Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1956 Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer Banks. Gary Seamans Dunbar Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dunbar, Gary Seamans, "Historical Geography of the North Carolina Outer Banks." (1956). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 167. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/167 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Dootor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Gary Seamans Dunbar B. A., University of Virginia, 1952 M. A., University of Virginia, 1953 August, 1956 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer thanks especially Dr. Fred B. Kniffen. Dr. Kniffen and the writer spent the summer of 1955 in North Carolina conducting library and archival research on the history of the Outer Banks for the National Park Service, so that Dr. Kniffen'8 personal knowledge and interest in the subject have made his criticisms especially valuable during the writing of this dissertation. Also very helpful because of his first-hand knowledge of the Outer Banks has been Dr. William G. Haag. Throughout much of this study the writer received partial support from the Coastal Studies Institute of Louisiana State University, whose work on the Outer Banks was financed by the National Park Service and the Offioe of Naval Research. For this support the writer thanks the officers of the Institute: Dr. Richard J. Russell, Director; Dr, James P. Morgan, Managing Director; and Mr. Martin Wright, Research Assooiate. Of great assistance in the National Park Service were Dr. Charles W. Porter, III, Historian, Washington, D. C.; Mr. A. Clark Stratton, Regional Director, Richmond, Virginia; and Superintendent Allyn Hanks and staff of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. The writer would like to express bis sincere appreciation for the generous aid given by Mr. David Stick of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, whose forthcoming book on the history of the il • Outer Banks will be published by the University of North Carolina Press. Also generous and informative was Dr. William P. Gumming of Davidson College, who freely imparted his unrivalled knowledge of old maps. Archivists and historians whom the writer thanks for their assistance include Dr, C. Christopher Crittenden and staff of the North Carolina State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; Dr. James Patton and staff of the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Mr. Herman R, Frils and staff of the Cartographic Records Branch, National Archives, Washington; Dr. Arch Qerlach and staff of the Map Division of the Library of Congress; and Mr. John Lochhead of the Mariners' Museum, Newport New3, Virginia. Other libraries and collections used were at the University of North Carolina, Duke University, the University of Virginia, and Louisiana State University. The writer also thanks Dr. Robert Burgess and staff of the Bureau of the Census for giving him access to recent population schedules. Many others were helpful in this work. Among them were Mr. Harry Davis, Director of the North Carolina State Museum, Raleigh; Mr. William B. Marye, Baltimore; Mr. C. A. Weslager, Wilmington, Delaware; Dr. F. S. Barkalow, North Carolina State College, Raleigh; and Mr. Delos Smith, Washington, D. C. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................... ii LIST OF TABLES......................................... v LIST OF M A P S ........................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.................................. vli ABSTRACT............................................... ix I. INTRODUCTION....................................... 1 II. THE BANKS IN THE EXPLORATION P E R I O D .............. 10 III. PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF THE BANKS: THE COLONIAL P E R I O D ............................ 45 IV. THE BANKS IN THE FEDERAL P E R I O D .................. 76 V. THE BANKS IN THE MODERN ERA, 1865-1955 ............ 127 VI. SUMMARY ......................................... 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................... 247 APPENDIX A. INLET CHANGES IN HISTORIC TIMES............. 27-8 APPENDIX B. MAPS IMPORTANT TO THIS STUDY (1529-1807) . 282 APPENDIX C. COUNTY BOUNDARY CHANGES .................... 286 lv LIST OP TABLES TABLE PAGE I. POPULATION, 1870-1950 ........................... 194 v LIST OP MAP3 PLATE PAGE I. INDEX M A P ......................... ................ 6 II. EARLY ALGONKIAN TRIB23 AND TOWNS (MOOK) ............. 25 III. WINDMILLS IN 19TH CENTURY.......... .. ............. 87 IV. MODERN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS .............. .... 153 V. COAST GUARD STATIONS .............................. 187 VI. CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE RECREATIONAL AREA . 190 ■ VII. HISTORIC INLETS...................................... 281 vl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 1. IDEALIZED PROFILE ACROSS OCRACOKE ISLAND AT ABOUT ITS MIDPOINT............................... 3 2. WINDMILL AT BUXTON................................. 88 3. YAUPON CHOPPING TROUGH ............................. 90 4. HOGSHEAD FOR "SWEATING11 YAUPON..................... 91 5. SHELL CASTLE ............................ ...... 103 6. AERIAL VIEW OF R O D A N T H E ..............................136 7. SHAD B O A T ............................................ 142 8. SHARPIE ..... ................................. 144 9. OX CART IN M A N T E O ....................................147 10. BEACH C A R T ............................................148 11. SMALL SKIFF WHICH MEETS THE MAIL BOAT AT PORTSMOUTH . 152 12. AN OCRACOKE P O N Y ..................................... 156 13. BO DIE ISLAND GUN C L U B ............. 162 14. CAMP OF MULLET FISHERMEN..............................170 15. CARP "CAR" AT D U C K ....................................175 16. EEL CARS AT DUCK....................... 176 17. SHRIMP TRAWLER AT OCRACOKE......................... 178 18. VIEW FROM THE TOP OF CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE LOOKING NORTHWARD ......... .............. 191 19. OLD STYLE BEACH COTTAGE AT NAGS H E A D .................. 193 vli 20. OLD STYLE BEACH COTTAGE AT NAGS H E A D ............... 193 21. HOUSE AT PORTSMOUTH.............................. 196 22. HOUSE AT PORTSMOUTH................... 196 23. PORTSMOUTH HOUSE....... ........................... 197 24. OCRACOKE HOUSE .................................. 198 25. OCRACOKE HOUSE .................................. 199 26. OCRACOKE HOUSE .................................. 199 27. OCRACOKE HOUSE .......................... 200 28. HOUSE AT B U X T O N ................... 203 2.9. HOUSES AT PETERS DITCH, AV O N ..................... 204 30. HOUSE AT WAVES.................................... 206 31. HOUSE AT WAVES ...................... ....... 206 32. HOUSE AT KITTY H A W K .............................. 208 33. HOUSE IN M A N T E O .................. 210 34. HOUSE AT SKYCO.................................... 211 35. DIAGRAM OF A POUND NE T ............................. 225 vill ABSTRACT The term Outer Banks refers to the barrier chain between Cape Lookout and the Virginia state line. Early known as a result of the Raleigh Roanoke ventures, the Banks received their first permanent settlers in the late 17th and early 18th centuries when stock raisers from Virginia and from the Albemarle were seeking marsh and island locations for their stock. The difficult inlets early necessitated resident pilots. The early settlers on the Banks were not shipwrecked sailors, as 1 b popularly believed, but were herders and pilots who derived immediately from the Albemarle and Chesapeake areas. A barrier to navigation, the Banks proved to be a bulwark of defense, a difficult coast to which to lay siege. Since the early commerce of northeastern North Carolina was in great part maritime and used the inlets, the Banks were personally involved in all wars up to and including the Civil War, As use of the Banks for stock raising declined, commercial fishing became the leading occupation. Government service became an important means of livelihood after the Life Saving (later Coast Guard) Stations were established beginning in the late 1870's but has lately declined as most of the Coast Guard stations have been decommissioned. Although ix the 1950 census shows that fishing is still the principal single occupation on the Banks, the Bankers are turning increasingly to various aspects of the tourist business. x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This study is part of a project which the Coastal Studies Institute of Louisiana State University has under­ taken for the National Park Service and the Office of Naval Research. The writer received partial support from these agencies throughout much of the time that he has worked on the project. Others engaged in studies in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area were Dr. William Haag, Archaeology; Dr. Robert Treadwell, Mr. George Markey, and Mr. Robert