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The remoteness of Currituck's Outer
Banks kept these spectacular sea
oat-strewn dunes isolated long after the
barrier islands' southern beaches started
to be developed. The lack of a permanent
population and accompanying services
helped to check tourism and growth. In
1972 coastal officials called Currituck
County's 23 miles of beaches "the longest
undeveloped strip of coastal land on the
Eastern Seaboard." One telephone, which
allowed only outgoing calls, served the
entire area. The spit island was not even
connected to line-distributed electricity
until the 1950s.
Winston-Salem developer Earl Slick
saw possibilities in the vast stretches of
untouched beach and soundfront, and in
1973 he changed the face of the northern
Outer Banks. For $2 million, he and his
Coastland Corporation purchased 636
acres just north of the Dare County line
from Texas oil tycoon Walter B. Davis.
In 1975 Slick erected a wooden guardhouse at the southern tip of his property,
barring all but residents or landowners
from entering Currituck beaches. Impassioned protests, which at times came to
blows, eventually put the matter in the
hands of the North Carolina Supreme
Court. Finally, on November 1, 1984, the
state took over the road that stretched
from the Dare County line north. As security guards watched, bulldozers toppled
the guard post, opening free passage all the way to Corolla and clearing a path for
widespread development.
Despite its relative isolation before
Slick's arrival, the northern beaches have
their own unique history and allure. After
the Civil War, Currituck Beach was the
largest community on the Outer Banks
between Kitty Hawk and Virginia. Fishing
families lived in small wooden houses
near the sound. The area earned a reputation as a "Sportsmen's Paradise" at this
time, when hunters discovered the plentiful waterfowl inhabiting the Currituck
Sound.
In 1874, the U.S. Government put Currituck's beaches on the map by building
the Currituck Beach Lifesaving Station
and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. The
lifesaving station, one of the Outer Banks's
original seven outposts, was first named
Jones Hill, then Whaleshead, and finally,
Currituck Beach. The 150-foot-tall, red-
brick lighthouse was the last major lighthouse built on North Carolina's barrier
islands.
The tiny fishing community was officially named Corolla the following year,
when the federal government installed a
modest post office down the road a bit
from the lighthouse. Three names were
rejected before a local teacher suggested
that postal officials name the village after
the inner petals of a flower, the corolla
(pronounced "ka-RAH-la" by locals).
Throughout the early 1900s, Currituck
County's barrier islands grew in popularity
as a retreat for recreational hunters who
flocked to the dense marshlands each fall
for the annual waterfowl migration. You
can still spot crudely built duck blinds
along the swampy shores. Historic structures have been turned into resort community clubhouses, real estate offices,
retail shops, restaurants, and county-
owned tourist attractions. The Whalehead
Club, the largest and most magnificent of
all the Outer Banks hunting lodges, is
being restored to its orginal beauty. This
Currituck County facility is open for tours
daily throughout the summer (see our
Attractions chapter).
Putting aside its appeal as premier
hunting and fishing grounds, Corolla was
unsentimentally regarded as little more
than a wasteland of sand. Into the 1970s,
only about 15 people lived in the village. |
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In the 1950s Virginia and North Carolina
officials began talking about building a
road from Sandbridge, in Virginia, to
Corolla, traversing a long spit of sand and
the state line. That route, however, was
never started. Today, only longtime property owners with special permits can drive
through the protected lands that lie
between the Outer Banks's Carova Beach
and Sandbridge. Fences and metal gates
prevent access to anyone other than pass-
holders. The rest of the populace must
drive up NC 12 from the south to get to
Currituck's beaches. Turn left onto NC 12
at its junction with U.S. Highway 158 in
Kitty Hawk, 1.5 miles east of the Wright
Memorial Bridge's eastern terminus, then
travel through Southern Shores, Duck, and
Sanderling to the county line. Although
it's only about 10 miles from Kitty Hawk to
the Currituck County border, and another
12 miles to the end of the paved road at
Corolla, the trip can take an hour or more
on weekends during the peak season.
Once you pass through Duck, you'll
notice the roadside opens and the terrain
looks sparser and wilder. Watch your
speed limit, because police are on the
lookout for speeders who forget themselves on the straight two-lane road when
traffic is light.
Much debate has taken place over
whether to construct a two-lane, 4.8-mile
bridge spanning the Currituck Sound from
the mainland to Corolla. The proposed
project would cut about 40 miles off the
trip from US 158 in Currituck County to
NC 12 in Corolla.
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No other Outer Banks community has
changed as much in the past decade as
Corolla. Only 15 or so years ago, NC 12
took an abrupt right turn toward Whale-
head Beach and continued on a circuitous
route to Corolla Village. Now, Monteray
Plaza-a huge shopping center housing a
Food Lion grocery store, a movie theater,
and a variety of restaurants and stores-stands where a sign on a vacant lot once
welcomed visitors to Whalehead. Across
the road, TimBuck II shopping center lures
visitors to its specialty stores, eateries,
and entertainment options. NC 12 doesn't
veer off to the right anymore but continues northward past Monteray Shores, on
through Corolla Light, Corolla Village,
Ocean Hill, and the Villages at Ocean Hill.
The northern beaches are home to
some of the most luxurious rental properties on the Outer Banks. Although the
area still has no home mail delivery, you
won't have any trouble finding upscale
shopping and dining, medical services,
amenities, and entertainment other than
that provided by nature. And despite the
fact that Corolla's popularity is continually
rising, you still feel far away from the rest
of the world while visiting this northernmost destination of the Outer Banks.
In the past few years, developers and
individuals have built thousands of homes
between the Dare County line and the Virginia border, and at least 100 businesses
have opened their doors. One of the more
recently developed areas of Currituck
County is Pine Island, which has 3 miles of
oceanfront land. Many of the Outer
Banks's most spectacular homes are
located here. Residents have access to an
array of pools, playgrounds, athletic
courts, and other amenities, and nature
trails wind throughout this upscale community. Several well-known sports figures
own homes on Pine Island (see our Real
Estate chapter for more information).
Most visitors to Currituck's beaches
rent the huge homes that straddle the sand dunes. The average
Corolla house sleeps 16 to 20 people,
includes more than 4,200 square feet of
living space, has a pool and hot tub, and is
available for weekly rentals. Many of the
contained communities also offer exercise
facilities, racket or golf clubs, indoor and
outdoor swimming pools, boardwalk
beach access, and trolley services. The
area's first chain hotel, a Hampton Inn, is
located on the oceanfront in Pine Island,
south of Corolla.
Retail stores scattered throughout this
area sell items ranging from handmade
hammocks to custom-designed jewelry.
Restaurants appeal to all tastes, from raw
or steamed seafood to elegant European
dining. And water sports-kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, and more-are popular
from early spring through fall (see our
Shopping, Restaurants, and Water
Sportschapters for details).
Although tourists flock to the northern
beaches during the summer, the permanent population of Currituck County's
Outer Banks is still small, estimated at
about 500 people. A county satellite office
keeps them connected with Currituck's
services. |
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A few miles north of the Currituck Beach
Lighthouse, the multistory mansions
become sparser and the paved two-lane
highway dead-ends at a sand hill. Here, a
wildlife sanctuary provides a safe haven for
endangered piping plover, wild boar, and
other wildlife. A 4-foot-tall fence stretching
a mile from sound to sea marks the southern barrier of this 1,800-acre sanctuary,
where most of Corolla's wild horses still
range (see the Close-up in our Attractions
chapter). People can walk through the
fence, however, and four-wheel-drive vehicles can cross over a cattle grate.
Once Corolla's most popular tourist
attraction, the wild horses no longer roam freely in the populated village. The Corolla
Wild Horse Fund is headquartered at
county satellite offices, where membership information is available. |
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There is no paved route from Corolla to the
Virginia border. Still, a few hundred homes
line this expanse of sand. On summer afternoons, more than a thousand four-wheeldrive vehicles create their own paths on the
beach as they drive into and around a community called Carova-where North Carolina meets Virginia. Note that Carova's
name is a melding of both states.
In May 1998 an ordinance requiring
permits to drive all-terrain vehicles (ATVs)
to Carova went into effect. For more specific information, call the county satellite
office at (252) 453-8555.
About 300 homes are located along
these remote beaches, and new homes
are built every year. Residents negotiate
tides and the beach not only in off-road
and four-wheel-drive vehicles but also in
regular cars with big deflated tires. Bicyclists sometimes manage at dead low tide
to scoot around the fence into Sand-
bridge, Virginia, as natives in pre-fence
days did routinely.
Although relatively protected from
civilization, the area is patrolled by county,
state, and federal officers. A system of dirt
roads behind the dune line allows residents access to their homes. Most residents and visitors to Swan Beach, Carova,
North Swan Beach, and the Seagull subdivisions drive on the beach above the
waterline or on well-tread tracks at the
base of the dune line.
Without a four-wheel-drive vehicle, you
should not drive on the beach. Local
guides gladly show visitors around in off-
road vehicles. Guided tours of the area are
available (see our Recreation chapter).
Watch out for tree stumps, though. An
ancient forest that historians say grew
along the sound more than 800 years
ago still thrusts its sea-withered trunks
through the waves at an area known as
Wash Woods.
Whether you're staying in one of
Currituck Beach's exclusive rental homes
or camping somewhere on the southern
Outer Banks, Corolla and the four-wheel-drive area are well worth exploring.
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Continue to Duck
and Sanderling |