Avon in Dare County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Welcome to Kinnakeet...

— Outer Banks National Scenic Byway —

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 19, 2021

1. Welcome to Kinnakeet Marker

Inscription. Avon was first called Kinnakeet. The name was changed by the post office in 1883 but locals to this day call themselves Kinnakeeters. The name comes from its first settlers, the Algonquian Indians.

For most of its early existence, Kinnakeet was the largest village on all of Hatteras Island. In 1846, Hatteras Inlet opened and made Hatteras Village the economic center of Hatteras Island.

Kinnakeet was known for its abundance of live oaks and cedars, resources needed for exceptional boatbuilding. Just after the turn into the twentieth century, boat building in Kinnakeet faded out as these resources became depleted. A Native American heritage was the drying of yaupon for tea. Yaupon is a native plant containing caffeine. When “China Tea” was cut off by British Loyalists, yaupon was processed as a substitute.

The Kinnakeeters’ seamanship is legendary. The U.S. Coast Guard was eager to hire them for life-saving stations along the North Carolina coats. Two stations, Big Kinnakeet and Little Kinnakeet, safeguarded this stretch of the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

The abundance of eel grass in Pamlico Sound supported massive

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

numbers of igratory waterfowl which drew many hunters to Kinnakeet. Local hunters served as guides and made and deployed decoys.

In 1912, Postmaster C.T. Williams started harvesting, drying, baling and shipping eel grass, used to stuff mattresses and furniture and polish fine wooden furniture. Some 30 to 40 Kinnakeeters were employed at peak production.

Until 1947, boats were anchored along the Pamlico Sound shoreline. In that year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dug the T-shaped harbor.

(sidebar)
Outer Banks National Scenic Byway
The Outer Banks National Scenic Byway traverses one of the nation’s great coastal landscapes. Tidal marshes, wind-swept dunes, lonesome beaches and beautiful sounds line the 138-mile route. Two national seashores are home to four lighthouses. Two national wildlife refuges highlight the region’s rich biological diversity. You are invited to experience the maritime heritage of 21 traditional villages and communities.

(captions)
Avon Harbor, 1952 National Park Service
Avon School, 1949, Grades 1-3 Hatteras Island Genealogical & Preservation Society
Hunters Wilson (Wiltz) Farrow (left) and neighbor and close friend, John Barnes Dallas Miller Collection
Avon Harbor National Park Service
NCDOT Official Highway Map, 1957 NCDOT
Avon Village, December 4, 1956 Cape Hatteras National Seashore
NCDOT Official Highway Map, 1990 NCDOT
Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station. Leroy S.Hulan
Big Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station, 1944 Leroy S.Hulan

A Taste of Kinnakeet
Kinnakeet Fig Cake
2 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cooked figs or 1 pint-jar of fig preserves
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp allspice
Combine all ingredients in the order they are listed and beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Follow the order they are added for a delicious fig cake.
Pour into well-greased tube pan and bake 1 hour at 350.
Traditional Community Recipe

Erected by Federal

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 19, 2021

2. Welcome to Kinnakeet Marker

Highway Administration National Scenic Byways Program; Dare, Hyde, and Carteret Counties; Dare County Tourism Board.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway series list.

Location. 35° 20.427′ N, 75° 30.31′ W. Marker is in Avon, North Carolina, in Dare County. It is at the intersection of State Highway 12 and Yucca Street, on the left when traveling north on State Highway 12. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Avon NC 27915, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain and on the Outer Banks.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian

Paid Advertisement

Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Radio Milestone (approx. 5 miles away); Diamond Shoals (approx. 5.2 miles away); Welcome to Buxton… (approx. 5.3 miles away); Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (approx. 5.3 miles away); A Shifting Shoreline, An Imperiled Lighthouse (approx. 6.1 miles away); Lighthouse Move Path (approx. 6.1 miles away); a different marker also named Lighthouse Move Path (approx. 6.1 miles away); a different marker also named Lighthouse Move Path (approx. 6.2 miles away).

Also see . . . Brief History of Avon (Kinnakeet). (Submitted on January 24, 2022, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on January 25, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 24, 2022, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 2,007 times since then and 124 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 24, 2022, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.