This weekend is the traditional start of the tourist season along the N.C. coast. Millions of people will flock to the state’s beaches this summer. The first tourists of the 19th century sought the “good air” around Nags Head to escape death.
Culture & History
Fish House Delights
In this essay, author and coastal native Bland Simpson pays tribute to Willy Phillips in Columbia, Eddie and Allison Willis on Harkers Island, John Haag on Oak Island and all the other fish house owners past and present along the N.C. coast.
Could Hatteras Be America’s First Colony?
Jamestown Virginia is the site of the first permanent English colony in the New World. Or is it? Recent archaeological findings could give that honor to Hatteras Island, and change history.
The Greening of Wilmington
Since 1925, the Cape Fear Garden Club has worked to make the city a prettier place. Its Azalea Festival provides the money for the club’s generous grant program to support education, beautification and stewardship.
The Mail Boat Aleta: Ocracoke’s Lifeline
Before email, before Instagram, mail to and from the islands of our coast went by boat. This is the story of one of those boats, the Aleta, which for almost 20 years was Ocracoke’s connection to the rest of the world.
New Clues Lead Westward
The search for the Lost Colony moved to the western reaches of Albermarle Sound where archeologists came across what one termed an “extraordinary discovery.”
This N.C. Christmas Went Down in History
The blizzard of 1989 created the only coastal white Christmas on record for North Carolina. Our naturalist, Sam Bland, recalls Hammocks Beach State Park that day.
The Yaupon Holly Tradition
Almost as soon as Europeans arrived on our coast, they were taught by the Native Americans how to brew this coastal shrub into a caffeinated tea.
African Roots in Brunswick County
Southeast North Carolina’s heritage is infused with the culture of West African descendants. The Gullah or Geechee people are known for their story-telling, rice-based cuisine and fishing traditions.
A Sign of Fall: Mullet Fishing on Bogue Banks
Autumn officially started last night, and soon the fishermen of Salter Path will latch their dories to the old tractors and head out to the beach in search of jumping mullet.
Storms, Whales and Refugees
A great hurricane drove the Ca’e Bankers from Shackleford Banks to Harkers Island, Salter Path and a place they called the Promise Land, but not before they took the most famous whale in N.C. history.
Ca’e Bankers
Old photos and artifacts, like an old whale gun, tell the story of the hardy fishing families who once lived in Diamond City and the other settlements near the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
A Celebration of Watermen
The annual Day at the Docks festival in Hatteras is a confirmation of the strength of community, heritage and the living traditions of the island’s watermen.
A New Clue Into the New World
A historic document could unlock leads about the mysteries of English colonization on Roanoke Island, perhaps even the fate of the so-called “Lost Colony.”
Saving a Piece of Down East Carteret
A move is afoot to preserve the legacy of an old clam house in Williston in eastern Carteret County as a symbol of a proud heritage and as a memorial to The Clam King.
Duck Dynasty: When Waterfowl Ruled the Roost
Flyway Farms, the last of the family hunting lodges on Currituck Sound, is a remnant of the days when the flocks of ducks seemed endless and the hunting was spectacular.
