White did not get back to the American settlement until By then, it had disappeared. The houses were gone, destroyed and deserted. White's own sea chests had been dug from their shallow hiding places in the sand, broken open, their contents raided. His daughter, granddaughter and all the other English colonists had vanished -- leaving no trace except for two cryptic carvings in the bark of Roanoke Island trees. White thought these mysterious messages meant the settlers had fled south to live with the friendly Croatan Indians on Hatteras Island.
The abandoned settlement site showed no signs of a struggle, no blood, bodies or even bones. Some say the colonists were killed by natives or carried away in a skirmish.
Others think they were lost at sea, trying to sail home to England. Still others believe they skirted west across the sounds and began to explore the Carolina mainland. Or perhaps they headed to other areas of the Outer Banks, their footsteps scattered in the blowing sands Historians have debated the Lost Colony's fate for more than years.
Archaeologists have continued to dig on Roanoke Island's eastern edges and beyond. Scholars from across the country have gathered to discuss the strange disappearance and established a special research office on the subject at East Carolina University in Greenville, led by archaeologist David S.
In a caret gold signet ring engraved with a lion or horse head was unearthed at a site called Cape Creek on Hatteras Island. The ring is believed to date from the 16 th century. Also found was a small piece of slate and an iron rapier mingled in with other artifacts of both English and Native American origin, supporting a theory that at least part of the English colony followed their Native American neighbors south.
In summer , evidence discovered from a hidden section of a watercolor map drawn by John White placed the colonists inland, near present-day Edenton, approximately 50 miles from Roanoke Island.
A group there, led by archaeologist Nicholas Luccketti of the First Colony Foundation, has unearthed pottery shards of the sort the colonists brought from England. Additionally, pieces of early gun flintlocks, a metal hook and a small copper tube have been discovered, none of which would have been in the possession of the native people who resided in a nearby village named Mettaquem. The researchers feel this is strong evidence that the colony, or at least part of them, went with these local allies as a means of survival.
Each summer, for more than a half-century, actors have recreated the unsolved mystery in America's longest running outdoor drama, The Lost Colony, held at the settlement site in Waterside Theatre. A century passed before English explorers again attempted to establish settlements along the Outer Banks. Throughout this time, however , European ships continued to explore the Atlantic seaboard, searching for gold and conquerable land. Scores of these sailing vessels wrecked in storms and on dangerous shoals east of the barrier islands.
Spanish mustangs, some say, swam ashore from the sinking ships on which they were being transported overseas. Descendants of these wild stallions roam the beaches north of Corolla.
Although the Outer Banks beaches had few permanent English-decent people until the early s, small colonies sprouted up across the Virginia coast and what is now the Carolina coast during the late s. The barrier islands blocked deep-draft ships from sailing into safe harbors, where they needed to anchor and unload supplies for mainland settlers. Smaller vessels, fit for navigating the shallow sounds, transported goods from the Outer Banks to the mainland.
People passed through these strips of sand long before they settled here. Ocracoke Inlet, between Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands, was the busiest North Carolina waterway during much of the Colonial period. The inlet was a vital yet delicate link in the trade network, and it was deeper than most other area egresses.
Navigational improvements to the inlet began as early as when the British government made it an official port of entry. Pilot houses were set up at Ocracoke to dock the small transport boats and temporarily house goods headed inland. Commercial traffic increased along this Outer Banks waterway for many years.
Countless inlets from the sea to sound have formed and closed since the barrier islands first formed. More than two dozen inlets appear in the historical record and on maps dating from Yet only six inlets currently are open between Morehead City and the Virginia border.
Studies of geographic formations and soil deposits indicate that, at some point in time, inlets have covered nearly 50 percent of the Outer Banks. Attempts to harness the inlets have proven costly and, for the most part, have been doomed to fail. Even today, recreational and commercial watermen continue to fight the shoaling in Oregon Inlet, which separates Nags Head and Bodie Island from Hatteras Island.
The first land the British government granted in North Carolina was what is now Colington Island, a small spit of earth surrounded by the Currituck, Albemarle and Roanoke sounds. His agents planted corn, built barns and houses and carried cattle across by boat to graze on the scrubby marsh grasses. Over the next several decades, stockmen and farmers set up small grazing stocks and gardens on the sheltered sound side of the Outer Banks.
Runaways, outlaws and entrepreneurs also arrived in small numbers, stealing away in the isolated forests, living off the fresh fish and abundant waterfowl and running high-priced hunting parties through the intricate bogs and creeks. Inhabitants also engaged in salvaging: When a shipwrecked vessel floated onto the shore, local residents made quick work of wielding the wood off the boat, loosening sails from the masts and scavenging anything of value that was left on board.
If victims were still struggling ashore, the locals helped them, even setting up makeshift hospitals in their humble homes. The inaccessibility of the barrier islands and wealth of goods that passed through the ports made the Outer Banks a prime target for plundering pirates.
The most infamous of all high seas henchmen was Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, a rum-drinking Englishman whose raucous crew set up shop on the south end of Ocracoke Island. After waylaying countless ships and stealing valuable cargo for more than two years, Blackbeard finally was beheaded by a British naval captain in , in a slough off his beloved Ocracoke.
Settlement and sparse development continued through the early s, and by almost all of the Outer Banks was secured in private ownership. Large tracts of land, often in parcels with 2, acres or more, were deeded to noblemen, investors and cattle ranchers. Some New England whalers also relocated to the barrier islands after British noblemen encouraged such industry. Whales were sliced open and their blubber, oil and bones sold and shipped overseas.
The huge marine mammals were harpooned offshore from boats or merely harvested on the sand after dying and drifting into the shallow surf. Although small settlements and scores of fish camps were scattered from Hatteras Village almost to the Virginia line, Ocracoke and the next island south, Portsmouth, continued to be the most bustling areas of the Outer Banks through the middle of the 18th century.
British officials enlisted government-paid pilots to operate transfer stations at Ocracoke Inlet, between the two islands, and carry goods across the sounds to the mainland. A small town of sorts sprang up, as the people finally had found some steady occupation and were assured of regular wages.
In the barrier islands' first tavern opened amidst a sparse string of wooden warehouses and cottages on Portsmouth Island. About 11 years later, a minister made the first recorded religious visit to the Outer Banks when he baptized 27 children in the sea just south of the tavern. Today, a Methodist church and a few National Park Service-supervised cottages are all that remain on Portsmouth Island. As much of a hindrance as the string of barrier islands and their surrounding shoals and sounds had been to shipping, the Outer Banks proved equally invaluable as a strategic outpost during the Revolutionary War.
Only local pilots in small sailing sloops could successfully navigate the shifting sands and often unruly inlets that provided the sole passageway between the Atlantic Ocean and North Carolina mainland. So, big British warships could not anchor close enough to sabotage most Carolina ports.
Colonial crafts, instead, ferried much-needed supplies through Ocracoke Inlet, up inland rivers and small waterways, to the new American strongholds in New England. By the spring of , however, British troops began threatening the pilots at Ocracoke, even boarding some of their small sloops and demanding to be taken inland, where they could better wage war.
Colonial leaders then hired independent armed companies to defend the inlets. They abandoned these small forces by autumn of the following year. British boats, however, continued to beleaguer the Outer Banks.
Ships landed along Currituck's islands, so sailors could steal cattle and sheep. The redcoats anchored off Nags Head, going inland for fresh water and whatever supplies they could pilfer. They raided fishing villages, plundered small sailboats and came ashore beneath the cloak of darkness. Ocracoke Inlet, especially, suffered under their persistent attacks.
In November , North Carolina legislators formed an Ocracoke Militia Company, hiring 25 local men as soldiers to defend their island's independence. This newly armed force was issued regular pay and rations. Its members successfully saved the inlet and American supplies until fighting finally stopped in , six years after the United States declared its independence. About 1, permanent residents made their homes on the Outer Banks by the time North Carolina became a sovereign state under the Constitution.
Most of these people sailed down from the Tidewater area of Virginia or across from the Carolina mainland. These hearty folk lived in two-story wooden structures with an outdoor kitchen and privy. They dug gardens in the maritime forests, built crude fish camps on the ocean and erected rough-hewn hunting blinds along the waterfowl-rich marshlands. After frequent storms crashed along their coasts, the residents continued to find profit in the shipwrecks strewn along nearby shoals and shores.
More than a dozen ships a day were carrying cargo and crew along Outer Banks waterways by the dawn of the 19th century. Schooners and sloops, sailboats and new steamers all journeyed around the sounds and across the oceans, often dangerously close to the coast in search of the ever-shifting and shoaling inlets.
At that time, waterways were the country's primary highways, and North Carolina's barrier islands were the Grand Central Station of most eastern routes. Hurricanes and nor'easters, which still threaten Outer Banks locals, took many boats by surprise, ending their voyages and hundreds of lives.
Statesman Alexander Hamilton dubbed the ocean off the barrier islands "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" because its shoals became the burying grounds for so many ships.
Current-day estimates from scientists at the Coastal Studies Institute located on Roanoke Island are that close to 8, vessels have been lost along North Carolina's craggy coast and in other waterways.
Have Fun on The Outer Banks. Watch Webcams. Dining on the OBX Local restaurants offering indoor and outdoor dining. View All. Nags Head. Kill Devil Hills. Kitty Hawk. Southern Shores. Places to Stay. Inspiration Guide. Things to Do. See List. Read Article. Corolla has plenty of things to do for families and kids, including great golf courses, bike rentals, water sports, and eco-tours.
Unwind at a wide selection of vacation rentals. Touted as one of the best beaches in America for families, Duck is residential beach town, catering to family vacations. The Town of Duck has a quaint village-like charm, with ocean and sound views that are jaw-dropping. Duck offers family-friendly beaches, with a wide selection of great vacation rentals. Take a stroll or spend the day at the Town Park and Boardwalk.
Full of family fun and plenty of activities, this area on the Currituck Sound is brimming with excitement for all ages.
From shopping and dining to kayaking and fishing, the whole family will find something memorable to do. Adventure seekers can head to the beach for boogie boarding and swimming.
Nature lovers can seek calm waters in the sound. But beachgoers know Kitty Hawk for its quiet oceanfront and its classic beachfront cottages dotting the shoreline.
Nature lovers and animal enthusiasts alike would love the wide range of habitats and species at The Kitty Hawks Woods. Spend the day exploring any number of trails throughout the forest. In addition to plenty of vacation rentals, Kitty Hawk offers one of a kind mom-and-pop motels and one of the nicest hotels available in the Outer Banks.
Although not incorporated as a town until decades later, Kill Devils Hills sits on the original location of the Wright Brothers first flight. Now it is one of the most popular beaches in the Outer Banks. Kill Devil Hills is the year-round home of more than 7, residents, but in the summer season, this population swells to more than 45, National Park Service.
In addition to a monument and hangar and field replicas to explore when the weather is clear, the memorial offers an indoor visitor center with replicas and exhibits on display. Kill Devil Hills offers family friendly beaches, a wide selection of vacation rentals and plenty of things to do.
Catering to such a large population every summer, Kill Devil Hills has an endless number of activities and adventures just waiting for kids and families.
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