the year 1960 three accidents at Oregon Inlet claimed the lives

of seven people. 49 On 15 January 1961 the eighty-foot trawler Sarah J . ran aground on a shoal in Oregon Inlet while returning from thirteen days at sea. Salvaging efforts were carried out, but after two weeks of 50 fruitless activity the Sarah J. was finally given up for lost. By the end of April Oregon Inlet had been determined by the North Carolina Wild life Resources Commission to be the most dangerous location for boaters in the entire state. 51 In December of 1961 the ocean-going tug W. G. iownsend also came to grief in the treacherous inlet. 52 • In 1968 the dredge Hyde experienced considerable difficulty in Oregon Inlet, even as she labored to improve it. The~ had been dispatched on an emergency mission to open a channel sufficient for the passage seaward of the Dare County fishing fleet; but in the course of dredging she, her self, ran aground on one of several shoal areas. It was only with diffi culty that she was finally gotten off. At first it was thought that she had foundered on the lvreckage of the W. G. TmoJJlSend, the supersturcture of which was reported to be "often visable at lmv tide. " 53 Difficulties in navigating through the hazardous Oregon Inlet channel have persisted until the present; and, indeed, even the future safety of the inlet remains in doubt. In January of 1982 the severe shoaling caused by winter stonns effectively closed Oregon Inlet to all but the smallest • vessels. It was only through an emergency dredging operation that the 19

inlet was reopened after two weeks. 54 On 12 December of the same year the 89-foot tra\·.rler Lois Joyce ran aground in the inlet. Fortunately, the crew

• 5 By was rescued by helicopter, but the vessel was a total loss. 5 the end of the month the Corps of Engineers ordered dredging activities stepped up

at the inlet, Its depth had declined to a mere eight feet. 56 On 24 February 1983 no fewer than five boats ran aground in the inlet. The first of these was the fishing vessel ·natana R. The other four encountered difficulties while attempting to rescue the ·narana R. Following her onto the shoals of Oregon Inlet were two Coast Guard vessels, a dredge, and an ocean-going tug. Fortunately, all were subsequently floated free by the rising tide. 57 With the continuing failure to stabilize Oregon Inlet through dredging alone came repeated and increasingly vociferous calls for the construction of jetties, much like those originally considered in the late 1940s . In • 1968 Congressman Walter B. Jones lent his support to the jetty project and to the adoption of other measures to improve navigation through the inlet and its connecting channels. During January of the following year, soon

after his inauguration, Governor Robert W. Scott also promoted improve ments at Oregon Inlet, including construction of the jetties and the deepenllig of the channel across the ocean bar. 58 In 1970 Congress authorized a major modification of the existing Manteo (Shallowbag) Bay project, calling finally for the construction of rubblestone jetties and the deepening of the bar channel to twenty feet.

It was projected that each of the jetties '~ould be more than a mile long, and the estimated total cost of the project was put at $95 .4 million. The unstable character of the inlet and other complicating factors , however, • presented a formidable array of difficulties to those charged with designing 20

the jetties. For more than a decade little or nothing was done to • carry the jetty project into effect. In the meantime, opposition to the project from environmental groups was becoming increasingly per suasive, and in August of 1981 the United States Department of the Interior also set its face against the project. Both the environmentalists and the Department of the Interior argued that the jetties would be incompatible with the purposes of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and that serious erosion of the area' s beaches might result from their presence. The Department of the Interior was in a position under existing law to block the jetty project by denying pennits for use of the land on each side of the inlet where the jetties would be anchored. Finally, the Corps of Engineers was requested to reexamine alternative methods of securing a safe and navigable channel through Oregon Inlet without recourse to tue1:. controvers1a• 1 ]ett1es.. . 59 • The need for improved navigation through Oregon Inlet became increas ingly critical in the early 1980s because of the development at Wanchese of the North Carolina Seafood Industrial Park, a major processing facility which had been begun very largely on the assumption that the project

authorized in 1970 would soon be carried out. Moreover, commercial fishermen based at Wanchese and elsewhere on Roanoke Island had begun to invest in larger, more deeply drafted vessels in anticipation of improved navigation. With the continuing lack of these improvements, these new boats were encountering even more serious difficulties than their smaller predecessors. 5° In late March of 1982 it was reported that many frustrated fishermen were abandoning their home ports on • Roanoke Island to seek their fortunes elsewhere: 21

Increasing numbers of commercial f ishermen at Oregon Inlet are packing it in and heading for Florida and Virginia because they say it is becoming too hazard • ous to navigate in the inlet.61 Conditions for commercial fishermen in the Oregon Inlet area con tinued to deteriorate with little relief in sight. In mid-May of 1983 thestat e's $7.1 million seafood industrial park at Wanchese l ost its sole remaining tenant, the Wanchese Ship Lift Corporation. This firm had been established in 1981 to serve modern 100-foot fishing trawlers; but during the el even months prior to the closing i t had serviced only forty such vessels, far below the profit threshold. Earlier in the same week the Roanoke Island Steel and Boat Works , one of Dare County's largest employers, had announced that it would relocate to Beaufort because of the conditions at Oregon Inlet.62

As the stal emate continued with respect to the jetty project, so too did the political maneuvering on both the state and national levels to • bring about a resolution. Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. exercised the powers of his office to promote the jetty project, whil e in Washington the project

was supported by Congressman Walter B. Jones and by senators Jesse A. Helms

and John P. East. The United States Anny Corps of Engineers also favored the project, having found by long experience that dredging alone was inadequate to maintain a safe and stable channel at Oregon Inlet. Arrayed in opposition to the project were the Department of the Interior, several environmental groups, and various members of both houses of Congress. Legislation to allow the project to proceed was considered in Congress

in both 1983 and 1984 . Indeed, when Congress adjourned in October of 1984 a bill authorizing $100 million for construction of the controversial jetties remained under the scrutiny of a Senate committee, having been

passed by the House of Representatives during the preceding month. In 22

63 all probability, similar legislation will again be intro·duced in 1985 . • During the twentieth century, Oregon Inlet has continued the south ward migration lvbich fiad characterized it since its fonnation in 1846 .

By 1909 it had moved soutm~rd nearly a mile from its original position,

while at the same time increasing its width to 2, 500 feet. From 1909 to 1966 the north shoulder of the inlet moved southward at an average annual rate of three feet, while the south shoulder maintained a more rapid

movement southward of forty-eight feet per year. In 1962 the inlet reached a maximum width of 7, 700 feet. The width of the inlet at that time, however, resulted very largely from the effects of a severe storm

in March of that year. By the mid-1970s the inlet had narrowed to a more

normal width of 2, 300 feet, with much of this narrowing process resulting 64 from the dramatic southward movement of the inlet' s north shoulder.

As early as 1965, the movement of Oregon Inlet to the south and the • changing positions of the inlet channel were threatening the structural integrity of the recently completed Herbert C. Bonner Bridge. In order

to protect the pilings of the bridge, it was necessary to dump 13,000 tons 65 of rock in some of the deepest places, at a cost to the s t ate of $120 ,000.

More recently, in l978, the bridge had to be closed to traffic while repairs

were made to a sagging section near the south end. At the time of the bridge's construction the depth of water at this point had been only two

feet. At the time of the closing, hmvever, the depth had increased to thirty feet. To remedy the situation, additional pilings were put in

place and several bargeloads of rock were deposited around their bases to

retard erosion. 66 It seems probable that, if unchecked, the future mi gration of the inlet southward \vill cause similar problems with the • bridge to recur. 23

From the time of the Roanoke Voyages until the early years of the • nineteenth century, one or more inlets existed in the vicinity of Oregon Inlet. The present inlet has been in continuous existence since 1846, although its location and configuration have been subject to continual and sometimes dramatic change. Now parts of the Cape Hatteras National Sea shore, the adjacent land areas remain largely undeveloped and in their natural state. The inlet is used primarily by commercial fishing vessels

and is maintained with varying success by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nt.nnerous vessels are kllown to have been lost in or near the inlet during the past four centuries; others have doubtless been cast away there, l eav ing no trace in the historical record. The possibility of submerged cultural resources of a significant nature should therefore be kept in • mind in the course of dredging or construction activities .

• FOOTNOTES

• 1James J. Singer and C. E. Know~es; Hydrology ·and ·c_irculation Pattetrts · tn · tfie 'Vicinity · af · ategort · rrllet · ana · Roanoke · tsland~ North Carolina (Raleigh: North Carolina State Umversity Sea Grant Program 1975), l-3. Hereinafter cited as Singer and Knowles, Oregon Inlet and 'RoanoRe 'Island, 2David B. Quinn, editor, ·The 'Roanoke Voyages , 1584-1590 (London: Hakluyt Society,, 1955), map facmg_ page 413 and pp. 863-864; and David St~ck; , Tfie · outer · BartRs ' of · Nortn · carolina . 1584-1958 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 19581, 279. 3Quinn; ·The 'Roanoke Voyages , 78-79.

158-170, 202, 611, and 810-811. 6Quinn; ·Roanoke Voyages , 252-255 and 468-471. 7Quinn; 'Roanoke Voyages , 497-506 and 553-559 • 8Quinn; ·Roanoke ·voyages , 773 . • 9Quinn, 'Roanoke Voyages , 773 and 810-811. 10Quinn; Roanoke 'Voyages,- 591-598 and 610-612. 11stick, ·auter Banks, 277 . For the opening of Oregon Inlet, see below, p. 12stick, Outer Banks , 277 and 279; Dunbar, Historical Geography of the 'North Carolina OUter Banks, 243 ; and Singer and Knowles, Oregon Inlet and 'RoaneRe Island, 8-9 . 13 stick'' Outer Banks , 279-280 . 14stick, OUter Banks , 280. 15 s~ick; Outer Banks , 277-278; and David Stick, North Carolina Li t- . houses (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Cultural esources, 198 , 51. 16Dt.u:U:>ar; Historical 'Geography ·of ·the North Carolina Outer Banks , 93; Stick; ·Notth·carolma·tighthousesl 53; and United States Congress , 74th Congress, 1st Session. House Doci..IDlent, No . 155, p. 10. 17 Stick; 'Outet 'Banks, 118-119 ; and Stick, North Carolina Lighthouses, • 53-55 . 25

18Richard Rush and others, editors, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the \Var of the Rebellion, 30 vols. (Washington : Goverrnnent Printll1g Office, 1894-1914), serie? I , Volume 6, pp. 160-162 • (hereinafter cited as Rush , War of Rebellion Naval Records); Stick, Outer Banks, 128-130 and 280; and Stick, North Carolina Lighthouses, 53-SS . 19Rush , War of Rebellion Naval Records , Series I, Volume 6, p. 318. 20see, for example, Rush , War of Rebellion Naval Records , Series I, Volume 6, pp . 162, 186, 267, and 315. 21Rush, War of Rebellion Naval Records , Series I , Voltnne 6, pp . 80, 207 , and 428-429 ; and DUnbar, Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer Banks, 82 . 22Dunbar , Historical Geo~a~hy of the North Carolina Outer Banks, 85; and Stick, North carolll1a Lig t ouses, 55-56. 23Dunbar , Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer Banks, 149; and Stick, Outer Banks, 231. 24stick, North Carolina Lighthouses, 67-68 ; Stick~ Out~r Banks, 169 and 278; and Dunbar, Historical Geography of the North Carolma OUter Banks, 95. 2Sunited States Congress, 43rd Congress, 2nd Session. House Executive Document , No. 1, p. 85 . 26stick, Outer Banks , 278 and 280; and see map of 1983 in Appendixes . • 27 United States Congress, 47th Congress, 1st Session. Senate Executive Document, No. 190, p. 2. 28singer and .Kpowles , Oregon Inlet and Roanoke Island, 10; United States Congress, 74th Congress, 1st Session, House DOCument No. 155 , pp. 5 and 7; and Upited States Congress , 81st Congress , 1st Session, House Document, No . 310, p . 21 . See also Stick, Outer Banks , 280. 29United States Congress, 81st Congress , 1st Session. House Document, ·No . 310 , pp. 14-15.

3lunited States Congress, 74th Congress , 1st Session. House Document , No . 155, p. 10. 3Zunited States Congress, 8lst Congress , 1st Session. House Document, No. 310 , pp. 14-15; and United States Congress , 76th Congress , 1st Session. House Document , No. 313, pp. 1-5, 8-9, and 12 . See map of project in • Appendixes . 26

3\Jni ted States Congress , 81st Congress, 1st Session.. House Document , No. 310 , pp. 1, s, and 20-21; and 'News ·and Observer (Raleigh), l 2 March 1948 . • 34united States Congress, 8lst Congress , 1st Session. House Document , No. 310, pp. 2-3 . 35united States Congress, 8lst Congress , 1st Session. House Document , No. 310, p. 10. 36united States Congress, 8lst Congress , 1st Session. House DoclD!lent, No. 310 , pp . 1 and 5; and Ronald B. Hartzer (David A. Cl ary, Project Director) , uro Great and Useful Purpose: A History of the Wilmington District, U.S. Anny Corps of Engineersu (Report prepared for the U.S. Anny Engineer District, Wi lmington, Corps of Engineers , by David A. Clary and Associates of Blooming ton, Indiana, 1983) , 185 (hereinafter cited as Hartzer, "History of the WiJmington District"). 37united States Congress , 8lst Congress , 1st Session. House Document, No . 310 , pp. 21-22. 38united States Congress, 8lst Congress, 1st Session. House Document, No . 310 , p. 23. 39u~te4 States Congress, 8lst Congress, 1st Session. House Document , No . 310 , p. 43 . For project maps of 1948 showing the proposed jetti es (''not recomn:1ended' ') see Appendixes . 40Hartzer, "History of the Wilmington District," p. 185 . • 41 News ·and 'Observer (Raleigh), 11 December 1959. 42Stick; ·outer Banks , 281. For the location of ferry landings and t he route followed by ferries in the early 1950s, see map of 1953 in Appendixes~ 43stick, Outer Banks , 278 and 281. 44News and ·Observer (Raleigh), 1 May 1960 . 45News arid OBserver (Raleigh) , 31 August 1961. 46News artd Observer (Raleigh) , 10 April 1978. 47News and ·oBserver (Raleigh) , 10 April 1978 . 48News and Observer (Raleigh) , 6 September 1963 and 10 April 1978; and Singer and Ki'lowles; Otegort Inlet ·an.d Roanoke Island, 10. 49News and ·oBserver (Raleigh) , 29 April 1961 . 50News and ·observer (Raleigh) , 29 January 1961. • 51News and ·observer (Raleigh) , 29 April 1961. 27

52Ne1vs artci ·observer (Raleigh) , 19 March 1968 • 53News and Olise:Ner (Raleigh) , i9 March 19.68 . • 54 nutham Motrtirtg 'Hetald, 12 and 27 January 1982.

55nutham Moirting ·Hetald, 13 and 31 December 1982. 56nutfuin\ Motliing 'Hetald, 31 December 1982 . 57nutnam Mdtrtirtg ·Hetald, 24 February 1983 . 58News and Observer (Raleigh) , 20 April 1968 and 25 January 1969. 59Hartzer, "History of the Wilmington District," 186-18 7; and Durham 'Moniirig Herald, 21 August 1982. 60Hartzer, "History of the Wilmington District," 186-187 . 61nutham ·Motrtirtg 'Hetald, 20 March 1982. 62Durham Morning Herald, 15 May 1983 . 63nurham Morning Herald, 21 and 22 April 1983; 9, 11, and 15 June 1983 ; 3 August 1983 ; 30 November 1983; 28 and 31 January 1984; 3 February 1984; and 7 March 1984; and News and Observer (Ral eigh) , 20 and 21 September 1984 ; and 10 and 13 October 1984 . • 64singer and Knowles , ·oregon Inlet and Roanoke Island, 10-11 ; and Ne1vs and Observer (Raleigh) , 5 May 1968 . 65News and Observer (Raleigh) , 8 July 1965 . 66News and Observer (Raleigh), 10 April 1978 •

• • BIBLIOGRAPHY Clark, Walter, editor. · ~tate Records of North Carolina. 16 yols. Winston and Goldsboro: State of Nor£& Carolina, 1895-1905. Dolan, Robert and Glassen, Robert. "Oregon Inlet, North Carolina - A History of Coastal Change. " &>Uthe:astemGeographer, XIII (1973), 41-53 . Dunbar, Gary S. ·Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer ''Bartks, Baton Rouge: LOuisiana State University Press, 1958 . · 'Dutfiarn 'Mo:nling 'Herald. Hartzer, Ronald B. (David A. Clary, Project Director), "To Great and Useful Purpose: A History of the Wilmington District, U.S. Anny Corps of J?ngineers ." Report Prepared for the U.S. Anny Engineer District, Wilmington, Corps of Engineers, by David A. Clary and Associates of Bloomington, Indiana, 1983. Maps . General maps of NoJth Carolina, Dare Cm.mty maps, and U.S. Geqlogical S~ey maps, all located in Raleigh,· North Carolina in the North Carolina State Archives and the Documents Branch of the North Carolina State Library •

Marx , Robert F. ··s:oi~wtecks of 'tlie Western Hemis-phere, 1492-1825. New York: Davi McKay and Co. , 1975 . • · 'News 'and ·oBsenter (Raleigh).

North Carolina Department of Conservation and Deve l op~ent, Division of Mineral ~e~ources. ··An · oceanogta~hic · Atlas of the Carolina Continental ·'Margin. By J. G, .Newton, 0. H. ilkey, and J. 0. Blanton, 1971. [Prepared at Duke University Marine Laboratory at Beaufort, North Carolina from research supported by the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, the United States Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey. ] Quinn, David B., editor. ·tne Roanoke Voyages, 1584-1590. London: Hakluyt Society, 1955 . ··Repott 'of ·special Camrnittee on ·Inlets Which Investigated the Proposal to · ·construct ·certain 'Additional Inlets on ·tlie North Carolina Coast . Morehead City: North Carolina Fisheries Commission Board, 1923. Rush, Richard and others, editors. ·official Records of the Union and ·· cortfede~ate · Navies in the 'Wat o£ ·tKe Rebellion. 30 vols. Washington: Goverrnnent Printing Office, 1894-1914. Saunders, William L., editor. Colonial Records of North Carolina. 10 vols. • Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890 .

A LIST OF VESSELS TOTALLY LOST IN THE VICINITY OF OREGON INLET*

- . arne of Vessel Date Location Other Information

Several unidentified Small 13 June 1586 Vicinity of Oregon Scattered and sunk vessel s belonging to boats Inlet by hurricane Sir Francis Drake ' s fleetS George3 Colonial 1743 Near Oregon Enroute from Boston merchantman Inlet to N.C. mider Captain Raitt Enterprize1' 2 Schooner 27 October 1822 Near New Inlet 1 2 Harvest ' ' 3 Schooner 18 November 1825 Bodie Island Enterprize1' 2 Brig 9 October 1837 Bodie Island One life lost Trident1 ,. 2 Schooner 14 June 1842 Bodie Island William Taylor1 Brig 20 October 1843 Bodie Island Mary Morris1 Bark 30 July 1846 Four to five miles south of Nags Head Chingarora1 Schooner 9 September 1846 Ashore five miles south of Nags Head Schooner 27 September 1846 Five miles sruth of ~1 Nags Head Samuel L. Mitche111 Schooner 18 October 1846 Five miles north of New Inlet E • W. Bradley1 Schooner 1846 Five miles south of Nags Head 1 2 Rio ' Schooner December 1853 Bodie Island Ori"ental1' 2 Federal 16 May 1862 Bodie Island transport Alfred Thomas1' 2 Schooner 10 March 1867 New Inlet bar Fl ambeau1' 2 Steamer March 1867 New Inlet bar 2 Quick1' Brig/ March 1867 New Inlet bar Ezra1' 2 Bark September 1869 Bodie Island, on outer shoal Eagle1' 2 Steamer 4 March 1870 Bodie Island, four miles south [sic, north?] of Oregon Inlet Harriet N. Ro~ers 1 ' 2 Schooner 15 January 1873 Bodie Island Waltham1' 2 Brig 4 May 1874 Bodie Island, 5 1/2 miles south of light 1 H. Wescott Schooner 25 January 1875 Oregon Inlet 138 tons ' ry 1 2 atti e L. Fuller ' Schooner 13 April 1877 2 1/2 miles south of Oregon Inlet station ~arne of Vessel Date Location Other Information 2 Success1' Bark 15 January 1879 Bodie Island Charles1 Schooner 23 September 1887 Four miles south of Oregon Inlet Lizzie s: 'Haynes1' 2 Schooner 24 October 1889 Two miles north of 437 tons Pea Island Station Irene Thayer1' 2 Schooner 19 November 1892 1/2 mile southeast 263 tons of Oregon Inlet Station Flotence ·c. 'Magee1' 2schooner 26 February 1894 Bodie Island, 3/4 1,081 tons mile north of station Emma C. Cotton1' 2 Schooner 27 December 1895 1 1/4 mile north of 352 tons Pea Island Station Maggie J. Lawrence1' 2 Schooner 10 February 1896 3/4 mile south of 367 tons Pea Island Station Milton1' 2 Schooner 27 April 1 898 Bode Island, one mile 469 tons south of station Sloop yacht 11 August 1899 South side of bar, 6 tons 1 1/2 miles north of Oregon Inlet Station 411kne C. Harris1' 2 Schooner 25 February 1900 South side of bar, 43 tons two miles north of Oregon Inlet Station 1 2 J . F. Becker ' Schooner 26 April 1903 Southeast point of SO tons Oregon Inlet bar, 2 1/4 miles north of station 1 2 Montana ' Schooner 11 December 1904 1/4 mile northeast 377 tons of Pea Island Station Jennie Lockwood1' 2 Schooner 13 February 1906 Opposite Pea Isl and 376 tons Station Flora Rogers1' 2 Schooner 23 October 1908 One mile north of Bodie 376 tons Island Station and six miles east-southwest of Nag 's Head Station Charles J. Dumas1' 2 Schooner 27 December 1911 One mile southeast 697 tons of Pea Island Station 2 George N. Reed1' Schooner 20 January 1915 Six miles north-north- 493 tons east of New Inlet Sta- tion and six miles southeast of Oregon Inl et Station ~ack Hawk1' 2 Sailing yacht 6 November 1919 Three miles southeast 27 tons of Oregon Inlet Station and 1 1/4 miles northeast of Pea Island Station --~arne of Vessel Date Location Other Information

1 Laura A. Barnes ' 2 Schooner 1 Jtme 1921 Bodie Island, one 629 tons mile north of station Dorothea L. Brinkman1' 2 Schooner 22 March 1924 2 1/2 miles from Oregon Inlet 2 Desert Light Cargo 16 April 1942 Oregon Inlet Empire Dryden2 Cargo 19 April 1942 Oregon Inlet 2 Lady Drake Cargo 5 May 1942 Oregon Inlet Sarah J.4 Fishing trmder 15 January 1961 Oregon Inlet 4 W. G. Townsend Tug December 1961 Oregon Inlet Lois Joyce4 Fishing trawler 12 December 19.82 Oregon Inlet Unidentified1 35° 48.8 ' N 74° 55 . 0' w .. ~As a general rule, vessels have been excluded from this list if it could be determined with reasonable certainty that they were lost more than five nautical miles from Oregon Inlet .

•• Number code to sources: 1. Wreck lists and charts in, North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development. Division of Mineral Resources. An Oceanographic Atlas of the Carolina Continental Margin. By J. G. Newton, 0. H. Pilkey, and J. 0. Blanton, 1971. [Prepared at DUke University Marine Labora tory at Beaufort, North Carolina from research supported by the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, the United States Science Foundation, and the United States Geological Survey.] 2. Stick, David. Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952 . 3. Marx, Robert F. Shipwrecks of the Western Hemisphere, 1492-1825 . Ne1~ York: David McKay and Co., 1975 .

4. Durham Morning Herald of 29 January 1961, 19 March 1968, and 13 December 1982. 5. Quinn, David B., editor. The Roanoke Voyages , 1584-1590 . London: Hakluyt Society, 1955 . • •

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