After the Battle of Elizabeth City and the destruction of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in February 1862, the Confederates scuttled ships to block the North Carolina cut. The Federals had the same idea to stall Confederate traffic and sent five . . . — — Map (db m56979) HM
Planted November, 2003
to commemorate the dedication of
Veterans Memorial Park
in the year 2003
The American Liberty Elm was named after “The Liberty Tree. Our Country’s First Symbol of Freedom.” On the morning of August 14, . . . — — Map (db m205433) HM WM
This Veterans Memorial Park
is dedicated
to all servicemen and women of Currituck County
that ever served in the Armed Forces of the
United States, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine.
Their devotion to duty and country
can never be . . . — — Map (db m205388) WM
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
Brackish Marsh
According to the description found in William Byrd’s 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 m79866) 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 Carolina’s 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
Currituck has been the county government seat since 1723. The core of the present courthouse to the right and jail in front of you were here when the Civil War began. On March 31, 1862, the “Currituck Light Cavalry” began enlisting on . . . — — Map (db m2764) HM
Thursday the 31st December 1767
"On motion the following Bills were ordered to be read ... A Bill to impower the justices of Currituck County to build a prison pillary and stocks in the said county on the lot were the Court House stands for the . . . — — Map (db m9468) HM
Commissioners drove
the first stake for
the Virginia - Carolina
boundary, Mar. 18, 1728,
three miles N. E. across
Currituck Sound. — — Map (db m11286) HM
During the Civil War, salt—essential for the preservation of meat—was vitally important to the massive Union and Confederate armies. Currituck County's location was ideal for salt works, and Knotts Island's residents made salt both here . . . — — Map (db m76552) HM
Here on June 10, 1863 twigs cracked and leaves rustled in the woods around you as escaped prisoners of war moved cautiously in the dusk. Earlier that day, the troop transport Maple Leaf had steamed away from Fort Monroe, Va., carrying 97 . . . — — Map (db m208580) HM
Currituck County played a vital role in a prisoner-of-war escape in 1863. At 1:30 P.M. on June 10, the troop-transport steamer Maple Leaf sailed from Fort Monroe, Va., for Fort Delaware, carrying 97 captured Confederate officers bound for the . . . — — Map (db m56981) HM
In 1728 the Virginia-Carolina boundary was first surveyed from the Atlantic coast to a spot two hundred twenty miles west of here. — — Map (db m2762) HM
Preached first Methodist sermon in colony, 1772, at Currituck Courthouse. Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church is near the site. About 300 ft. north. — — Map (db m2763) HM
Currituck Sound and the surrounding area were under Union control by 1863. Local farmers and merchants sought permission from Federal authorities to sell their produce in Norfolk. They followed this route to the city. Union Gen. Henry M. Naglee, . . . — — Map (db m211220) HM
For many years before the war, Currituck Sound was a busy avenue of commerce sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks. Vessels carried produce and goods between North Carolina and Virginia. After hostilities began, the sound became . . . — — Map (db m56980) HM
Member N.C. Assembly and U.S. Congress. Confederate colonel. Killed in attack on New Bern, Feb. 1, 1864. Home & grave about 150 feet West. — — Map (db m9507) HM
Indiantown, a commercial center with a shipyard, store, and mill, became a focal point for military activity during the Civil War. On June 10, 1862, U.S. Navy Lt. Charles W. Flusser led several gunboats up the North River to capture a prominent . . . — — Map (db m56814) HM
