One of the more unusual deals in the history of Outer Banks real estate closed last week, when a Minnesota businessman signed off with the federal government on the purchase of the Diamond Shoals Light Tower.
Culture & History
The Albatross Fleet
Seventy-five years ago, Ernal Foster of Hatteras had a notion that sportsmen might actually pay to go fishing. The three elegant boats that arose from that simple idea are still taking folks fishing and are now a part of Outer Banks lore.
Big Day for a Watermen’s Celebration
The weather was perfect in Hatteras — bright, sunny and not too hot — and the hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors who attended this year’s celebration made it the biggest and best Day at the Docks yet.
Pond Fishing: ‘Like Hounds on a Hunt’
A Wilmington historian takes a look at “serious” pond fishing along the southeast N.C. coast at the turn of the 20th century. The bugs could be ferocious back then, too.
Reviving the Heart of Old Ocracoke
The Ocracoke Foundation hopes to preserve the Community Square in the heart of the village, maintain its docks for public use, manage stormwater and restore the shoreline.
Rebuilding an Outer Banks Icon
A year ago today Hurricane Irene turned the Stinson Ranch, an iconic house in Roanoke Sound in Nags Head, into a pile of rubble. But thanks to the persistence of its owner and accommodating state rules, a new house is beginning to take shape.
Fishermen’s Festival
The Day at the Docks festival next month in Hatteras has been expanded to four days and will feature some fresh faces and events in addition to the usual festivities, such as the Blessing of the Fleet.
Celebrating Watermen
The Day at the Docks festival celebrates the spirit of Hatteras village and honors the enduring strength and heritage of a community anchored by its commercial and charter fishermen.
Counting Birds, Then Mrs. A’s Egg Bread
Wilmington back in the 1950s regularly put on one of largest and most productive annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts on the East Coast. Edna Appleberry’s egg bread awaited after a cold day in the field.
The Watery Paradise That Was Wilmington
Here’s a story about a boy’s life in a natural paradise in 1950’s New Hanover County, written by that same boy, 60 years later. Prepare to enter a very different world in the first of this two-part series.
Saving the Old Fish House
When the owners of the last fish house in Ocracoke announced they were closing, local commercial fisherman got together and bought it, thus ensuring a future for an important piece of coastal heritage.
Groups Aim to Keep Fishing Traditions Alive
Leaders in the state’s growing local-catch movement aim to keep North Carolina’s fishing traditions alive, but the big challenge ahead is getting the rest of us to remember that “buy local” applies to seafood, too.
Remembering the Ash Wednesday Storm
Fifty years ago this week, one of the worst storms to to strike the N.C. coast dealt a staggering blow to the Outer Banks.
