Believe it or not, Portsmouth, the small, now-deserted village on this remote island, was once a bustling seaport. North Carolina's colonial legislature chartered Portsmouth in 1733 to serve coastal trade, and for more than two years it was one of . . . — — Map (db m177229) HM
Completed in 1915 this church was the spiritual and communal center of the island, and like the villagers themselves it weathered many storms. As you enter the building notice that it tilts slightly to the right. The hurricane of 1944 left it this . . . — — Map (db m177424) HM
In the 1900s this building served as general store and post office. Portsmouth villagers called it the "new" store because it was the latest in a series of stores serving the community. At one time in the 1860s there were five. This store was built . . . — — Map (db m177276) HM
The Middle Passage, part of a larger trade route known as the Triangular Trade, is the route which was used in the trafficking of captive Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, approximately . . . — — Map (db m298164) HM
Due to its remote location on the Currituck Outer Banks, the Whalehead Club has been used in various ways for national defense. Shortly after Ray T. Adams purchased this property, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and the U.S. . . . — — Map (db m82188) HM
With its gracious proportions, unusual pink color, and sloping rooflines, the Corolla Island boathouse built by Edward Collings Knight Jr. and his wife complemented their main house.
Even more than the main house, the boathouse was the center . . . — — Map (db m10433) HM
Currituck Outer Bankers depended on the land and the water for their livelihoods. Besides waterfowl hunting and fishing, the Sound provided an important transportation route to and from the Currituck mainland and up and down the Banks. The first . . . — — Map (db m91802) HM
Historic Corolla Chapel
In 1885, the Corolla community formed an inter-denominational congregation in Corolla Village and built the original one-room chapel. Circuit-riding preachers were sent to the Village by horse and buggy by way of the . . . — — Map (db m91795) HM
Twiddy & Company began preservation in Corolla Village in 1986. The first effort was the Kill Devil Hills Lifesaving Station built in 1878. Relocation from the original oceanfront site was a requirement of the sale, so the station was moved to . . . — — Map (db m76660) HM
When Edward Collings Knight Jr. and his wife, Marie-Louise leBell, purchased this property in 1922, the Lighthouse Club, a hunting club, already existed on land just to the south. After the Knights completed a new private residence in 1925, they . . . — — Map (db m10437) HM
Restoration began in the fall of 1999, revealing wonderful insights into life in this isolated coastal village.
Upon raising the building to repair rotten sills, workers discovered ship timbers in the foundation that were salvaged from . . . — — Map (db m10434) HM
Establishing the First Unified Corolla School
The Corolla Schoolhouse was built circa 1890 by residents Sol Sanderlin and Val Twiford and established as the first unified Corolla school in 1905. The County's one-room schoolhouse accepted . . . — — Map (db m76658) HM
On December 1, 1875, the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining "dark spot" on the North Carolina coast between the Cape Henry light to the north and Bodie Island to the south. To distinguish the Currituck Beach Lighthouse . . . — — Map (db m114514) HM
A Working Lighthouse
On December 1, 1875 the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining "dark space" on the North Carolina coast between the Cape Henry Lighthouse to the north and Bodie Island Lighthouse to the . . . — — Map (db m114498) HM
When the last inlet to Currituck Sound closed in 1828, the water began to change. As rain, rivers, and streams poured in to the sound, the water became less salty and tall-grass marsh and wild celery attracted large flocks of migratory waterfowl in . . . — — Map (db m10686) HM
The Whalehead Club has always been associated with wealth and leisure pursuits. When Edward Collings Knight Jr. and his wife, Marie-Louise LeBel, built their residence here in the 1920s, they made it as opulent as possible. The estate included the . . . — — Map (db m10687) HM
The Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station was built in 1878, one of 11 stations erected along the Outer Banks at the turn of the century. At that time, the lifesaving service relied on members of the local community to bravely respond to the frequent . . . — — Map (db m91796) HM
Currituck is from the Algonkian word meaning land of the wild goose.Currituck Sound is located in Currituck and Dare Counties in Northeast North Carolina.
Currituck Sound, a brackish water estuary separated from the . . . — — Map (db m257087) HM
Brackish Marsh
According to the description found in William Byrds diary from 1728, Currituck Banks was a wind-swept, overwash island that was sparsely vegetated with low shrubs and salt-tolerant red cedar. At that time, inlets opened . . . — — Map (db m259686) HM
When Ray T. Adams bought this estate for just $25,000 in 1940, he dreamed of opening a hunt club and selling parcels of land for real estate. He changed the name to the Whalehead Club and invited potential investors, politicians (including Dwight . . . — — Map (db m10688) HM
Architectural drawings suggest that the caretaker's residence dates to the 1920s and was designed to house two families who worked for the Knights. Cleveland lewark, chief hunting guide and superintendent of the property, lived in one side of the . . . — — Map (db m10689) HM
Due to excellent wildfowl hunting conditions in the second half of the 19th century, private hunt clubs owned most of the land on the Currituck Outer Banks. In 1874 a group of wealthy Northeaster industrialists build the Lighthouse Club just south . . . — — Map (db m10690) HM
Constructing the Residence
In 1922, Edward Collings Knight, Jr. and Marie-Louise LeBel Knight purchased this property for its access to excellent waterfowl hunting and to entertain guests. They named the property "Corolla Island" due to the . . . — — Map (db m79260) HM
After second owner Ray T. Adams died in 1957, the Whalehead Club was used as a summer boy's school, housed a rocket fuel testing facility, and was proposed for resort development. With restoration in mind, Currituck County purchased the club in . . . — — Map (db m10691) HM
Waterfowl hunting is an essential piece of Currituck history and culture. Hunting accelerated rapidly during the 19th century and is a proud tradition carried on by many Currituck natives.
Market Hunting
In the mid 19th . . . — — Map (db m114497) HM
The Knights did not choose this location for their hunting retreat randomly. It sits on the Atlantic Flyway, a primary migratory route for waterfowl. Currituck, as in Currituck County, comes from the Native American work carotank or "land of the . . . — — Map (db m10719) HM
Where land and water meet.
Once considered worthless, North Carolinas wetlands are now recognized as priceless resources for their roles in conserving water and providing habitat for wildlife.
What good is a Wetland? . . . — — Map (db m76669) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m190966) HM
"The losses by submarines off our Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean now threaten our entire war effort." - Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, 19 June, 1942
During the first six months of 1942, these beaches revealed crude oil, . . . — — Map (db m32129) HM
Look toward the ocean and you will see where the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse used to be - now marked by a single wooden post. When it was built in 1870, the lighthouse was 1,500 feet from the ocean. Over the years, wind and water moved sands and slowly . . . — — Map (db m300401) HM
The Commission, established by Royal Charter in 1917, is maintained by the governments of Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom to mark and maintain the war graves of these countries no matter where they lie. . . . — — Map (db m257063) HM
"Graveyard of Atlantic." German submarines sank over 100 ships here, 1941 - 42, in the "Battle of Torpedo Junction." Shoals are 3 mi. south. — — Map (db m11400) HM
On December 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States. The Nazis launched Operation Paukenschalg (Drumbeat), a swift and devastating blow to the eastern seaboard. In eight months German U-boats sank nearly 400 ships along the US . . . — — Map (db m257008) HM
Starting June 17, 1999, engineers began a monumental job: to move the nation's tallest lighthouse away from the shore. First, workers lifted the 4,830-ton structure from its foundation. Then they eased the lighthouse onto a platform atop a
700-foot . . . — — Map (db m300520) HM
Since 1803, there has been a lighthouse near Cape Hatteras warning mariners of the Diamond Shoalsdangerous shifting sands just under the ocean surface upon which ships wrecked. For over 130 years, 82 known lighthouse keepers proudly kept the light . . . — — Map (db m190967) HM
There have been words written to the effect that the lighthouse keepers and their families had a very lonely life; however, we did not have this experience. In fact, just the opposite would be more apt to apply. The lighthouse was always a favorite . . . — — Map (db m88495) HM
the home of the wave Magnet.
Since the 1950s, surfers have been playing in Buxtons waves and have come from all over the world to ride the legendary waves in the shade of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
It took a group of island . . . — — Map (db m256532) HM
Caffey's Inlet Station was one of the original seven stations built along North Carolina's treacherous coast in 1874 when the U.S. Lifesaving Service was founded. Within a few years there were twenty-nine stations and this was the fifth one . . . — — Map (db m181032) HM
Facilities
Welcome to the Field Research Facility (FRF). We were established in 1977 to conduct research to support the US Army Corps of Engineers coastal engineering mission. The FRF is recognized as one of the best places in the world to . . . — — Map (db m91761) HM
This club stands as one of the last traces of Duck's rich waterfowl heritage. Built by Wall Street brokers in the 1920's and operated through the 1940's. Distinctive to this club was a unique set of whalebones adorning the front; garnering it the . . . — — Map (db m75374) HM
In September 1923, Brigadier General Mitchell provided a chilling view of the effectiveness of aerial bombardment on surface vessels to skeptical government and military observers. Taking off from his temporary Hatteras Village airfield, Mitchell . . . — — Map (db m20353) HM
Frisco was formerly Trent until the coming of the post office i1898. Hatteras Islands first inhabitants were the Croatoans. Archaeological evidence proves the Croatoans lived here year-round for more than 12,000 years with a population comparable . . . — — Map (db m190984) HM
Orchestrated by Union Colonel Rush C. Hawkins, the Hatteras Convention was held nearby on November 18, 1861. The state's secession was declared null and void, Hatteras was proclaimed the capitol and Marble Nash Taylor became provisional governor. . . . — — Map (db m207709) HM
Brigadier general of the Army Air Service, demonstrated air power by bombing battleships off coast, Sept. 5, 1923. Landing field was here. — — Map (db m207712) HM
Side A:Burnside's Expedition Crossing Hatteras BarOn January 11, 1862, the Burnside Expedition left for Fort Monroe, Virginia destined for Hatteras Inlet 120 miles to the south. Two days later, the fleet of over eighty vessels was . . . — — Map (db m282415) HM
Side A:Flagship USS MinnesotaUSS Minnesota, a wooden steam frigate built in 1855, was the flagship for the Atlantic Blockading Squadron commanded by Flag Officer Silas H. Stringham. Seven United States Navy warships bombarded Forts . . . — — Map (db m46190) HM
Side A:Fort ClarkHatteras Inlet, defended by Forts Clark and Hatteras, was a strategic port of entry for troops and supplies providing deep water access to the vital intercoastal waterways. In later May of 1861, the Federal Blockade . . . — — Map (db m253140) HM
Side 1
Island Veterans of the Civil War
1st Regiment North Carolina Infantry
(Names not transcribed)
Soldiers of the 17th, 32nd or 33rd Regiments North Carolina Troops
(Names not transcribed)Side 2 . . . — — Map (db m146058) HM WM
Side A:Maritime Casualties of the American Civil WarAfterJan. 15, 1862 - The Graveyard of the Atlantic claims the lives of Colonel J.W. Allen and Surgeon Weller, officers of the 9th N.J. Volunteers, and the second mate of the Ann E. . . . — — Map (db m32134) HM
Commissioned in 1945 as a US Navy repair ship, USS Dionysus was assigned to the Pacific Theater. It was one of hundreds of Liberty ships, costing less than $2 million each, produced by the US Maritime Commission in World War II and assembled . . . — — Map (db m191322) HM
This building housed the first, stand-alone Weather Bureau Station from 1902 to 1946. It was also a home for the US Weather Bureau supervisor who lived on the first floor with his family. His wife ran the household, while the children played games . . . — — Map (db m191321) HM
Fought C.S.S. "Virginia" ("Merrimac") in first battle of ironclad ships. Lost Dec. 31, 1862, in gale 17 miles southeast. First marine sanctuary. — — Map (db m11401) HM
On December 11, 1942, Germany declared war on the United States and in doing so brought the Battle of the Atlantic to America's doorstep. By January of 1942, the glow of burning Allied merchant ships could be seen from our beaches, their oil and the . . . — — Map (db m256534) HM
Hatteras Island is sometimes called a sand bar or a slender strip of sand. Despite its fragile appearance, the island has been here geologically for a very long time.
Hatteras Island is surrounded by water that can be gentle and fun. That water . . . — — Map (db m191423) HM
Hatteras Village, settled in the 1780s, with the Pamlico Sound on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, has always relied on its natural resources for its livelihood. Initially its population (primarily shipwreck survivors) depended . . . — — Map (db m191320) HM
After more than four years of hard work and experimentation, it only took the Wright brothers 12 seconds to change the world. On December 17, 1903, at 10:35, Orville Wright made the worlds first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight. . . . — — Map (db m10181) HM
If you decide to try your machine here...you will find a hospitable people...
William J. Tate, Kitty Hawk Postmaster, in a letter to Wilbur Wright dated August 18, 1900
Wilbur and Orville Wright accepted Tates . . . — — Map (db m10183) HM
Resourcefulness, tireless work ethic, dedication, and importance of familythese words describe both the Wright brothers and Outer Banks residents. Through these shared traits, the Wrights and their Outer Banks neighbors developed mutual respect and . . . — — Map (db m190803) HM
Before construction of the memorial could begin, it would be necessary to stabilize the dune from which the Wright Brothers conducted their glider experiments. Twenty-five years of steady winds had moved Big Kill Devil Hill 450 feet southwest of its . . . — — Map (db m9768) HM
When the Wright brothers were here, Big Kill Devil Hill—the hill in front of you—was a massive sand dune. Thousands of times, the brothers trekked up this and three nearby dunes to conduct glider experiments.
Climbing the hill . . . — — Map (db m114493) HM
When the Wright brothers were here, Big Kill Devil Hill-the hill in front of youwas a massive sand dune. Thousands of times, the brothers trekked up this and three nearby dunes to conduct glider experiments.
Climbing the hill was strenuous. . . . — — Map (db m300233) HM
On December 17th, 1928, only 25 years after the Wrights achieved flight, three thousand people from over forty nations gathered at this remote place to celebrate the global importance of the birth of flight.
The National Aeronautic . . . — — Map (db m114485) HM
[Center Panel]:
“By your courage in tribulation, by your cheerfulness before the dirty devices of this world, you have won the love of those who have watched you.”
- Guy Chapman
Dedicated: November 11, 1991.
[Left . . . — — Map (db m9631) WM
On the slope of Kill Devil Hill to the left, the Wright brothers experimented with gliders in the period 1900 - 1903.
Here also Wilbur Wright failed in an attempted power-driven flihgt, December 14, 1903. After just 3½ seconds in the air the . . . — — Map (db m10179) HM
"Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so that we could discover them!!"
Orville Wright, June 7, 1903 — — Map (db m9770) HM
On this cold and windy morning, the Wrights achieved the worlds first controlled flights. Here, they realized not only their own dream—but also one of humanitys oldest dreams—to fly!
The boulder and numbered markers on the . . . — — Map (db m114482) HM
The Wright brothers made four successful sustained powered flights the morning of December 17, 1903. The commemorative granite boulder and replica monorail mark the lift-off point of those four flights, the numbered markers the terminating point. . . . — — Map (db m136217) HM
In the early 1900s, very few people believed that human powered flight would ever be possible. Many prominent scientists were trying to conquer flight, but with no success. Many had begun to give up hope of achieving heavier-than-air flight. . . . — — Map (db m257166) HM
After four years of scientific research and rigorous experimentation, and with their 1903 Flyer on the rail, the Wrights are set to fly. In unison, they each pull down on a propeller. The engine roars to life and the propellers whip through the . . . — — Map (db m114489) HM
Wilbur and Orville Wright lived and worked here during their 1901, 1902, and 1903 testing sessions, late summer through autumn. The reconstructed buildings in front of you depict the Wright brothers 1903 camp.
Each year, the brothers refined . . . — — Map (db m182533) HM
"...the sand fairly blinds us. It blows across the ground in clouds. We certainly can't complain of the place. We came down here for wind and sand, and we got them."
Letter from Orville Wright to Katharine Wright, October 18, . . . — — Map (db m10146) HM
The Best Design
Design competition among 35 entrants was won by Rogers and Poor, a New York Architectural firm.
The 60-foot tower, similar to those used to mark courses in air races, embellished with wings on its side and a five-point . . . — — Map (db m9715) HM
At the turn of the century, this large hill and the three hills surrounding it were known as the Kill Devil Hills. Wilbur and Orville Wright performed thousands of experimental glider flights here between 1900 and 1903. The culminatino of those . . . — — Map (db m9767) HM
Since its dedication in 1932, the Wright Brothers Monument dominated the undeveloped Outer Banks. Its towering presence atop the Big Kill Devil Hill highlights the desire to remember and honor the Wright brothers' successful powered flights on . . . — — Map (db m276267) HM
"Our first experiments were rather disappointing. The machine ... at times seemed to be entirely beyond control."
Orville Wright in a letter to his sister Katharine, July 28, 1901
The 1901 experiments at Kill Devil Hills . . . — — Map (db m10149) HM
"Our new machine is a very great improvement over anything we had built before and over anything any one has built."
Letter from Wilbur Wright to his father, October 2, 1902
The Wrights' experiments with the successful . . . — — Map (db m10150) HM
"A couple of small boys, who had come with the men from the station, made a hurried departure over the hill for home on hearing the engine start."
Orville Wright, diary D. December 14, 1903
Determined to achieve powered . . . — — Map (db m10151) HM
In commemoration of the conquest of the air
Excerpt from the inscription on the monument atop Big Kill Devil Hill
From its establishment as a national monument in 1927 to the First Flight Centennial of 2003, the local . . . — — Map (db m10185) HM
"The flight lasted only 12 seconds, but nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally . . . — — Map (db m31994) HM
From a 60-foot wooden track laid on these sands Orville Wright rose into the wind on the morning of December 17, 1903. It was the first time in history that “a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full . . . — — Map (db m62511) HM
was made from this spot by
Orville Wright
December 17, 1903, in a machine designed and built by
Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright
This tablet was erected by the
National Aeronautic Association
of the U.S.A. December 17, 1928
to commemorate . . . — — Map (db m282070) HM
They Taught Us to Fly 1901 · 1902 · 1911 Wilbur and Orville Wright
Presented in 1969
By
The Soaring Society of America
To Commemorate
The Early
Gliding and Soaring Flights
Of the
Wright Brothers
Sculptured . . . — — Map (db m257720) HM
Wilbur and Orville Wright tested and proved their flight theories in Dayton, Ohio. To test actual flight, however, they needed a special location to experiment. Using US Weather Bureau statistics, they looked for a place that was windy, sandy, and . . . — — Map (db m182532) HM
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