September 2014

Joseph Hoyt, James P. Delgado, Bradley Barr, Bruce Terrell and Valerie Grussing

“Graveyard of the Atlantic”

An Overview of North Carolina’s Maritime Cultural Landscape
Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program works cooperatively and in collaboration with 

partners in and outside of NOAA. We work to better understand, assess and protect America’s maritime heritage and to share 

what we learn with the public, as well as other scholars and resource managers.

This is the fourth volume in a series of technical reports that document the work of the maritime heritage program both within 

and outside of national marine sanctuaries. These reports will examine the maritime cultural landscape of America in all of its 

aspects, from overviews, historical studies, excavation and survey reports to genealogical studies.

No. 1: The Search for Planter: The Ship That Escaped Charleston and Carried Robert Smalls to Destiny

No. 2: Archaeological Excavation of the Forepeak of the Civil War Blockade Runner Mary Celestia, Southampton, Bermuda

No. 3: “The Redwood Coast”: An Overview of Northern California’s Maritime Cultural Landscape

No. 4: “Graveyard of the Atlantic”: An Overview of North Carolina’s Maritime Cultural Landscape

No. 5: Survey and Assessment of the U.S. Coast Survey Steamship Robert J. Walker, Atlantic City, New Jersey

These reports will be available online as downloadable PDFs, and in some cases, will also be printed and bound.

Additional titles will become available as work on the series progresses.

Cover Images (Clockwise from Uncle Sam): Thomas Nash cartoon (Harper’s Weekly); WWII mid-Atlantic convoy (National 

Archives); Cape Fear chart (NOAA Central Library); Life-saving station (Library of Congress); Algonquian peoples in fishing 

canoe (The Mariners’ Museum); Spanish Galleon (National Gallery of Art)

Editorial Review: Letise LaFeir, ONMS

Cover Collage: Matt McIntosh, ONMS

Publication Design & Layout: Matt McIntosh, ONMS
“Graveyard of the Atlantic”

An Overview of North Carolina’s Maritime Cultural Landscape

September 2014

Joseph Hoyt, James P. Delgado, Bradley Barr, Bruce Terrell and Valerie Grussing

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary 

ONMS Maritime Heritage Program
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

2014

1305 East-West Highway

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Abstract

North Carolina’s shoreline from Currituck Sound to Cape Fear is a 

dramatic marine setting influenced by dynamic environmental change, 

with barrier islands that stretch along hundreds of miles of coastline, 

from 20 to 40 miles offshore, that have been inhabited for thousands 

of years. Both natural and human actions have impacted this region 

of America and its marine and shoreside resources. Interactions and 

overlapping activities have left physical and cultural traces in the landscape. These traces include place names, ocean highways and inlets no longer traveled, coastal settlements, industrial structures, and 

shipwrecks, all of which form a maritime cultural landscape that is 

unique and nationally important. This coast is a perfect illustration of 

how the offshore ocean connects with the shore and beyond in terms 

of humanity’s engagement with the marine environment. This is a region that helped build the economy and communities of not only North 

Carolina, but also of the nation. It also became a place settled by 

people who came to establish lives for themselves and their families 

on these rugged, often storm-tossed shores. A number of them remain 

part of the cultural landscape to this day.

This report is an initial review of the complex, dynamic and fascinating maritime cultural landscape of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” 

This document is an overview and an introduction to the relationship 

between these cultural resources, as well as human interaction with 

the marine environment in coastal North Carolina. The concept of the 

maritime cultural landscape as a tool for characterizing this coast is 

the beginning of a process of engagement and partnership with the 

present coastal community to define, better understand and share 

its stories, while marketing the area for sustainable heritage-based 

tourism and inspiring wider awareness and support for protecting and 

promoting the unique cultural heritage of the region. 

iGraveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................. v

A Dramatic Marine Setting...................................................................................................................................................... v

A Place of Constant Change...................................................................................................................................................vi

A Story of Human Adaptation................................................................................................................................................ viii

Transformative Effects of Post-War Development................................................................................................................ viii

New Concerns over Sea Level Rise.......................................................................................................................................ix

North Carolina’s Maritime Cultural Landscapes...................................................................................................................... 1

What is a Maritime Cultural Landscape? .............................................................................................................................. 1

Basic Elements of the Outer Banks........................................................................................................................................ 3

A Drowned Environment: Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Eras.................................................................................... 7

Native American Peoples............................................................................................................................................................ 8

European Exploration.................................................................................................................................................................11

An Atlantic Ocean Highway...................................................................................................................................................... 13

The “Bankers”: The Historic Inhabitants of the Outer Banks .............................................................................................. 15

Trade and Coastal Settlements ................................................................................................................................................ 17

The “Tarheel” State............................................................................................................................................................... 17

Bath: North Carolina’s First Town ......................................................................................................................................... 18

Brunswick Town.................................................................................................................................................................... 18

New Bern.............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Wilmington............................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Shell Castle Island................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Kinnakeet.............................................................................................................................................................................. 19

Harvesting the Sea.................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Whaling................................................................................................................................................................................. 20

Turtle Fishery........................................................................................................................................................................ 20

Menhaden Fishery................................................................................................................................................................ 22

Oysters, Clams and Blue Crab ............................................................................................................................................. 23

War and Conflict, Defense and Fortification .......................................................................................................................... 25

Shipwrecks.................................................................................................................................................................................. 30

Spanish Galleons.................................................................................................................................................................. 31

Queen Anne’s Revenge........................................................................................................................................................ 31

USS Alligator ........................................................................................................................................................................ 32

USS Monitor ......................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Blockade Runners ................................................................................................................................................................ 34

USS Huron and Metropolis................................................................................................................................................... 35

Diamond Shoals Lightship.................................................................................................................................................... 37

Steamer Mirlo ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37

The Battle of the Atlantic....................................................................................................................................................... 37

German U-boats ................................................................................................................................................................... 38

Tanker E.M. Clark. ................................................................................................................................................................ 38

HMT Bedfordshire................................................................................................................................................................. 38

Life-Saving Stations and U.S. Coast Guard Bases.................................................................................................................. 39

Charting and Lighting the Coast.............................................................................................................................................. 42

The United States’ First Science Agency and Charting ........................................................................................................ 43

Vanished and Shifting Lights ................................................................................................................................................ 44

Bald Head Island Lighthouse................................................................................................................................................ 46

Iconic American Lighthouses................................................................................................................................................ 46

Lightships and Light Towers ................................................................................................................................................. 46

Protection, Tourism and Recreation......................................................................................................................................... 48
iiMaritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figures

Figure 1. The “Graveyard of the Atlantic” .....................................................................................................................................iv

Figure 2. Changing Shorelines at Cape Fear..............................................................................................................................vii

Figure 3. Adapting to the Environment. ...................................................................................................................................... viii

Figure 4. Hurricane Isabel’s Impact to Hatteras Island (2003).......................................................................................................ix

Figure 5. Haul-Seine Fishing and the Role of African Americans................................................................................................. 1

Figure 6. Heating Tar (1938)................................................................................................................................................................ 2

Figure 7. The “Seat of War” on the Coast ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Figure 8. Shad Fishing on Albemarle Sound................................................................................................................................ 5

Figure 9. North Carolina’s Coast from Space............................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 10. Early Fishing Depicted by John White ........................................................................................................................ 8

Figure 11. Unnamed Algonquian Man.......................................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 12. Map of the Carolinas (1709)...................................................................................................................................... 10

Figure 13. The Reach of Exploration (1529) ...............................................................................................................................11

Figure 14. An Early Map of North Carolina (1590)..................................................................................................................... 12

Figure 15. The Gulf Stream as Charted by Benjamin Franklin................................................................................................... 13

Figure 16. Mesoscaphe Ben Franklin (1969)............................................................................................................................. 14

Figure 17. The Wreck of Priscilla (1900).................................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 18. Corolla Schoolhouse................................................................................................................................................. 16

Figure 19. The Turpentine Industry ............................................................................................................................................ 17

Figure 20. Bath, NC (1769) ........................................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 21. Brunswick, NC (1769) ............................................................................................................................................... 18

Figure 22. Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station................................................................................................................................... 19

Figure 23. The Turtle Fishery ..................................................................................................................................................... 21

Figuer 24. Fishing on the Sound ................................................................................................................................................ 21

Figure 25. Women Mending Nets............................................................................................................................................... 21

Figure 26. A Whale Ashore......................................................................................................................................................... 21

Figure 27. A Fisherman Mends His Nets.................................................................................................................................... 22

Figure 28. Hauling in Oysters (1884) ......................................................................................................................................... 23

Figure 29. U.S. Coast Survey Map of the Oyster Beds (1888) .................................................................................................. 24

Figure 30. A Mid-Atlantic Convoy (World War II)........................................................................................................................ 25

Figure 31. Blackbeard ................................................................................................................................................................ 26

Figure 32. Order of Attack (Fort Fisher) ..................................................................................................................................... 27

Figure 33. Fort Fisher Falls ........................................................................................................................................................ 27

Figure 34. A Tanker Burns “Only 3 Miles Out”............................................................................................................................ 28

Figure 35. SS Byron D. Benson Burns....................................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 36. U.S. Navy Dirigibles at Weeksville Airfield ................................................................................................................ 29

Museums and Parks............................................................................................................................................................. 49

National Seashores .............................................................................................................................................................. 49

Beach-Going in North Carolina............................................................................................................................................. 49

Sport Fishing......................................................................................................................................................................... 49

Watercraft ............................................................................................................................................................................. 51

Recreational Activities .......................................................................................................................................................... 52

Discovery of USS Monitor and Designation of the Nation’s First National Marine Sanctuary .............................................. 52

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................................ 54

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................... 54

References.................................................................................................................................................................................. 55

ONMS Maritime Heritage Program......................................................................................................................................... 57

NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries ................................................................................................................................... 57

Did You Know? ..................................................................................................................................................................... 57

Program Highlights ............................................................................................................................................................... 57

www.MaritimeHeritage.NOAA.gov........................................................................................................................................ 57
iiiGraveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 37. The Wreck of the Steam Boat Home (1837)............................................................................................................. 30

Figure 38. Spanish Galleons...................................................................................................................................................... 31

Figure 39. Archaeological Site Plan, Queen Anne’s Revenge ................................................................................................... 31

Figure 40. Schematics of USS Alligator (1863).......................................................................................................................... 32

Figure 41. USS Monitor Sinks (1862)......................................................................................................................................... 33

Figure 42. Modern Greece Ashore............................................................................................................................................. 34

Figure 43. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Blockade Runner Wrecks (1864).................................................................................. 34

Figure 44. Wreck of SS Metropolis (1878) ................................................................................................................................. 35

Figure 45. Thomas Nast Cartoon on the Wreck of USS Huron (1877) ...................................................................................... 35

Figure 46. The Remains of a War of 1812 Gunboat (1939)....................................................................................................... 36

Figure 47. Diamond Shoals Lightship ........................................................................................................................................ 37

Figure 48. The British Cemetery at Ocracoke............................................................................................................................ 38

Figure 49. Photomosaic of U-352............................................................................................................................................... 38

Figure 50. Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station.......................................................................................................................... 39

Figure 51. Life-Saving Stations of the North Carolina Coast...................................................................................................... 40

Figure 52. Pea Island Life-Saving Station (1916)....................................................................................................................... 41

Figure 53. U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City (1999).................................................................................................. 41

Figure 54. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Floating Lights and Lightships (1845)..............................................................................42

Figure 55. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Cape Hatteras............................................................................................................... 43

Figure 56. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of the Gulf Stream (1860) ................................................................................................. 43

Figure 57. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Oregon Inlet (1862)...........................................................................................................44

Figures 58 & 59. North Carolina’s First Lighthouse at Shell Island Castle ................................................................................ 45

Figure 60. Ocracoke Light................................................................................................................................................................45

Figure 61. “Old Baldy” Lighthouse.............................................................................................................................................. 46

Figure 62. Lighthouse Icons....................................................................................................................................................... 46

Figure 63. Frying Pan Shoals Lightship and Texas Tower ..............................................................................................................47

Figure 64. “Taking a Dip in the Atlantic, Nags Head - Kitty Hawk, N.C.” .................................................................................... 48

Figure 65. Lifeboat Drill Reenactment at Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station.......................................................................... 49

Figure 66. Shore Fishing............................................................................................................................................................ 49

Figure 67. Cape Lookout National Seashore Sign..................................................................................................................... 49

Figure 68. Oregon Inlet Fishing Center (1951)........................................................................................................................... 49

Figure 69. Hatteras Harbor (1950) ............................................................................................................................................. 50

Figure 70. A Fishing Boat Takes Shape (1938).......................................................................................................................... 50

Figure 71. Construction of a Carolina-style Yacht ...................................................................................................................... 51

Figure 72. Scuba Diving Advertisement ..................................................................................................................................... 52

Figure 73. The Wreck of U-701........................................................................................................................................................... 52

Figure 74. The Discovery of USS Monitor.......................................................................................................................................... 53
ivMaritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Left column, top to bottom: Harpers Weekly; northcarolinashipwrecks.blogspot.com; National Park Service; National Archives; National Park Service; Harper’s Weekly; North Carolina Collection, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Right column: ©National Geographic Society

Figure 1. The “Graveyard of the Atlantic”: Some of the hundreds of wrecks, coastal communities, inlets and the Outer Banks are dramatically depicted in these images (left 

column). The map (right column) actively encourages tourism, as well as an appreciation of one dramatic aspect of the region.
vGraveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

This document is one of a new series of overviews prepared by 

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) to examine 

the maritime cultural landscapes near and in existing national marine sanctuaries. ONMS protects USS Monitor, one of the hundreds 

of wrecks in the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Monitor is an element 

in this region’s broader maritime cultural landscape. This document 

not only places USS Monitor’s wreck in a geographical context in 

this landscape, but it also helps place Monitor in the wider context 

of the Outer Banks as an environment in which human beings and 

their cultures reflect their relationship to this special ocean place. As 

an overview, this document is a work in progress, as dynamic and 

changing as the North Carolina coast itself. 

A Dramatic Marine Setting

North Carolina’s shoreline from Currituck Sound to Cape Fear is 

a dramatic marine setting noted in the 19th century as “being worse 

and more dreaded than any other part of the Atlantic Coast,” as mariners contended with the heavy seas and high winds that characterized 

the area off Cape Hatteras where the Gulf Stream and the Labrador 

Current collide (Barfield 1995:9). The resulting shipwrecks, in the 

hundreds, gave rise to the designation of this area as the “Graveyard 

of the Atlantic.” 

This is an area of dynamic environmental change, with barrier islands that stretch along hundreds of miles of coastline, from 20 to 40 

miles offshore, making them “unique in the world’s landforms” due 

to their distance and distinctive shape (Frankenberg 2012). Molded 

by the ocean, and having formed between massive sandy shoals, the 

coastal banks are long, crescent shaped beaches that stretch between 

four major capes (Frankenberg 2012:3). Flood-prone and unstable, 

the Outer Banks have nonetheless been inhabited for thousands of 

years. Both natural and human actions have impacted this region 

of America and its marine and shoreside resources. The geography 

of the Outer Banks is always in motion – and people respond to 

those changes – as “beaches erode and accrete....sandbars form and 

disappear; navigation channels shift; islands change shape as terminal sand spits elongate; dunes form, disappear and migrate to places 

they have never been before” (Frankenberg 2012:4-6). Sea level rise, 

the result of climate change over the last tens of thousands of years, 

and also evident in modern times, is another cause of changes in the 

Outer Banks.

Introduction
viMaritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

A Place of Constant Change

These constant changes to the Outer 

Banks as the result of sea level change, 

storms, erosion and deposition of sand result in opening and closing of inlets that 

penetrate the islands and reach into the 

sounds. These sounds, which connect the 

islands to the mainland, have also shaped 

the activities and culture of the people who 

came here to live and work. These interactions and overlapping activities have left 

physical as well as cultural traces in the 

landscape. These traces range from place 

names, ocean highways and inlets no longer traveled, coastal settlements, industrial structures, and shipwrecks to name a 

few, all of which form a maritime cultural 

landscape which, like the Outer Banks 

themselves, is unique and nationally important. This coast is a perfect illustration 

of how the offshore ocean connects with 

the shore and beyond in terms of humanity’s engagement with the marine environment. This is a region that helped build not 

only North Carolina, but also the nation’s 

economy and communities. It also became 

a place settled by people who came to establish lives on these rugged, often stormtossed shores for themselves and their 

families. A number of them remain a part 

of the cultural landscape to this day.

This report is an initial review of the 

complex, dynamic and fascinating maritime cultural landscape of the “Graveyard 

of the Atlantic.” The shipwrecks that help 

comprise the maritime cultural landscape 

represent a major, but not sole, part of a 

landscape defined by barrier islands, inlets, tenacious human settlements, fishing grounds, oyster beds, lighthouses, 

life-saving stations, forts, battlefields, sea 

lanes, coastal highways, ferry routes....

and more. This document is an introduction to the relationship between these resources and human interaction with the 

marine environment in coastal North Carolina. The concept of the maritime cultural 

landscape as a tool for characterizing this 

coast is the beginning of a process of engagement and partnership with the present 

coastal community to define, better understand and share its stories, while marketing the area for sustainable heritage-based 

tourism and inspiring wider awareness 

and support for protecting and promoting 

the unique cultural heritage of the region. 

Figure 2. Changing Shorelines at Cape Fear: This 1857 U.S. 

Coast Survey chart of the entrances to the Cape Fear River 

depicts in color how the area’s shoals had changed over time.
viiGraveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

NOAA Central Library
viiiMaritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

A Story of Human Adaptation

As this report will demonstrate, as have 

other reports and books, the “Graveyard of 

the Atlantic” story is one of constant adaptation by humans to this changing maritime landscape. For centuries, one could 

argue, this adaptation was sustainable in 

terms of a smaller human population. The 

Outer Banks were sparsely settled and, 

therefore, flexible to adapt to extreme 

weather events that swept across them and 

the coast. Communities and the ecosystem 

were more resilient to such occurrences as 

flooding, changing shorelines, and building up coastal obstacles while opening 

new routes for maritime access. As the 

population grew, resources were strained. 

Maritime forests were cut to supply the 

shipbuilding market with timber, migratory water fowl were hunted not only for 

sustenance but for market, and fishing and 

oystering underwent the same shift from 

supplying family tables to restaurants near 

and far. Natural and cultural responses 

resulted: stocks declined; a hurricane in 

1933 destroyed the oyster beds; competition, at times violent and clandestine, like 

oyster piracy, grew in scope; and ultimately government regulation of fisheries and 

migratory birds resulted. 

Ever resourceful and resilient, humans 

through their nature seek new opportunities while persisting. Embracing conservation, a conscious effort to market the 

natural and cultural uniqueness of the 

region ensued. Even in the 19th century, 

a brand had begun to emerge, defined by 

articles and advertisements. Romantic and 

comedic depictions, especially of the Outer Banks, joined with lauds to the beach 

and its more benign weather. This thread 

was picked up, and by the 1950s, books 

like Ben Dixon MacNeill’s “The Hatterasman,” and David Stick’s “The Outer 

Banks” encouraged visitors to explore this 

close-by and yet so different area.

Transformative Effects of Post 

War Development

The primary shift from sustainable, limited, human scale development to a modern, 

expansive scale of development that covers 

vast tracts of the barrier islands - stretching 

the concept of sustainability - resulted from 

postwar development. The population, both 

permanent and seasonal, boomed as the 

result of the construction of bridges across 

the sounds and between islands. Establishment of a coastal highway, and a resultant 

real estate boom transformed the face of the 

landscape beginning in the early 1960s. 

The results are dramatic. In Nags Head, 

the town website advertising its attractions in 2014 notes that “the year round 

population of 2,800 soars to a summer 

population of 40,000. What used to be a 

one-hotel town now includes a brand new 

hospital, YMCA, multiple worship centers and a variety of shops, restaurants and 

accommodations from the charming to 

Library of Congress

Figure 3. Adapting to the Environment: The shallows of the sounds inside the Outer Banks were settled with piers and piling-elevated buildings. Today, traces of pilings 

marking these sites still exist in tidal areas.
ixGraveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

the chain” (Destination Commerce Corporation 2014). Formerly open sections 

of coast are densely occupied, more than 

half of them held by absentee owners. 

In stride with increased infrastructure, 

when seasonal storms and hurricanes strike, 

the damage and the resultant costs are also 

incrementally higher. Wind insurance and 

flood insurance are facts of life for many, as 

is damage ranging all the way to total loss. 

Though usually considered permanent, a 

highway can be over-washed and undercut, 

severing a community’s lifeline. Lost lives, 

lost revenues, and the costs to rebuild have 

been magnified as the density of structures 

and population continue to grow. 

New Concerns over Sea Level Rise

Some predictive models of sea level rise 

suggest as much as 39 inches above today’s 

levels by the end of the century. Amid arguments over accuracy, concern over what 

might, or will happen is underscored by 

losses and damage during no’reasters and 

Figure 4. Hurricane Isabel’s Impact to Hatteras Island: This image was taken in 2003.

hurricanes. In the Raleigh News & Observer, Bruce Siceloff on March 15, 2014 interviewed residents, scientists and politicians 

over the issues of shoreline change, erosion 

and sea level rise. He notes that “a rise in 

sea level of 39 inches (1 meter) would radically reshape North Carolina’s broad, lowlying coast – submerging most of the Outer 

Banks, moving shorelines miles inland 

and threatening an estimated 2,000 square 

miles with flooding and increased damage 

from ocean storms” (Siceloff 2014). 

Some scientists and politicians say the 

rise may be as little as eight inches. Even 

so, storms, a fact of life for the region, bring 

surges and damage. To prepare for sea level 

rise and deal with erosion, local initiatives 

in some communities like Nags Head have 

included beach replenishment, while property owners are constructing properties 

higher on elevated stilts, and the “modest 

philosophy of ‘retreat’ from the advancing sea. This doesn’t mean packing up and 

heading for the hills. It’s about yielding to 

the relentless tides – as if there were a real 

alternative – that, over the past century, 

have claimed three rows of beach houses in 

much of Dare County” (Siceloff 2014).

What exactly the future will bring remains both unknown and disputed. What 

is clear is that the maritime cultural landscape of the North Carolina coast continues to be dynamic, inspiring human 

responses that are measured in where and 

what we build and create to contend with 

the marine environment. Other actions 

may in time be necessitated, including 

critical questions for the cultural sector in 

terms of what exactly to do with important cultural icons and treasures. Do we 

leave them to the forces of nature, do we 

continue to take steps to protect them in 

projects such as the moving of the Cape 

Hatteras lighthouse, or in time we will be 

forced to consider more drastic moves for 

a select few things not unlike the rescue of 

the soon to be drowned Nile sites about to 

disappear behind the Aswan Dam?

U.S. Coast Guard
xMaritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Cultural Landscapes

Cultural landscapes capture the living past that surrounds us and 

give us a better understanding of the links between the natural history 

and human history of a place. They illustrate how we have shaped 

the world, and how the world’s natural environments have shaped us. 

Perhaps most importantly, cultural landscapes can also provide us 

with valuable insights into the future, such as the relationship between 

the health of natural resources and human wellbeing and prosperity... At their most basic, cultural landscapes are specific places where 

combinations of human activity and natural forces have left a discernible mark on the world... Cultural landscapes are reservoirs of human 

experience that preserve undeniable examples of human triumph and 

loss. Retaining the intangible as well as the tangible parts of human 

culture, cultural landscapes can do what the natural sciences alone 

cannot. They convey the human meaning of places.

—Jensen et al. (2011)
1Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 5. Haul-Seine Fishing and the Role of African Americans: The fisheries on the coast, especially in the sounds bordering the banks, employed large segments of the 

region’s African-American population. This scene shows haul-seine fishing at Sutton Beach on Albermarie Sound.

NOAA Central Library

North Carolina’s Maritime Cultural Landscapes

What is a Maritime Cultural 

Landscape? 

Maritime cultural landscapes build on 

the older and more widely applied concept of the cultural landscape in terrestrial environments. As first suggested by 

Westerdahl (1992: p.5), maritime cultural 

landscapes were defined as “human utilization of maritime space by boat, settlement, fishing, hunting, shipping and its 

attendant subcultures.” It “comprises the 

whole network of sailing routes, old as 

well as new, with ports and harbors along 

the coast, and its related constructions and 

remains of human activity, underwater 

as well as terrestrial” (Westerdahl 1992: 

p.6). The concept of the maritime cultural 

landscape includes not only this cultural 

history of the physical maritime environment, but also the “cognitive landscape,” 

defined as “the mapping and imprinting of 

the functional aspects of the surroundings 

in the human mind. Man in landscape, 

landscape in man” (Lofgren 1981 cf West-
2Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 6. Heating Tar: Men and boys gather around a fire as tar is melted to caulk a boat on the Outer Banks, ca. 1938.
3Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Library of Congress

erdahl 1992: p.5). It embraces both the 

changes observed over time with regard to 

the physical environment and human use, 

but also the perception of these changes by 

the people who have lived, and are living, 

in that place throughout history. How this 

maritime and ecological landscape has 

shaped and been shaped by the human activities that have occurred there throughout its history provides the foundation for 

understanding these cultural landscapes 

and assessing their significance.

Since Westerdahl’s introduction of the 

topic, many archaeologists, geographers, 

and historians have adopted maritime cultural landscapes as a theoretical and methodological framework on a range of sites 

and areas in the United States, Caribbean, 

Europe and Australia (Ford 2011). 

Areas of land and water become valued places when people imbue them with 

meaning, and in turn these places influence 

self-identity and affect the way we perceive and behave toward them. Maritime 

cultural landscapes acknowledge not only 

our collective contributions to sustaining 

and improving these places we have given 

meaning, but can lead to better understanding of how people have contributed to what 

they have become, what has been learned 

along the way, and how to use that knowledge to continue to make these places special for the generations to come.

Basic Elements of the Outer Banks

What, then, are the basic elements of the 

maritime cultural landscape of the Outer 

Banks and the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”?

It is the location of prominent and 

long-standing landmarks for navigators 

involved in international and national 

maritime traffic connecting the Gulf 

Stream to the interior waterways of North 

Carolina. Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout are among the most famous maritime 

landmarks in America, whether one considers the geographic places or the iconic 

lighthouses, and numerous inlets penetrate the barrier islands. In modern times 

(2014), five inlets penetrate the Outer 

Banks between Cape Lookout and Virginia, but as many as 24 inlets have existed within the same stretch of coast since 

Colonial times (Frankenberg 2012). The 

movement of inlets demanded constant 

attention from Outer Banks’ residents 

and navigators who threaded their way 
4Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

from coastal settlements to open ocean. 

The water surrounding the Outer Banks 

served as routes for European exploration, settlement, trade, fishing and warfare hundreds of years ago through today. 

In many instances the struggles of life in 

this region are recorded in the remains of 

ships, and in some cases entire towns, lost 

due to the shifting sands and opening and 

closing of inlets. 

It is a drowned coastal environment of 

18,000 years ago when the ocean off this 

coast was 300 feet lower (Frankenberg 

last great Ice Age. Moving inland, clinging to constantly moving barrier islands, 

these peoples’ ongoing settlement would 

reflect persistence and adaptation to a 

changing climate.

It is an area strongly shaped and influenced by the offshore marine environment and the edge of the continental 

shelf, where the Gulf Stream created a 

fishery and a highway for marine mammals such as whales. It is an environment 

famed for its storms, from nor’easters to 

hurricanes, which have lashed the banks, 

America. English settlers penetrated the 

barrier islands to establish the early 16th 

century colony at Roanoke to vie against 

Spanish interests and also settled at Cape 

Fear within decades. Colonial people later 

settled the banks to fish, hunt whales, and 

wrest a living from the sea, which at times 

included the flotsam and jetsam of ships 

damaged or sunk by the fierce winds and 

stormy seas that lash the islands. They even 

harvested the wind with hundreds of windmills that lined the banks a century ago. 

These people, whose descendants remain 

important members of the community, have 

persisted for centuries.

It is an area whose fisheries inspired the 

growth of a commercial and recreational 

fishing industry from the 19th century to 

the current day. Offshore North Carolina, 

as well as the sounds, has been a critical 

area of harvestable resources for millennia, providing food and jobs to the region. Cultural practices of shore whaling 

began in the 1600s. The fishing industry, 

perhaps more than any other, has shaped 

the cultural identity of the region. This 

industry has also left physical remains 

in the form of shipwrecks as well as terrestrial structures such as fish processing 

facilities that pepper the landscape as 

reminders of a rich maritime tradition. 

Other aspects of commercial extraction 

and change include aquaculture, beach 

renourishment, and offshore and onshore 

wind energy development.

It is a marine environment of constant 

change in which the inlets that penetrate 

the banks have served as the impetus 

for establishing coastal communities. At 

times part of, but also different from, 

the broader ocean highway’s navigation, 

most of the shipping that occurred in these 

inlets and inland waters was regional and 

Figure 7. The “Seat of War” on the Coast: North Carolina’s coast during the Civil War.

Library of Congress

“This hill is, and was in 1497, clearly visible from the Great River. It is not a very high hill, 

twenty-seven feet at its eastern end near the ocean and sixty-five feet at the High Point of the 

Hills five miles or so to the west. When the air is clean of mist it is possible to see for thirty 

miles in any direction from the crest of the ridge, to Ocracoke Inlet on the west, well out above 

the Great River to the south and east, and across the Sounds to the mainland on the North. 

—Ben Dixon MacNeill, The Hatterasman (1958), p. 10 

2012). Ancient mammals lived on these 

now submerged lands that humans likely 

migrated through. Early human groups 

may have settled here as the ancestors 

of the later Algonquian people. The language base of Algonquian speakers found 

in the Carolinas links them to other peoples from the Sub-Arctic ranging from 

the Rockies to the eastern seaboard, all 

evidence of a migration of the last 2,000 

to 3,000 years. Preceding them were 

earlier people who spoke an even earlier language. These first peoples would 

have had access to and harvested the resources of an abundant coastal landscape 

that included paleo-rivers whose beds lie 

buried beneath the sounds and islands of 

modern times. That landscape was inundated by sea level rise with the end of the 

opened and closed inlets, and doomed 

hundreds of vessels.

It is an area whose rich pelagic and 

shoreside marine resources provided sustenance for the Algonquian peoples who 

lived here for thousands of years. The 

heritage of the first peoples is today represented not only in the sites of former settlements but also by the traditions and heritage of those people, some of whom have 

persisted, although to an extent not fully 

known to the larger public and scholars. 

Recent research by federally-recognized 

tribes and the State of North Carolina 

documents extensive loss of populations 

to disease, war, resettlement and slavery.

It is an area whose isolation, environment 

and access to the riches of the sea brought 

the first non-native settlers to coastal North 
5Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 8. Shad Fishing on Albemarle Sound: Laying out the seine.

NOAA Central Library; Image by H. W. Elliott

local, and confined mostly to small craft. 

What sets this type of activity apart from 

basic navigation is how it reflects human 

adaptation to environmental change.

Prominent inlets such as Ocracoke have 

become centers for settlement, trade and intense maritime activity for centuries. Other 

inlets, such as Hatteras, Oregon, or Currituck have also played major roles as they 

have changed and shifted, impacting communities like Portsmouth, Chicamacomico, 

Hatteras and Nags Head, to name a few. 

As inlets and accessibility changed, entire 

communities would be built up and later 

abandoned in accordance with the intricate 

relationship between people, industry and 

environment. In both existing communities 

and at abandoned sites, landscape elements 

may remain, tangibly or archaeologically, 

as these inlet communities were involved 

with maritime infrastructure development, 

including piers, wharves, docks, channels, 

and dredging among them. 

It is an environment whose dynamic 

landscape is responsible for countless shipwrecks. Each shipwreck may be, and most 

likely is, indicative of the various human 

aspects of interaction with the Outer Banks 

maritime environment, such as coastal and 

local navigation, warfare, fishing and oystering. In addition, various human uses of 

the wrecks, including those that stranded 

but were successfully pulled free and did 

not become total losses, are part of the landscape. Wrecking events inspired the development of additional resource types that 

comprise part of the maritime cultural landscape – lighthouses, life-saving stations, 

historic maps and charts, especially those 

of the United States Coast Survey. Charts 

were completed not only because of wrecks 

but also to avoid wrecks and to encourage 

the safe transit of goods and commerce.

The coast’s maritime environment inspired the construction of lighthouses at 

Currituck Beach, Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke, Cape Lookout and Bald 

Head, as well as the placement of buoys 

and other markers, including the famous 

Diamond Shoals and Frying Pan Shoals 

lightships. The landscape includes not only 

existing light stations, but the sites of previous ones, including the former location 

of Cape Hatteras Light, now too close to 

the changing shoreline. It includes the anchorages of the lightships, the wreck of the 

Diamond Shoals Lightship, and the later 

“Texas Tower” facilities built to replace the 

lightships and the modern lighted buoys, 

which in turn replaced the Texas Towers.

It is also an environment that inspired 

the placement of seventeen life-saving 

stations to assist those in peril on the sea. 

This included a station manned solely by 

African Americans at Pea Island from 

1875 through WWII. Many of these stations participated in famous and at times 

near-legendary rescues. Operated by local 

residents, they exemplified the best of traditions of the sea, the United States LifeSaving Service and eventually the United 

States Coast Guard. 

It is a coastal and ocean landscape that 

has been shaped and affected by combat 

and war. Piracy, the final, fatal fight of the 

notorious Edward Teach or Blackbeard, 

the American Revolution, the War of 

1812, the Civil War, and both World Wars 

all impacted the area. Coastal forts, battle 

sites on land and at sea, and numerous 

shipwrecks attest to these wars, including the vast number of tankers, freighters and U-boats from the WWII Battle of 

the Atlantic, as well as the graves of lost 

seamen ashore, such as the graves of the 

men from HMS Bedfordshire, and crew 

of San Delfino at Ocracoke and Cape Hatteras. Fortifications, both temporary and 

those intended to be permanent dotted 

this landscape’s shores, and offshore, vast 

minefields delineated the fixed defenses 

of the Battle of the Atlantic.

It is a place whose history, culture and 

rugged beauty, as well as the need to provide regular links, inspired maritime as 

well as non-marine access by land to reach 

its shores. Among the sites that reflect this 

are not only modern roads and bridges, former and current ferry docks, but also places like the old haul-over site, or the soundto-sea portage on Hatteras Island between 

Black Hammock and Kite Point. Limited 

wagon roads through the dunes and along 

the shores replaced intermittent access by 

horse and foot, and in time gave way to 

State Route 12, the “Albemarle Highway,” 

which has changed the formerly isolated 

nature of the area and altered the coastal 

environment and its communities, giving 

rise to extensive modern shoreside development. This advance led to increased 

tourism and settlement that included the 

nation’s first national seashore, and commercial expansion, which marketed the 

resources and beauty of the maritime environment and dramatically changed the 

coastal landscape. 

It is an area that has influenced specialized vessel types and advanced boatbuilding throughout recent history. The unique 

conditions of the sounds and inlet in the 

region heavily influenced the design of 

vernacular watercraft for numerous industries, including shipping, lightering, passenger, marsh hunting, and fishing. To this 

day “Hatteras” style fishing vessels are 

known internationally for their design, and 

coastal North Carolina still supports some 

of the leading industry brands in small 
6Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

fishing and sport craft.

A significant section of the Carolina coast, 

barrier islands are recognized for ecological 

uniqueness and maritime history. Efforts to 

conserve the resources led to the 1938 establishment of a migratory waterfowl preserve, now Pea Island National Wildlife 

Refuge. It is also a carefully constructed 

and managed landscape meant to recreate a 

now-vanished, unspoiled maritime “wilderness” (Grussing 2008 and Lee 2009). That 

work commenced during the Great Depression with an extensive program conducted 

by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). 

The manufactured maritime cultural landscape of that time and activities includes 

former CCC camp-sites, such as that outside 

Buxton. A strong interest in its preservation 

led to restoration of the landscape, such as 

the National Park Service’s work to create 

“man-made protective sand dunes, covered 

with hand-planted grass, backed up by nursery-grown seedling, all installed by the government with millions of dollars of federal 

funds” (Stick 1964: 24). As post-World War 

II hopes of an oil boom collapsed, growing 

local and federal interest in increased tourism spawned the nation’s first national seashore, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, in 

the 1950s. 

The later addition of Cape Lookout National Seashore and the nation’s first national marine sanctuary established to protect the wreck of USS Monitor, as well as 

wildlife refuges, bird sanctuaries, marine 

protected areas, including state parks and 

preserves, and private refuges, retreats and 

resorts all speak to the importance of this 

area. The manufactured dunes, the access 

ramps built through them by the National 

Park Service for tourist “beach buggies” 

and later off-road driving and beach fishing 

enthusiasts, as well as the visitor centers 

and carefully preserved historic sites within the NPS areas are all part of the ongoing 

evolution of the Banks’ maritime cultural 

landscape, as is the boom in oceanside 

beach resort and private home development that followed the opening of NC 12, 

the coastal highway, and the 1963 Bonner 

Bridge’s construction to link Hatteras with 

Bodie Island. The first major beach community development, near Avon, in 1962 

was the harbinger of a vastly different maritime cultural landscape that is the heavily 

developed Outer Banks of 2014.

North Carolina has become an important center for scientific inquiry and 

research. The oceanographic conditions 

and geomorphology of the area result in 

a perfect living laboratory for many of the 

critical marine sciences that help us better 

understand our world. Its special physical 

characteristics consequently have led to 

unique living resources as well, this area 

being the zoogeographical interface between temperate and subtropical marine 

ecosystems. As a result biologists, geologists, oceanographers, as well as historians 

and archaeologists are drawn to this area 

and likewise extract their work and identity from this unique region. Academic institutions as well as private and non-profit 

organizations have established marine 

research centers along North Carolina’s 

coast. A weather station opened at Portsmouth by the U.S. Army Signal Corps 

in 1876 was one of the first scientific facilities to document the coastal weather in 

the region. In the early 20th century, the 

United States Weather Service established 

a station on the Outer Banks to document 

the natural forces that influence the Banks 

and the regions beyond. The successor to 

the Weather Service, the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

continues this work to this day both by 

land, sea, air and space, focusing on the 

Outer Banks as part of its mission.

In conclusion, the history and uniqueness of the maritime landscape is recognized and embraced by coastal communities and their residents and elected officials 

on this section of coast. Concurrently, there 

has been a sense of the need to protect it, 

and of the dynamic nature of change. Shifting inlets, beach erosion, development 

required to support and enhance tourism 

and the growing population, and seasonal 

crowding all challenge the Outer Banks. 

Ocean changes in the offshore environment 

and impacts of high-powered storms in an 

increasingly populated area on the Outer 

Banks create additional challenges. The developments, the parks and refuges, and the 

activities of today are part of the modern 

maritime cultural landscape, with their perceived resource values and human uses all 

part of the ongoing saga of human involvement with this unique coastal and marine 

environment.

Coastal geologists do not agree when barrier islands similar to the present Outer 

Banks may have formed. Some think they formed when the rate of sea level rise slowed...

— Dirk Frankenberg, The Nature of the Outer Banks (1995), p. 7
7Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

A Drowned Environment:

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Eras

Figure 9. North Carolina’s Coast from Space: The turbidity offshore speaks to the dynamic natural forces which have 

shaped this landscape and consequently the people that have lived within it throughout history.

During the last glacial maximum, much 

of the world’s ocean water was contained 

in ice. As a result, the sea level was as 

much as 300 feet lower. As such, the Late 

Pleistocene shoreline extended much 

further east than it does today, out to approximately the continental shelf. Modern bathymetric surveys have revealed 

features on the seabed, which indicate a 

flooded landscape where canyons and old 

riverbeds can be identified. Though never 

conclusively proven, it is likely Paleoperiod peoples would have inhabited this 

landscape and left discoverable remains 

behind. Modern anecdotal stories of fisherman’s nets recovering stone knapped 

spear heads and mammoth bones with tool 

marking abound in local lore. Scientific 

evidence of drowned ancient settlements 

and land use is the subject of ongoing 

oceanographic archaeological research. 

As glacial ice melted and the Holocene 

period began, the water rose significantly 

and started processes that created one of 

the largest networks of barrier islands on 

the planet. Since that time the Outer Banks 

have undergone an unending reshaping 

of the barrier islands as inlets opened and 

closed, shoals built up as a result of colliding currents, and the entire island slowly 

began migrating westward. This physical 

shaping of the area dictated the way human 

beings interacted with the landscape from 

the beginning of the Holocene period right 

up to present day, this includes major anthropogenic processes starting in the 1930s. NASA
8Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Native American Peoples

Archaeological evidence of first peoples at the 

end of the Paleo period shows a cultural material 

shift to what is known as the Archaic culture. These 

were nomadic tribes that relied wholly on hunting 

and gathering, which would have included exploitation of rich pelagic and tidal marine resources such 

as shellfish. Modern development and storms occasionally uncover evidence of these early settlements, 

defined through the middens of deposited shell intermixed with other materials, artifacts and charcoal. 

The next cultural development included the introduction of small-scale agriculture beginning in what 

is known as the Woodland period. Archaeological 

discoveries on the Outer Banks also include pottery 

from this period and culture.

One example is site 31DR1, a midden first documented in the 1930s, resurveyed in the 1950s, test excavated in 1983, and with a new portion exposed by 

storm surges in the town of Buxton in August 1993 

that was partially excavated and studied in the summer of 1994. Defined by the excavators, as the likely 

capital or largest settlement of the Croatan, this was 

one of a series of sites where both the marine environment and the maritime forests of the Outer Banks 

were utilized for sustenance and year-round occupation by these pottery-making, agrarian people. In all, 

a 1954 survey of Hatteras Island documented seven 

archaeological sites related to the first peoples of the 

Outer Banks (Ewen et al. 2011); others whose locations were buried or obscured have been noted but 

not reported through accidental discoveries in the 

decades since (Carl Bornfriend, interview by James 

Delgado, April 12, 2014).

At the time of European contact, the majority of 

Eastern North Carolina native peoples were practicing 

a Woodland style lifeway, which included exploitation of marine resources. It is estimated that there were 

upwards of 100,000 individuals in the North Carolina 

area belonging to various tribes from three major language groups, Algonquian, Iroquoian and Siouan. The 

Siouan speaking tribes lived in the Cape Fear Region. 

Algonquian tribes located in eastern North Carolina 

were the Chowanoke, Croatan, Hatteras, Moratoc, 

Secotan, Machapunga, Pamlico, Coree, Neusiok, Pas-

“They have another method of taking fish by means of certain mats 

fixed in the water with sticks, like a fence; which, woven in a strait, gradually contracts...a more cunning trap for fish is not known in England...”

— John White, 1590

Figure 10. Early Fishing Depicted by John White: English colonist and artist John White’s 

depictions of the people, country and practices of the New World in the 16th century included this 

image of fishing practiced on the waters of what are now Virginia and North Carolina.

The Mariners’ Museum
9Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

The Mariners’ Museum

Figure 11. Unnamed Algonquian Man: This depiction by John White is one of his more famous images. 
10Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

quotank, Perquimans, Poteskeet, Roanoke, 

and Yeopim, amongst others. The Algonquian groups tended to be more coast and 

sound oriented, while the Iroquoian and Siouan-speaking groups were typically found 

further inland in the Piedmont and in the 

western part of the state. The Algonquian 

and Siouan people were the first native people encountered by European settlers. The 

cultural encounter between Europeans and 

the first peoples reshaped the landscape and 

ultimately decimated and relocated much 

of the population of the entire coastline. By 

1729, a Colonial survey noted that for “Indians, none inhabiting the Sea Coast, but 

about 6, or 8, but at Hatteras, who dwell 

among the English” (Moseley 1733). 

Many place names of these first peoples still persist although no state or 

federally-recognized tribes remain in the 

Outer Banks area. The people persist, too, 

although there are some who only privately associate themselves with the first 

peoples of the Outer Banks, being the descendants of those “who dwell among the 

English” (Bornfriend 2014). These groups 

include the Cape Fear, Chowanoke, 

Coree, Hatteras, and Croatan. Though 

none of these groups are federally recognized today, some Cape Fear descendants 

are probably members of the Waccamaw 

Siouan Tribe; descendants of the Coree, 

Bay River, Machapunga and Pamlico Indians continue to live in Dare, Hyde and 

Tyrell counties; Chowanoke descendants 

likely live in the lower Chowan River region; and little is known of the Hatteras 

or Croatan now (http://www.voicesofthesandhills.com/tribes/known-tribes.html). 

Regardless of the dispossession of the 

first peoples of the Outer Banks, what 

has persisted on these shores and waters, in addition to an unknown number 

of descendants, are archaeological sites, 

place names, and perhaps memories and 

traditions, whether written on a map or 

not. Roanoke Island, the Town of Manteo, Hatteras Island, Wanchese, Chicamacomico, Pamlico Sound, and Perquimans 

River are just a few modern eponyms 

tracing their origin to the first peoples and 

their names for these places. These place 

names reflect the fundamental truth that 

their roots are found in the rich heritage 

of the native people who once called this 

area home. 

The centuries of cultural contact, the 

decimation of the population, forced relocation as the result of wars, disease and political decisions by the non-native culture 

have left little evidence beyond eponyms 

and occasionally unearthed archaeological evidence in what once was a rich and 

diverse center of interaction with this 

maritime cultural landscape. Therefore, 

thousands of years of this rich heritage are 

missing here. The key questions within the 

context of this document are what were 

these peoples’ relationships and interactions with the maritime landscape? How 

did it shape their culture? Where did they 

go, and why? What is their connection 

today to this particular maritime cultural 

landscape? The “why” is difficult, if not 

impossible, for non-native people to write. 

Addressing this lack of knowledge and native voice is essential, and it is important to 

strive to learn what one can in the absence 

of a native voice, and reach out specifically 

to any and all descendants who can provide 

insight and share what they are willing to 

share. In lieu of descendant interpretation, 

all that remains for now is an archaeological summary solely from a European perspective, without any native voice. 

Figure 12. Map of the Carolinas: In his book A New Voyage to Carolina (1709), John Lawson (1674-1711) 

documented his understanding of some of the native settlements and place names.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Library
11Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 13. The Reach of Exploration: This 1529 map, said to be from Verrazano’s voyage of 1524, depicts Europeans’ increased awareness of the Atlantic 

and Caribbean regions. The Carolinas and their coasts were only a small part of that larger maritime landscape.

European Exploration

European exploration of the North Carolina coast and the Outer Banks began within half a century of Columbus’ voyages. 

While Spanish mariners may have made 

landfall around Cape Fear in 1521, the first 

documented encounter came when explorer 

Giovanni da Verrazano, sailing in the ship 

La Dauphine under Royal French charter, 

landed a man briefly at Cape Fear in March 

1524. After a friendly encounter with the 

local people, who rescued the man after he 

was battered by surf after swimming ashore, 

the Cape Fear people warmed and dried 

him, and returned him to the waiting boat. 

Verrazano characterized the Outer Banks 

as an isthmus, with the sounds behind them 

an unexplored “open sea” that Verrazano 

thought to be the Pacific Ocean “which is 

the one without doubt which goes about the 

extremity of India, China and Cathay.”

Native accounts shared with later English explorers described Spanish shipwrecks that occurred. One stranded Spanish sailors who built a boat and departed, 

only to be lost when that boat also wrecked 

sometime around 1559. In another wreck, 

no one survived, but “the shippe, or some 

part of her, being cast on the sande, out 

of whose sides they drew the nailes, and 

spikes, and with these made their best instruments” (Stick 1958:14).

English explorers visited the Outer 

Banks in 1584 as part of an expedition sent 

by Sir Walter Raleigh to scout for a site to 

settle. After entering the sound through a 

now-closed inlet believed by modern historians to be near modern Oregon Inlet, they 

reconnoitered Roanoke Island, interacting 

with the local tribe called the Roanoac. 

What followed was an extensive period of 

other visits, and the eventual establishment 

in 1587 of an English settlement on Roa-Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan
12Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

noke Island, the fabled “Lost Colony.” The 

site of that fortified settlement (1587-1590) 

is now Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Considerable archaeological work has 

taken place at Fort Raleigh and led to the 

reconstruction of the earthwork fort at the 

site. Drawing on accounts from the local 

Croatan people, John Lawson noted that 

oral tradition indicated the “lost colonists” of Fort Raleigh had settled with 

them after their abandonment of the site 

prior to 1590. Lawson noted “A farther 

Confirmation of this we have from the 

Hatteras Indians, who either then lived 

on Ronoak-Island, or much frequented it. 

These tell us, that several of their Ancestors were white People, and could talk in 

a Book, as we do; the Truth of which is 

confirm’d by gray Eyes being found frequently amongst these Indians, and no 

others. They value themselves extremely 

for their Affinity to the English, and are 

ready to do them all friendly Offices. It is 

probable, that this Settlement miscarry’d 

for want of timely Supplies from England; or thro’ the Treachery of the Natives, for we may reasonably suppose that 

the English were forced to cohabit with 

them, for Relief and Conversation; and 

that in process of Time, they conform’d 

themselves to the Manners of their Indian 

Relations.” Archaeological excavation 

of the 31DR31 site at Buxton in the late 

1990s recovered 16th century artifacts 

from the site, which the excavation team 

attributed to the “Lost Colony.”

Research by local historians Barbara 

Midgette and Fred Willard (http://www.

lost-colony.com/Archaeology.html) suggests that the site of the inlet through 

which the explorers entered the sounds 

and reached Roanoke Island, with a small 

sound-side port known as Port Ferdinando, and where a monument of Colonial 

possession and a fortification was erected, may be archaeologically present at the 

current site of the Bodie Lighthouse. Prior to the formation of Oregon Inlet, they 

believe the earlier inlet closed between 

1775 and 1808. To date, no mention has 

been made of any work to confirm or 

deny this hypothesis.

Figure 14. An Early Map of North Carolina: This is one of the earliest maps of North Carolina compiled by Theodore DeBry in 1590. It would be hundreds of years before 

accurate charts were made of the area. Charts like these were all early colonists had to navigate the shifting shoals of the Outer Banks.

“Wee beheld the Sea on both 

sides to the North, and to the South, 

finding no ende of any both waies. 

This lande laye stretching it selfe to 

the West which after wee founde to 

be but an Island of twentie leagues 

long, and not ebove six miles broade.”

- Arthur Barlow, 1584

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Library Maps Collection
13Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

An Atlantic Ocean Highway

Figure 15. The Gulf Stream as Charted by Benjamin Franklin: In 1769 while serving as Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin created this map of the Gulf Stream, 

which he considered to be vital to commerce and communication. As an important sea-lane, sailors have been using this natural feature in the maritime landscape for 

centuries. North Carolina’s Outer Banks are positioned at the northernmost point of the Gulf Stream off of the Eastern Seaboard.

The Colonial period began a steady 

stream of maritime commerce along the 

mid-Atlantic which continues to present 

day. Two major oceanic currents, the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream, act as 

major arteries of commerce due to the 

added speed they impart to vessels traveling within them. One of the best ways to 

think of an oceanic current is to imagine a 

moving walkway in an airport. The ships 

still must move under their own power, 

but hitching a ride on a reliable current 

NOAA
14Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

reduces transit times and costs.

These currents were especially important during the age of sail when vessel maneuverability was tied exclusively to harnessing the natural forces of the winds and 

currents. Much of the initial wealth in the 

New World was concentrated in the Caribbean region, and once a vessel had taken 

on a cargo it needed to return to European 

parent countries. Using the Gulf Stream, 

these vessels would be carried up the east 

coast of what is now the United States until 

they met Cape Hatteras. It is at this point 

that the Gulf Stream meets the Labrador 

Current and changes the trajectory of the 

Gulf Stream very conveniently towards 

Europe. Spanish voyagers knew Cape Hatteras from early voyages of exploration, 

and referred to it as Cape San Juan.

As this trade route continued to develop into a major maritime thoroughfare 

interstitial ports began to develop along 

the coast. The development of depots, 

service ports, towns and other infrastructure along major routes of travel is 

a hallmark of human settlement throughout time. Along with ever-increasing 

maritime traffic came a greater number of 

shipwrecks. This was particularly true off 

of North Carolina, which is home to notoriously shifting inlets and shoals, as well 

as heavy weather and a ‘confused sea’ a 

result of colliding oceanic currents.

The Gulf Stream continues to this day 

to be a critical part of economic commerce as well as an important part of our 

collective heritage. The Gulf Stream is 

the brush that has painted the landscape 

of coastal North Carolina. It brings with 

it warm subtropical waters and creates a 

diverse ecosystem that has provided extraordinary fishing grounds for thousands 

of years. Early efforts to understand the 

Gulf Stream began in Colonial times and 

continued into the 19th century when the 

Office of Coast Survey commenced studies and worked to map this vast undersea 

“river.” This work continued well into 

the next century. The Gulf Stream was 

also famously the setting for an historic 

scientific mission, which took place in 

1969. The mesoscaphe Ben Franklin, a 

research submersible manned by explorer Jacques Piccard, conducted a 30-day 

underwater mission in the Gulf Stream 

which covered nearly 1,500 miles from 

Florida to Nova Scotia. In addition to collecting oceanographic data, NASA also 

used this mission to evaluate continuous 

close confinement for space missions. 

Figure 16. Mesoscaphe Ben Franklin: The submersible vessel (PX-15) is seen here during the Gulf Stream Mission, 1969. Restored and preserved ashore on the Pacific Coast at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in British 

Columbia, the submersible is one of the more remote and yet significant aspects of the Graveyard of the Atlantic/Gulf 

Stream maritime cultural landscape. 

“There is a river in the ocean. 

In the severest droughts it never 

fails, and in the mightiest floods it 

never overflows. Its banks and its 

bottoms are of cold water, while 

its currents are warm. The Gulf of 

Mexico is its fountain and its mouth 

is in the Arctic Seas. It is the Gulf 

Stream. There is in the world no 

other such majestic flow of waters. 

Its current is more rapid than the 

Mississippi or the Amazon.”

- Matthew Fontaine 

Maury, 1855

seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov
15Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

The “Bankers”:

The Historic Inhabitants of the Outer Banks

 The Outer Banks are an area whose isolation, environment and access to the riches 

of the sea brought the first non-native settlers to this part of Colonial America. The 

first Colonial settlers appear to have come 

to Kinnakeet (now Avon) in or around 1711 

when the first grant of land was made. Living on the narrow barrier islands of the 

Outer Banks was a way of life reserved for 

a hearty lot. The coastal winds were harnessed, for example, to grind corn as early 

as 1723 with mainland-introduced windmills rising at Kinnakeet. Now gone, those 

windmills were a prominent feature of the 

maritime cultural landscape of the Banks.

The sandy banks natives are colloquially known as “Bankers,” the cultural 

identity of those who made a way of life 

in this remote and harsh environment. 

One of the earliest references to the term 

“Bankers” is found in a 1752 report regarding the plunder of a distressed Spanish galleon in Ocracoke Inlet:

On or about the 3rd September 1750, a 

Spanish Ship called Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe of the Burthen ... was by distress of 

extreme bad weather in a most shattered 

and dangerous condition forced into Ocacock River ... and in spite of all the assistance which could be sent to them by the 

Civil Magistrate plundered by the Bankers: being a people so called from their 

inhabiting near the banks of the sea shoar.

Nearly 150 years later the area is described in an 1892 Harper’s Weekly:

If there were any spot on earth that one 

would expect to find untenanted, it surely 

would be this stretch of sand between ocean 

and sound. ...Yet, there is a hardy race who 

Figure 17. The Wreck of Priscilla: Local residents of Hatteras Island salvage components of the vessel Priscilla in 1900. Recovering items washed ashore was a commonplace necessity for many on the Outer Banks through much of its post-European contact history.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
16Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

has lived here from father to son for over a 

century. They exist entirely by hunting, fishing, rearing cattle and acting as guides.

Most early European settlers on the 

Outer Banks practiced a subsistence-based 

lifestyle. They engaged in small-scale agriculture and relied on hunting, fishing 

and raising some livestock. They would 

typically reside on the more stable and 

forested sound side of the banks. Much of 

the native vegetation, predominantly live 

oaks and juniper, was clear-cut over time 

to build homes or to bring to market.

Wreck salvage along the Outer Banks 

was a full time job for many early Bankers. The first known evidence of this was 

in the colonial period with the loss of the 

vessel, Swift Advice, which came ashore 

near Chicamacamico in 1698. The remains 

of the cargo, which consisted of guns, furniture, sails, and various provisions, were 

all removed by the local Bankers in a matter of days. As timber became increasingly 

scarce, the ship’s hulls often became a 

source of building materials. One example, of this is a single room schoolhouse 

built in Corolla using shipwrecked timbers, which is still in use today.

Shipwrecks shaped the cultural landscape of Bankers in many ways. Employment and extra resources came in the form 

of salvageable materials that washed up 

on the beaches. As commerce increased 

so did the incidence of shipwrecks. This 

provided yet another alternative, employment as a surfman in the Life-Saving Service. Many of the local residents who live 

on the Outer Banks today claim ancestry 

to those who were wrecked along the 

shore and never left.

Figure 18. Corolla Schoolhouse: This single room schoolhouse was built partially of timbers from ships wrecked 

along the Outer Banks. Resourceful residents would routinely use remains washed ashore for building purposes. 

This schoolhouse was restored in 1999 and still functions as a school today.

“...it is not without sound reason 

that any islander will tell you that here 

is the safest place on the earth in time 

of storm. Nobody has been hurt by one 

– provided he took the sea’s warning.”

- Ben Dixon MacNeill, The 

Hatterasman (1958), p. 119

NOAA
17Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Trade and Coastal Settlements

The “Tarheel” State 

During the colonial period, North Carolina emerged as an important place along 

the ocean highway. England, as an island 

nation, had depleted a great deal of its native supply of naval stores, which were 

Figure 19. The Turpentine Industry: Products made from pine trees were in high demand by shipbuilders and mariners in the early colonial period, and gave rise to towns 

such as Wilmington. This illustration depicts a coastal North Carolina turpentine distillery before the Civil War.

critical for the Royal Navy. Naval stores 

consisted of products derived from pine 

forests, chiefly tar, pitch, and turpentine. 

The vast pine forests of the mid-Atlantic 

were an extremely valuable resource for 

the Royal Navy’s wooden vessels, making 

these items one of Colonial North Carolina’s most important exports, particularly 

out of Wilmington. Those involved with 

the industry were known as “Tarheels,” a 

name that still evokes a sense of cultural 

identity in North Carolina.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill North Carolina Collection
18Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Bath: North Carolina’s First Town

The small town of Bath, located on the 

“inner banks” of North Carolina was the 

state’s first port of entry having been incorporated in 1705. Most of the maritime 

commerce going through this port consisted of naval stores as well as other typical early colonial goods such as furs and 

tobacco. The town served as the de facto 

colonial capital. The town was also home 

to the pirate Blackbeard for a time. Today 

the town of Bath is remarkably similar to 

what it was in the colonial period and is a 

heritage tourism destination. Archaeological work at Bath (a State Historic Site) has 

focused on various aspects on land, including former and current home sites. One 

excavation, in 1960, documented a likely 

1739 structure’s remains, which included 

a cellar “made of stones that had arrived 

as ballast in the holds of sailing ships that 

docked at Bath” according to the NC Department of Cultural Resources (NCDCR 

2012). Ongoing archaeological projects are 

planned and intend to seek and examine the 

aspects of the site’s initial settlement and 

interactions with the local first peoples.

Brunswick Town

The first permanent European settlement on the Lower Cape Fear River, 

Brunswick Town was founded in 1725 and 

became a port of entry in 1729. Brunswick 

during its early years essentially served as 

the capital of North Carolina. Located 20 

miles north of the mouth of the Cape Fear 

River to make it less vulnerable to attacks 

by foreign powers or pirates, Brunswick 

was accessible for deep-draft vessels and 

was settled by mariners as well as merchants. It flourished as a port where incoming finished goods entered and country-produced products like naval stores, 

tobacco lumber and furs were shipped out. 

By 1730, there were about a dozen households. Rivalry with the newly established 

port of Newton (today’s Wilmington), attacks by Spanish privateers in 1748, and a 

1761 hurricane also damaged the town’s 

prospects. Abandoned and ruined during 

the Revolutionary War, the port area remained in use until river dredging allowed 

larger ships to finally bypass Brunswick 

in favor of a direct connection to Wilmington without the labor and cost of lightering to shallower draft vessels. The site 

was re-occupied by Confederate troops 

during the Civil War and an earthworks 

defense, Fort Anderson, was built on the 

site. Archaeological excavation beginning 

in the 1950s uncovered foundations and 

today Brunswick is a North Carolina Historic Site with displays, a museum and the 

walking tours of the exposed ruins as well 

as Fort Anderson.

New Bern

Like many early coastal settlements, 

New Bern was located on the “inner 

banks,” which provided much more stable 

conditions for establishing a town while 

still offering access to the sea. New Bern 

was settled in 1710 by predominantly German and Swiss immigrants who named the 

town after the capital of Switzerland. It 

served as the capital of the colonial government, and the colonial government house, 

Tryon Palace, still stands there today.

Wilmington

In the 1720s European settlers began arriving in the Cape Fear region, and by 1733 

had incorporated a town known as New 

Carthage. This town would not be known 

as Wilmington until 1740. Wilmington’s 

location was ideal and quickly grew as an 

important port city. The primary trade was 

maritime with particular attention to naval 

stores and lumber. The infrastructure developed for this trade, which extended to 

the Banks, included the lighthouses, and 

forts, but also wharves, docks, piers, warehouses, Custom Houses, and a variety of 

other structures industrial, mercantile and 

governmental to deal with the powerful 

maritime origins and context of this port 

– and in time this extended to other settlements in the larger maritime landscape of 

coastal North Carolina. The importance 

of this colonial port gave rise to the city’s 

nickname “Port City” which is still in common usage today. Of all the early coastal 

settlements in North Carolina, Wilmington has persisted as a center of commerce 

and is the only modern major metropolitan 

area on the North Carolina coast.

Shell Castle Island

In the 1700s, Ocracoke Inlet was one 

of the busiest inlets on the East Coast of 

what would become the United States. This 

Figure 20. Bath, NC: As surveyed and drawn by J.C. Sauthier in May 1769. Figure 21. Brunswick, NC: As surveyed and drawn by J.C. Sauthier in May 1769. North Carolina Archives, Raleigh

North Carolina Archives, Raleigh
19Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

lighthouse was nestled amongst a busy little marine depot that was one of North Carolina’s most important ports from the late 

1700s until the early 1800s. Shell Castle 

Island was essentially a lightering facility, 

offloading ocean going cargoes and transferring them to regional vessels designed 

for plying the shallow waters of Pamlico 

Sound. At its height this facility consisted 

of wharves, warehouses, a windmill and 

gristmill, homes, a lumberyard, notary public and even a tavern. The fate of the town 

and the lighthouse reflect the changing nature of the landscape in North Carolina. As 

new inlets were opened by hurricanes and 

Ocracoke inlet shifted and shoaled, the entire town was abandoned by 1818 and has 

long since completely disappeared.

Kinnakeet

The settlement of Kinnakeet (modern Avon) commenced around 1711 and 

remained sparsely occupied, without a 

well-defined urban core, for over a century. Most homes faced away from the 

ocean and exposure to its weather, and 

instead faced the sound, and were surrounded and protected by the local maritime forest. The population grew in time 

with shipwreck victims deciding to stay; 

as the Outer Banks’ history website notes, 

“Longtime island names like Austin, 

Oden, Gray, Etheridge, Willis, O’Neal 

and Scarborough all reportedly owe their 

Hatteras heritage to shipwrecks” (http://

www.hatterasguide.com/history/) 

The hurricane of 1846 that hit the Banks 

between Ocracoke and Bodie Island created a navigable inlet, Hatteras Inlet, which 

replaced the silting and unreliable Colonial Inlet at Ocracoke. Then, as now, the 

maritime environment of the Outer Banks 

and human responses to it were reflected 

in what we now term the maritime cultural 

landscape; in this case, a shift in settlement size, density and infrastructure. 

As a result of the new inlet, coastal 

maritime trade developed at Kinnakeet, 

which became the key spot from which 

deep-water cargoes could be landed and 

then redistributed to smaller Banks communities via small, shallow-draft vessels. 

The new “port” also burgeoned as demand for pilots who could navigate the 

inlet and the various shoals were hired, 

mariners settled in town, and the increase 

in shipping provided income for Bankers 

who could sell provisions as well as timber cut from the maritime forest, notably 

live oak, a key material for shipbuilding.

The 1860 United States Census recorded 661 inhabitants of Hatteras Island, 

84 of them enslaved, with 318 of those 

people resident at Kinnakeet. Other settlements also arose where once there had 

been isolated farmsteads at Chicamacomico (now known as Rodanthe and Waves) 

and at Clarks (Salvo) and Trent (Frisco).

After the Civil War, as the Outer Banks 

history website notes, “Hatteras Village, 

because of its deep inlet, grew to be the 

second leading port in North Carolina, 

next to Wilmington (http://www.hatterasguide.com/history/). The inlet served 

the inland communities of New Bern, 

Washington, Edenton, Elizabeth City and 

Plymouth. It was a prosperous time that 

sparked the building of many of the historic homes in Hatteras Village. Residents 

of the other villages sailed to Hatteras 

Village for their supplies. In 1870, Dare 

County was formed and included Hatteras 

Island, which had previously been a part 

of Hyde County.”

Figure 22. Kinnakeet Life-Saving Station: The crew stands in front of the station, geared up and ready to deploy on a hazardous coast.

Library of Congress
20Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Harvesting the Sea

Harvesting fish, shellfish, and marine 

mammals from the waters bordering the 

Outer Banks dates to prehistoric times 

and continued through the Colonial period to modern times. It is one of the oldest persistent maritime activities in the region. In the Colonial period and well into 

the 19th century, much of this activity 

was focused on subsistence – survival – 

as the Bankers relied on the sea and sound 

as well as the land for their meals. The 

later 19th century saw a shift to market 

fishing that included harvesting seaweed, 

turtles and shellfish ranging from clams, 

scallops, oysters, and even porpoises, 

with a porpoise-meat processing plant in 

Hatteras Village for the six-year period 

spanning 1885 to 1891. The 20th century 

saw the rise of a more industrialized fishery, especially focusing on menhaden. At 

the same time, recreational fishing also 

commenced, giving rise to offshore boats, 

but also to coastal and sound-based fishing piers, such as the famous Jennette’s 

Pier, the first Outer Banks fishing pier. 

Constructed in 1939 at Nags Head, the 

wood-pile and decked pier was 754 feet 

long, 16 feet wide, and terminated at a 

28-foot wide “T.” The pier, with its attendant shops and changing rooms (for 

bathers) stood until largely destroyed by 

Hurricane Isabel in 2003 just after it was 

donated to the North Carolina Aquarium. 

Rebuilt as a 1,000-foot long concrete 

educational pier between the years 2009-

2011, Jennette’s remains a prominent feature of the maritime cultural landscape.

Whaling

Whales were an important commodity 

during the colonial period. Their blubber 

provided oil for lamps and lights, while 

their bones, teeth and baleen were used 

to manufacture a range of products from 

chess pieces to hairbrushes. It is known 

that New England whale men voyaged 

to hunting grounds off of North Carolina 

as early as 1667, and early settlers on 

the Outer Banks routinely made use of 

strandings since the 1660s as well. Early 

on, most of the whaling industry was predominantly shore whaling. Whales would 

be spotted from lookout towers on shore 

or small boats. These boats would then 

approach a whale and attach a drogue 

(block of wood) via a harpoon, which 

would act as a marker float enabling 

the small boats to encircle and lance the 

whale before hauling them ashore for 

harvesting. In the colonial period leases 

were let out for sections of shoreline for 

the purpose of whaling. The targeted species was predominantly the right whale, 

or an occasional sperm whale. This industry continued in some capacity into the 

early 20th Century. In its heyday, shoreside tryworks were established on Shackelford Banks near Cape Lookout, which 

became a hub of transplanted New England Whalers. As the industry progressed 

traditional offshore whaling took place of 

shore-based techniques until the industry 

declined.

 Turtle Fishery

The terrapin, or turtle fishery, existed 

from early times, primarily for local sustenance. As with other pelagic resources, 

the later 19th century introduced a brief 

commercial fishery, described in 1884 by 

Frederick True:

The most northern points at which any considerable turtle fishery is prosecuted are 

Beaufort, and Morehead City, NC. A small 

number of loggerhead, hawks bill, and green 

turtles enter Cove and Bogiie Sounds and 

other shallow inlets in this vicinity during 

the summer months, in search of food. The 

green turtles arrive about the first of April 

and disappear early in November. The loggerheads and hawks-bills are of medium size, 

the average weight of the former being about 

50 pounds; the green turtles are small, and 

weight about 8 pounds each. The capture of 

loggerheads in this vicinity was formerly affected by means of spears or “gauges.” The 

turtles were struck by the fishermen with 

these implements while swimming in the water. They were frequently very badly wounded, however, and often injured to such a degree that they were unfit for shipment or sale. 

To avoid this difficulty Mr. Joshua Lewis, of 

Morehead City, conceived the idea of diving 

upon the turtles while in the water, and securing them with his hands. When starting out in 

search of them he ties the painter of his boat 

to his leg; then rowing along leisurely until 

one is seen, he approaches it and dives upon 

it from the boat. Seizing the anterior edge of 

the carapace with one hand, and the posterior edge with the other, he turns the head of the 

turtle upward, when the animal immediately 

rises to the surface, bringing the fisherman 

with it. If the water is deep he steers the turtle 

toward a shoaler spot, keeping hold of it with 

one hand; and with the other pulling the boat 

after him. When a suitable spot is reached 

he seizes the animal and throws it into the 

boat. Usually there is no difficulty in bringing 

turtles to the surface and directing them toward shallow water, but occasionally a very 

large one is encountered, which is strong and 

unmanageable. In such case the fisherman is 

forced to let go his hold and return to the surface, allowing the turtle to escape. The method of capturing turtles by diving is employed 

at present by many of the fishermen in this 

locality, and the greater proportion of those 

taken are captured in this way. Good swimmers do not hesitate to dive for a turtle when 

seen, however great may be the depth of the 
21Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figures 23 - 26. Sustained by the Sea: Turtles, whales, fish and shellfish were regularly caught to sustain North Carolina’s coastal residents. Everyone participated, including women who mended and washed fishing nets. (Top Left: The turtle fishery; Top Right: Fishing on the sound; Middle: Women mending nets; Bottom: A whale ashore)

NOAA Central Library/Library of Congress
22Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 27. A Fisherman Mends His Nets: As he sits dockside.

Library of Congress

water. The small number of hawks-bill turtles taken are captured by the same method 

as that employed for loggerheads, and usually no distinction is made between the two 

kinds. The green turtles are caught in dragnets and seines. The loggerhead turtles find 

a ready sale at limited prices in the interior 

cities of North Carolina, and a small shipping business has been established. The fishermen receive about 50 cents apiece for the 

turtles, which induces them to catch all that 

come in their way, but does not warrant their 

engaging very extensively in the fishery. The 

average annual catch of loggerheads in this 

vicinity does not exceed two hundred. The 

green turtles are usually eaten by the fishermen, who consider them a delicacy, but occasionally they are sold to dealers for about 15 

cents apiece. The catch at this point, if sold 

at local prices, would have a value of not 

more than $50.00 (Goode 1884:495-496).

Menhaden Fishery

North Carolina’s sounds have long been 

an abundant natural resource for harvesting the sea. Menhaden were once one of 

the most commercially important species 

in the region. Large commercial fishing 

concerns were built around the small oily 

fish. For the most part the fish were processed as meal or rendered into oil. These 

processing facilities once peppered the 

coastal landscape. This industry provided 

hundreds of jobs and was a major economic driver for many coastal towns in North 

Carolina. The first such menhaden factory 

was established on Harker’s Island in 1865 

and operated until 1873 before relocating 

to Cape Lookout. The industry continued 

to grow well into the 20th century, creating generations of traditional watermen 

and fishermen.
23Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 28. Hauling in Oysters: A massive oyster haul on the deck of a sailing vessel in Washington, NC in 1884. Huge harvests such as this built a large industry but also 

contributed to the decline of the fishery.

Oysters, Clams and Blue Crab

The Carolina sounds were once host 

to an enormous population of oysters. 

There was a voracious market and harvesting was reasonably easy. By 1822, 

competition was such that North Carolina 

had banned out-of-state oystermen and 

limited harvest to hand tongs, making 

dredging and raking illegal. In 1858, the 

state had already begun promoting oyster 

farming with a law that enabled one to 

secure up to 10-acre sections of estuarine 

environment perpetually if they would 

seed it with spat. Within 30 years there 

were over 52,000 acres of licensed private oyster gardens. 

By the 1890s northern ‘oyster pirates’ 

began showing up in North Carolina waterways. As a result, in 1891, North Carolina passed an Oyster Law, which ensured 

enforcement of regulations by providing 

a patrol craft. This still persists today. 

That same year, the Board of Shellfish 

Commissioners was established which 

has evolved into the extant Marine Fisheries Commission. 

Sustainable oyster farming is still 

prevalent in the area, carrying on a long 

heritage of harvesting the sea. In addition to oysters, other species such as 

blue crab, shrimp and clams have been 

staples of North Carolina fisheries. Each 

of these industries has provided and continues to provide jobs and social identity 

for hundreds of North Carolina families. 

The changing nature of the fisheries and 

technology left important legacies in the 

landscape in the form of docks, piers, and 

processing plants, as well as less tangible 

but equally important buoys and markers delineating channels and “claims” to 

oyster beds.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Library
24Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 29. U.S. Coast Survey Map of the Oyster Beds: The United States Department of Fisheries, working with U.S. Coast Survey veterans, mapped the extensive (and 

submerged) maritime cultural landscape of the Outer Banks’ oyster beds in 1888.

NOAA Central Library
25Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

War and Conflict, Defense and Fortification

 Due to its position in the mid-Atlantic 

and the nature of adjacent major oceanic 

currents, The Outer Banks – especially 

given their role as a major ocean highway 

– have been a point of strategic vulnerability requiring defense. During various 

periods, vying Colonial powers contested 

the Banks, especially Spain and England, 

which led to coastal defenses such as 

Fort Raleigh. Colonial-period efforts to 

protect the approaches to North Carolina 

via the Banks and its inlets, as well as 

strategic rivers like the Cape Fear, led to 

fortifications, including more substantial 

forts built by the U.S. Army that survive 

to this day like Fort Macon and Fort Caswell. These forts protected key ports and 

trades that had clear military importance, 

Figure 30. A Mid-Atlantic Convoy, World War II: Also known as a “bucket-brigade,” these convoys were a common sight off North Carolina during World War II. This was the 

closest theater of war to the continental U.S.

notably the maritime stores trade of the 

Carolinas, with tar, live oak and turpentine being strategically vital products. 

In the colonial period, coastal North 

Carolina was a haven for piratical activity, most notoriously for that of Edward 

Teach, the pirate known as Blackbeard. 

Teach used small coastal towns for refuge 

as well as for the distribution and sale of 

pirated goods. As well, the shallow nature of the sounds, the treacherous and 

constantly shifting inlets, and the lack of 

coastal patrols made these locales ideal 

bases for replenishment of supplies, rest, 

and the disposition of spoils. Two of his 

ships, including his flagship Queen Anne’s 

Revenge, were lost near Beaufort Inlet, 

and thanks to archaeological rediscovery, 

and an ongoing excavation, Queen Anne’s 

Revenge is now a precisely marked and 

better-understood element of the maritime 

cultural landscape. Blackbeard met his end 

in a legendary battle with Robert Maynard 

in the sound near Ocracoke Island. The result of the engagement left Teach headless 

and gave Ocracoke a celebrated historical event. Local businesses, marinas, and 

even college sports teams have borrowed 

themes from the lore of piracy in North 

Carolina to represent themselves.

Beginning with the Civil War, that vulnerability led the Union to focus its initial 

offensive operations on the Banks. Additionally, since the inlets were a maze known 

only to locals and therefore valuable to the 

blockaded Confederacy, temporary forts 

National Archives
26Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 31. Blackbeard: Edward Teach or “Blackbeard” was one of the golden age of piracy’s most notorious villains. Blackbeard was known to live in North Carolina for a 

time, and was famously killed at Ocracoke Island.

Johnson’s General History of the Pyrates
27Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

It was not possible to prevent the 

landing, owing to the situation of the 

point chosen. The enemy landed on the 

banks, just above the neck of the Sound, 

thus interposing a small surface of water 

between them and the attacking force, 

or compelling such force to circle around 

the lower extreme of the Sound; either 

of which movements would have to be 

done under the fire of the whole fleet.

- Fayetteville (North Carolina) 

Observer, January 26, 1865

were constructed on the Banks, especially 

at Oregon and Hatteras Inlets – forts which 

no longer stand but which may have left 

archaeological traces. At Cape Fear, the 

need to keep the river open for the Confederate blockade running trade led to the 

fortifications at the mouth of the river such 

as Fort Fisher, and upriver at Fort Anderson, as well as a gauntlet of obstructions 

and gun batteries to keep away would-be 

intruders. The maritime landscape retains 

the eroded remains of Fort Fisher at the 

Cape Fear as one reminder of the conflict, 

as well as visible and submerged remains 

of blockaders and blockade-runners. 

Post-Civil War defense cuts notwithstanding, by the 20th century, the global 

conflicts and the arrival of German Uboat traffic in World Wars I and II again 

focused attention on this as a section of 

coast that was strategically important. 

With battles on the Outer Banks occurring 

only during the Civil War, other conflicts 

have included the protection of revenue 

by the Revenue Marine (later the Coast 

Guard), efforts to suppress piracy and the 

use of the Banks as a pirate haven, and the 

stationing of naval gunboats in the War 

of 1812. One of those gunboats, wrecked 

during the war, remains an archaeological 

element in the Outer Banks’ maritime cultural landscape.

Major national and international conflicts touched the region as well. During the 

Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the 

sounds and rivers of eastern North Carolina 

were avenues of transport. As noted, the remains of a Jeffersonian gunboat, Gunboat 

#146, uncovered by a winter storm in 1939, 

documented, reburied and subsequently Figure 33. Fort Fisher Falls: The Confederate seacoast fortification guarding the entrance to the Cape Fear 

River and the port of Wilmington finally fell to the Union in 1865.

NOAA Central Library/Library of Congress

Figure 32. Order of Attack: This U.S. Coast Survey chart shows the order of Union Navy ships attacking Fort Fisher.

NOAA Central Library
28Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 35. SS Byron D. Benson Burns: The tanker burns following a torpedo attack from U-552 off Nags Head, NC. 

National Archives Library of Congress

Figure 34. A Tanker Burns “Only 3 Miles Out”: Tankers engulfed in flames were common sight off the coast during World War II, and this wartime poster notes just how 

close some attacks were to the shore.
29Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

uncovered by another storm in the 1950s 

and again reburied, still lies obscured under 

the dunes at Nags Head, NC.

 During the Civil War, the Outer Banks 

were host to several important historical 

events including the loss of USS Oriental

in 1862, the Battle of Hatteras Inlet, which 

saw the Union seizure of Forts Clark and 

Hatteras, the Burnside Expedition, the 

Battle of Roanoke Island, and the sinking of the famous Union ironclad warship 

USS Monitor off of Cape Hatteras during 

a violent storm. Additionally, the remains 

of a number of wrecked Civil War blockaders and blockade-runners, including the 

1862 wreck of Modern Greece, whose 

wreck inaugurated maritime or underwater archaeology in North Carolina, lie off 

the Cape Fear and are listed as a multiple 

property collection of 21 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In the last century, two of the most influential global events in history occurred: 

World War I and World War II. These events 

shaped the world, yet the majority of the 

places that these events occurred were in 

foreign arenas. However, war on maritime 

commerce was the one arena that consistently brought these conflicts to the American doorstep. During World War I, German 

U-boats proved to be very effective at disrupting critical international supply chains. 

In 1918, several ships were lost off of the 

coast of North Carolina within sight of 

shore due to a German U-boat activity, including the rare loss of a U.S. government 

vessel to enemy attack on our shores, the 

Diamond Shoals Lightship LV-71. 

These few losses represented a remarkable technological achievement for the 

time, but the scale of devastation would 

pale in comparison to the casualties experienced during World War II. The first 

six months of 1942 were strategically disastrous for the allies in U.S waters as the 

German U-boats attacked merchant vessels with impunity. North Carolina was of 

specific interest due to the natural landscape. The collision of oceanic currents 

and their consequent shipping lanes created a bottleneck near Cape Hatteras where 

U-boats could lie in wait. The bottom 

topography, water temperatures and long 

distances to deeper water ports all made 

the area off the Outer Banks to a prime 

U-boat operating area, resulting in the 

loss of over 50 vessels within a six month 

period. These shipwreck sites now serve 

as one of the few places in the continental U.S. where one can see the remnants 

of these historically important conflicts. 

The waters off the Outer Banks have the 

largest concentration of accessible WWII 

shipwreck remains in the United States.

Wartime events determined, in part, 

the course of American and world history. 

Conflict often generates the largest degree 

of historical source material and as such, 

illuminates centuries of the integral relationships between human activities and 

the natural landscape. Particularly regarding conflict, vessel types, strategies, troop 

movements, technology and human tragedy are all intrinsically linked to a dynamic 

natural landscape. That landscape is the 

setting that controls many of the parameters of humans operating within a natural 

system.

In addition to active conflict resources, 

there are also a great number of historical non-conflict military events within the 

landscape. Military testing, including current bombing ranges, have long been a part 

of North Carolina’s cultural landscape. 

Massive airship bases developed for aerial 

support in World War II still exist as some 

of the tallest structures in eastern North 

Carolina. Like the U.S. Coast Guard 

Air Base Elizabeth City, these structures 

are also a distant but integral part of the 

maritime cultural landscape. Perhaps most 

significant are those associated with the 

post-World War I aerial bomb tests conducted on decommissioned battleships by 

Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, proving the utility of aircraft in sinking naval 

craft. This resulted in the deposition of the 

battleships USS Virginia and USS New 

Jersey, as well as some former German 

warships. Considerable world attention 

focused on the tests, which resulted in a 

collection of wrecks well off the coast. 

Figure 36. U.S. Navy Dirigibles at Weeksville Airfield: This airfield was constructed to house dirigibles for the U.S. Navy, which were essential for Antisubmarine Warfare 

during WWII. This massive structure still exists near Elizabeth City, NC and remains the tallest structure in eastern North Carolina. 

Our State Magazine
30Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

 Shipwrecks

Perhaps the most tangible reminders of 

our maritime heritage that dominate the 

landscape are the remains of the vessels 

that rest on or under the ocean floor. The 

shipwrecks that occurred off and on this 

coast in many ways dominate the maritime cultural landscape; lighthouses were 

built to warn them off, weather stations 

established to give mariners as well as 

those ashore advance warning, Life-Saving stations were built to rescue mariners 

in distress, and early settlers and later 

inhabitants sustained themselves from 

goods washed ashore, and built homes 

and other buildings from the timbers 

of wrecked ships. In modern times, the 

sunken hulks on the sea bed and the erosion-exposed remains of beached wrecks 

are tangible reminders and landmarks in 

their own right. 

For nearly 500 years western maritime 

commerce and culture has existed off of 

the coast of North Carolina, and during 

that time countless ships have met their 

Figure 37. The Wreck of Steam Boat Home: This wreck occurred on the shore of Ocracoke Island on October 9, 1837. Ninety-five lives were lost.

Library of Congress
31Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

end in what is known as the Graveyard 

of the Atlantic. North Carolina’s s maritime cultural landscape is also defined 

by the natural dynamics of oceanic currents interacting with the coastline. These 

ensured that this area would be a major 

thoroughfare for maritime commerce as 

it emerged as a prevalent shipping lane. 

These same natural features made the 

area exceptionally dangerous for seafarers, with shallow inlets, shifting shoals 

and harsh variable weather patterns. Of 

the thousands of wrecks known to be lost, 

some hold an especially important place 

in our collective history.

The first known wreck event in North 

Carolina was the Tiger, the Flagship of 

Sir Richard Grenville’s fleet en route to 

Roanoke Island in 1585. The age of sail, 

which lasted through the first decades of 

the 20th century, saw the greatest number 

of vessel losses when storms and heavy 

seas rendered them powerless and either 

drove them down or onto the beaches. 

Steamships, ostensibly more capable 

of weathering a storm, also fell victim, 

though in lesser numbers. War sent a large 

number of ships to the bottom, many of 

them during the Civil War, and the two 

world wars. While modern technology has 

lessened the number of losses, even today, 

as shown by the recent loss of the replica 

tall-ship Bounty in 2012, this area continues to be treacherous.

Spanish Galleons

During the colonial period, Spanish 

Galleons made use of the Gulf Stream for 

their return trip to Europe. This took many 

ships right along the Outer Banks, and during one particular hurricane on 18 August 

1750, several galleons experienced the region’s full fury. Sailing under the command 

of Don Juan Manuel de Bonilla en route for 

Cadiz from the Caribbean, this flotilla was 

scattered in a storm. As a result, the Nuestra Señora de Guadeloupe, the Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, and the snow packet 

called El Salvador ran into serious trouble 

in the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Bonilla’s 

flagship the Guadeloupe ran into Ocracoke 

inlet de-masted and without a rudder. The 

vessel had survived the storm but Bonilla 

was beleaguered near Ocracoke for over 

a month dealing with a mutinous crew, 

raids by the local ‘Bankers’ and engaging in awkward politics with the colonial 

Figure 38. Spanish Galleons: These vessels once frequented the waters off North Carolina en route to Europe 

from the Spanish Main carrying cargoes of gold, silver and gems, as well as spices, dyes, wood, fur and other 

exotic items from the New World. Some would meet their fate on the shoals of the Outer Banks. 

governance. The ship was eventually sold 

at auction, renamed Nympha and put back 

into service. El Salvador and Soledad were 

not as lucky. El Salvador ran hard aground 

and split open near modern-day Beaufort 

Inlet and lost all but three of her crew. 

The ship lay wrecked in the surf for some 

days and anything that could be salvaged 

was removed before it was lost beneath 

the waves. Soledad was sunk off Drum 

Inlet; however, the entire crew survived 

and managed to save the entire cargo of 14 

boxes of silver. These vessels also carried 

exotic new world goods that found a market in Europe such as, hides, sugar, indigo 

and cochineal, a red dye made from insects. 

Sometimes cargoes were salvaged – sometimes not every commodity was salvaged.

Queen Anne’s Revenge

In 1996 the remains of a colonial period 

site were discovered in shallow water near 

Beaufort Inlet, NC. The remains of this site 

are believed to be the wreckage of Queen 

Anne’s Revenge. This English-built ship 

initially named Concord was captured by 

the French and converted to a slave ship 

known as La Concorde de Nantes. While 

Figure 39. Archaeological Site Plan, Queen Anne’s Revenge: The remains of the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship 

are located off Beaufort, NC, continuing to yield an incredible amount of historic information.

National Gallery of Art North Carolina Division of Archives and History
32Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

sailing in the Caribbean, she was captured 

by a piratical Captain Benjamin Hornigold 

who subsequently relegated command 

to one of his underlings, Edward Teach 

-- “Blackbeard.” Blackbeard renamed the 

vessel Queen Anne’s Revenge and used it as 

his flagship until it ran aground near Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The remains of this site 

have been the focus of an ongoing state-run 

archaeological project focusing on recovery, interpretation and display of the historical materials, remains, and story. This is 

to date the only pirate ship systematically 

and scientifically excavated. Blackbeard’s 

link with this region of North Carolina did 

not stop with the loss of his ship. He resided 

in Bath, NC for a period of time and ultimately lost his head in an engagement with 

the Royal Navy at Ocracoke, NC.

USS Alligator

The U.S. Navy’s first submarine was 

also among the many vessels lost due to 

the treacherous seas encountered off of 

the Carolina capes. Launched in 1862, 

Alligator was built by Neafie & Levy 

based on designs from Brutus de Villeroi. The little sub was a 30- foot long 

tube with nearly an 8-foot diameter. It 

was constructed from steel and originally 

powered by hand-cranked oars before 

upgrading to a propeller. The bow conning tower was fitted with a glass view 

port. For ventilation, Alligator had floating air tubes that would pump fresh air 

into the sub. Using the muscle of the 

crew, the vessel could make nearly four 

knots. Much like USS Monitor, the Navy 

was seeking new ways to counter the 

threat of Confederate ironclads. In its 

original oar-powered form it was considered inadequate and underwent retrofitting and trials at the Washington Navy 

Yard where it was visited by Abraham 

Lincoln. In March of 1863, Rear Admiral 

Samuel Dupont ordered Alligator south 

to participate in the capture of Charleston. Being impractical for the Alligator

to transit under her own power, the USS 

Sumpter was enlisted to tow the vessel 

from the Washington Navy Yard southward. On April 2, 1863 while in the heart 

of the Graveyard of the Atlantic, USS 

Sumpter and Alligator were caught in a 

dangerous storm, which necessitated the 

Alligator being cut loose to prevent hazard to its tow vessel. Thus Alligator was 

lost and remains so to this day.

Figure 40. Schematics of USS Alligator: The U.S. Navy’s first submarine as designed by Brutus de Villeroi, 1863.

US Navy
33Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

USS Monitor

On March 8-9, 1862 naval warfare 

changed forever as the ironclads USS 

Monitor and CSS Virginia battled at 

Hampton Roads, VA, ushering in a new 

era of modern naval power. On March 

8th, the Confederate Navy let loose 

their best weapon against the blockading union ships in Hampton Roads. The 

newly constructed ironclad CSS Virginia

had been built on the remains of the hull 

of a captured union ship, the USS Merrimac. Union forces were aware of the 

ironclad threat that Virginia posed, and as 

such they scrambled to construct a countermeasure, USS Monitor. Famed Swedish inventor and engineer, John Ericsson 

designed a vessel that was a complete departure from warships of the day. Many 

doubted that it would even float. The most 

significant feature of this design was a rotating gun turret which would, for the first 

time, allow the guns to be trained on the 

enemy independent of the orientation of 

the vessel.

When CSS Virginia began her attack 

on other Union naval vessels, the Monitor had not yet arrived. As a result, the 

Virginia had an opportunity to display 

her might, destroying USS Congress and 

USS Cumberland and the union feared 

the loss of USS Minnesota as well, which 

had run aground. The next day, CSS Virginia would surely return to finish the job. 

However, that night Monitor had arrived 

in Hampton Roads and would be standing guard over Minnesota the next day. 

When Virginia steamed out on the morning of March 9th, the two ironclad titans 

engaged at close range for hours doing 

little damage to one another. Finally, the 

pilothouse on Monitor was damage and 

she temporarily retreated. USS Minnesota had been successfully protected and 

the age of ironclads was assured.

USS Monitor participated in some additional operations in the James River 

and was eventually needed in southern 

ports to engage with Wilmington and 

ultimately Charleston, SC. As such, on 

Christmas Eve 1862 Monitor was ordered 

to rendezvous with USS Pasaic in Beaufort, NC. This would require Monitor to 

round Cape Hatteras in winter. Designed 

for harbor defense, Monitor was not built 

for the open ocean, requiring a tow-ship 

USS Rhode Island. On New Year’s Eve, 

Figure 41. USS Monitor Sinks: In the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve 1862, the famous ironclad USS Monitor was lost off of Cape Hatteras while under tow by the 

USS Rhode Island. Sixteen men lost their lives and secured a place in history forever.

Harper’s Weekly
34Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Monitor was off of Cape Hatteras and being battered by heavy seas which washed 

over the low freeboard and began to overrun the pumps. The Rhode Island was 

forced to cut the towlines and attempted 

to rescue as many men from Monitor as 

possible via their small boat. While the 

rescue crew worked valiantly rescuing 

many, in the end Monitor was lost with 16 

of her crew. One of the ironclad’s officers, 

William Keeler, said this of the event:

“The Monitor is no more... What the 

fire of the enemy failed to do, the elements have accomplished”

Thus, Monitor was lost in the depths 

of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” before 

being discovered more than 100 years 

later. The story of the Monitor continues 

to be a significant part of our collective 

maritime heritage.

Blockade Runners

During the Civil War, part of the Union 

strategy known as the “Anaconda Plan” 

was to choke off resources to southern 

ports. Blockading squadrons were placed 

at important southern ports to prevent 

the influx of much needed goods. This 

blockade often crippled port cities such as 

Wilmington, NC. In order to mitigate the 

effect of the blockade the Confederacy 

turned to the risky enterprise of blockade 

running. Small swift vessels would break 

through the blockade in an attempt to deliver materials, often ending up stranded 

aground. During this period at least 31 

steam-powered and 22 sail- powered 

blockade runners were lost in the Cape 

Fear region off of Wilmington. Additionally, several Union and Confederate military vessels were lost as a result of this 

activity. In 1985, following the archaeological investigation of the blockade runner Modern Greece, the State of North 

Carolina designated the area off Cape 

Fear as a Civil War wreck district with 

the National Register of Historic Places. 

The district includes multiple wreck sites: 

Sophia, Arabian, Elizabeth, Beauregard, 

Modern Greece, Bendigo, Phantom, 

Hebe, Duoro, Wild Dayrell, Ranger, Venus, Lynx, Condor, Stormy Petrel, Ella, 

USS Iron Age, USS Peterhoff, USS Aster, 

USS Louisiana, and CSS Raleigh.

Figure 42. Modern Greece Ashore: The blockade runner Modern Greece hard aground off Cape Fear. Residents of Wilmington attempt to salvage as much of the precious 

cargo as possible. This was a common sight in southern ports during the Civil War.

Figure 43. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Blockade Runner Wrecks: This chart depicts the approaches to the 

Cape Fear River with handwritten notations of Confederate defenses and the wrecks of blockade runners, 1864.

NC Division of Archives and History NOAA Central Library
35Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

 USS Huron and Metropolis

The winter of 1877-1878 was a harsh 

one for ships plying the notorious waters 

off of the Outer Banks. Two particularly 

tragic shipwrecks occurred during this 

time that would have a lasting effect on the 

future of the U.S. Life-Saving Service. On 

November 24, 1877, the iron hulled gunboat USS Huron was en route from Norfolk, Va., to Havana, Cuba, when a course 

error in heavy seas caused the vessel to run 

aground off the beach in Nags Head, NC. 

Despite the fact the shore was a mere 200 

yards distant, the chaos and the weather 

conspired to take the lives of 98 men. This 

tragedy was hard to swallow given that it 

was so close to the beach and could have 

been managed by contemporary life-saving techniques. Inadequate funding for the 

Life-Saving Service was cited as a cause 

for the high casualties. Compounding 

matters, just two months later the steamer 

Metropolis met a similar fate on January 

31, 1878. Metropolis was underway from 

Philadelphia to Brazil with general freight, 

railroad building supplies and 215 passengers when she ran hard aground off 

Corolla, NC. The all-too familiar scene of 

crashing waves and a breaking ship was 

once again visited on these shores with the 

loss of 102 lives. This tragedy, on the heels 

of the loss of USS Huron, compelled Congress to increase funding and expand the 

United States Life-Saving Service.

Figure 45. Thomas Nast Cartoon on the Wreck of USS Huron: This cartoon depicts the public outrage following the loss of USS Huron in 1877. This tragedy spurred 

Congress to begin discussions on bolstering the U.S. Life-Saving Service and led to the construction of a number of stations on the North Carolina coast.

Figure 44. Wreck of SS Metropolis: Engraving of the wreck of the Metropolis off Nags Head in 1878. This 

catastrophe took place just a few short months after losing USS Huron and saw the loss of 102 lives.

Harpers Weekly Harper’s Weekly: From the Collection of Macculloch Hall Historical Museum, Morristown, NJ. Image by Stan Freeny
36Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

A large number of wrecks in the Graveyard of the Atlantic did not sink in deeper 

waters, but were driven ashore by strong 

winds and heavy seas. The maritime cultural landscape, as seen from the beaches, 

was dominated by the visible remains of 

many ships in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Now, however, “the sun-bleached bones 

of hapless schooners and steamers...are 

today, few and far between. Unseen are...

the unmarked graves of vessels buried 

along every mile of shore...Most of this 

ghost fleet’s consorts lie below the restless swells and shifting shoals, while others that were grounded on the beaches 

have been buried by wind-blown sand. 

Still, if you know where to look, the evidence is there, often in surprising places” 

(Duffus 2007: 30-31).

Visible remains off Cape Fear included Civil War blockade runners, and on 

the Outer Banks, the machinery of two 

Civil War transports, USS Oriental and 

what may be the steamer Pocahontas

(or SS Richmond) rise above the surf 

on the opposite ends of Pea Island. On 

Ocracoke, the timbers of the four-masted 

schooner Anna R. Heidritter, lost ashore 

on March 3, 1942, is the last sailing vessel to wreck on the Outer Banks. The remains of the schooner appear after storms 

on the beach 1.8 miles from the Hatteras 

Inlet Ferry dock off Highway 12. The 

five-masted schooner Carroll A. Deering, stranded on the beach of Hatteras 

Island on January 31, 1921, was visible 

for years, including its anchor windlass, 

which is now displayed at the Graveyard 

of the Atlantic Museum. The four-masted schooner G.A. Kohler wrecked on the 

beach of Hatteras Island when driven 

ashore by a hurricane on August 23, 

1933. Its remains lie 4.6 miles south of 

Salvo, exposed by erosion from time to 

time. Storms exposed the largely intact 

schooner Altoona, lost near Cape Hatteras when driven ashore on October 22, 

1878. The hull, eroding from the beach, 

was substantially intact when exposed in 

the 1960s; it gradually eroded out and 

disintegrated, but it is claimed that a portion of its bow remains on the beach near 

Ramp 43 at Cape Point.

On the beach at Pea Island, three miles 

north of Rodanthe, the overturned remains 

of the four-masted schooner Margaret A. 

Spencer, lost on May 18, 1925, are occasionally exposed by beach erosion. 

Another prominent beached landmark 

that attracted considerable tourist interest is the four-masted schooner Laura A. 

Barnes, which wrecked on Bodie Island’s 

beach on June 1, 1921, blown ashore and 

embedded into the sand. Stripped of fittings and a number of its timbers used 

for construction, the lower hull of Barnes

eroded from the beach and was marked 

by the National Park Service as a rare opportunity to see the bones of a victim of 

the Graveyard of the Atlantic. 

Additional unidentified wrecks, and 

occasionally isolated sections of hulls and 

individual timbers, are exposed throughout the Banks by storms. Some are wrecks 

whose remains were dragged higher on 

shore by the Civilian Conservation Corps 

in the 1930s and used to anchor sand 

dunes; others are firmly set into place 

where they wrecked and bedded down. 

Some wrecks move over time, and gradually disintegrate, as was the case with 

Altoona. In the 1980s, a detailed survey 

of the beaches of Cape Hatteras and Cape 

Lookout National Seashores documented 

a number of these beached wrecks and 

wreck remains; the State of North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch 

and East Carolina University’s Program 

in Maritime Studies have documented a 

number of these and new finds (including 

USS Oriental and the presumed Pocahontas), and in 2006, Kevin Duffus documented fourteen beached wreck remains 

and plotted their locations in the maritime 

cultural landscape (Duffus 2007).

Figure 46. The Remains of a War of 1812 Gunboat: In 1939, beach erosion exposed these remains near 

Nags Head, NC.

National Park Service
37Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Diamond Shoals Lightship

A prominent submerged feature of the 

maritime cultural landscape directly relates to the themes of navigation, aids to 

navigation, and war and defense. Named 

for the prominent landmark feature, the 

Diamond Shoals, this is the wreck of the 

Lightship LV-71, “Diamond Shoals.” 

During World War I, a small contingent 

of German U-boats operated along the 

east coast of the United States sinking 

merchant vessels, a tactical approach 

which would return en force during 

WWII. On August 6, 1918, LV-71 was 

on station when it heard a distress call 

from the nearby Merak. Merak had been 

attacked and sunk by a U-boat, so the LV71 assisted in the recovery of survivors 

and radioed a warning to other vessels 

in the area. Subsequently, to silence this 

broadcast, U-140 returned and sunk the 

little lightship with surface gunfire. The 

remains lie today on the ocean floor near 

Diamond Shoals.

Steamer Mirlo

Shortly after the loss of Merak and 

the Diamond Shoals Lightship, another 

U-boat, U-117 was hunting off of North 

Carolina. In order to disrupt shipping, 

U-117 had placed a series of mines along 

the coast. On August 16, 1918 the British 

steamer Mirlo collided with one of these 

mines off Rodanthe, NC and a devastating explosion took place. Mirlo was only 

about 10 miles from shore when the incident occurred and the men at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station could see the 

smoke and flames. Captain John Allen 

Midgett ordered the boats launched and 

headed for the flames. The scene was surreal with oil and flames covering the surface of the water and men clinging to lifeboats. The lifesavers steered right into the 

flames putting themselves in grave danger. 

For the men that were saved that day and 

for the valor of the Life-Saving Service 

crew, they were awarded Gold Life-Saving Medals of Honor from the U.S., and 

Victory Medals from Great Britain. This 

story of tragedy and heroism has lent the 

eponym of Mirlo Beach to the community, 

which still refers to it as such today.

The Battle of the Atlantic

During World War II, a silent war was 

being waged off of the east coast of the 

United States, with North Carolina, Cape 

Hatteras in particular, at the epicenter of 

this activity. Natural features in the landscape, particularly the confluence of oceanic currents and the resultant shipping lanes, 

created a bottleneck for merchant vessels. 

Additionally, the proximity of deep water 

off of the continental shelf helped U-boats 

operate by providing them an easy place to 

evade attack while still in close proximity 

to shipping lanes. As a result, in the first 

six months of 1942 the eastern seaboard 

became a battleground. This was the closest and most persistent theater of war to the 

continental U.S. Ships were seen blazing 

just off the beaches while shipwreck deFigure 47. Diamond Shoals Lightship: The historic lightship was replaced more than once. Perhaps the most famous was LV-71 sunk by U-140 in 1918; this is its replacement.

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
38Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

bris as well as bodies of sailors routinely 

washed ashore. During this time, just off 

North Carolina alone, more than 50 merchant vessels were sunk, as well as several 

German, American and British Naval assets. These sites now serve as monuments 

to this almost forgotten aspect of history 

and speak volumes to the heritage of the 

adjacent coastal communities. Many of 

these sites have been listed on the National 

Register of Historic Places.

German U-boats

During the course of WWII, four German 

U-boats were sunk in the waters off North 

Carolina. The first, U-85, was destroyed by 

the USS Roper on April 14, 1942 off of Oregon Inlet and now rests in about 100 feet of 

water. U-352 was sunk a month later by the 

USCG Cutter Icarus off of Cape Lookout, 

resulting in the first U-boat POWs taken 

in the United States. Then that July, U-701

was sunk by aerial depth charges dropped 

from a U.S. Army Air Force aircraft out of 

Cherry Point, NC. All three of these U-boats 

now serve as the centerpiece of North Carolina shipwreck diving, and are important 

reminders of this critical period in world 

history. A fourth U-boat, U-576, is known 

to have been lost off of Cape Hatteras in a 

dramatic convoy battle, however the exact 

location of the remains is unknown.

Figure 49. Photomosaic of U-352: On the seabed off Cape Lookout, NC.

Tanker E.M. Clark

Resting in 260 feet of water, Clark

is considered one of the premier destinations for recreational technical divers. The vessel was sunk on March 18, 

1942 by a torpedo fired from the U-124. 

Because of its depth, the Clark remains 

intact and was never altered for navigational purposes. As a result, this site sits 

on the seabed much as it did when it sank, 

heeled over on her port side with gaping 

torpedo holes in the bottom of the hull. 

This shipwreck is an extraordinary monument to the heroism and sacrifice of the 

Merchant Marine during WWII.

HMT Bedfordshire

One Battle of the Atlantic shipwreck 

contributes to the maritime cultural landscape in two ways; the first is the wreck 

itself, and the second is the grave plot and 

memorial to the bodies of its crew who 

washed ashore on Ocracoke Island. The 

British armed trawler Bedfordshire was 

sent to the United States at the onset of 

the war in the U.S. to assist and train the 

U.S. to respond to the U-boat threat. Bedfordshire was sunk by U-558 just before 

midnight on May 11, 1942, with the loss 

of the entire crew of 36 men. Within a few 

days, four bodies, two of them identifiable as Bedfordshire crew, washed ashore 

on Ocracoke. They were buried on the island in a plot donated by a local family. 

A perpetual lease for the Ocracoke British Cemetery was granted to the British 

government by the North Carolina State 

Property Office in 1976; the cemetery is 

maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The 

wreck itself lies in 105 feet of water 25 

miles offshore of Beaufort Inlet (Farb 

1985:163-165).

Figure 48. The British Cemetery at Ocracoke: This cemetery is a small but significant part of the Outer 

Banks’ maritime cultural landscape.

U.S. Coast Guard

NOAA
39Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Life-Saving Stations and U.S. Coast Guard Bases

The Surfmans’ Motto: “The books say 

you have to go out. It don’t say nothing 

about coming back!” This is a remark 

attributed to Surfman Patrick Etheridge 

of the Cape Hatteras Life-Saving Station. These sentiments were held among 

the men that patrolled the beaches daily, 

ready to lend aid to those distressed at 

sea. The motto was proven time and again 

with countless stories of heroic rescues 

along the beach of the Outer Banks. Other 

than charting, forts and lighthouses, these 

were the greatest physical and financial 

commitment of the U.S. Government in 

the Banks prior to WWI. At its height between Bogue Inlet Life-Saving Station on 

the southern end and Wash Woods LifeSaving Station to the north, there were 

26 stations positioned along North Carolina’s coast.

One of the most evident and accessible 

reminders of the relationship between 

shipwrecks and the Outer Banks is the 

long network of Life-Saving Service Stations situated along the coast. The Outer 

Banks are both remote and prone to shipwrecks, which necessitated the development of a life-saving service. Several catastrophic shipwrecks, such as the losses 

of Metropolis and Huron, demonstrated 

to Congress a need for a more robust 

network of life-saving facilities, which 

would eventually be absorbed into what 

is now the U.S. Coast Guard. These early 

Figure 50. Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station: A site rich with heritage and one of the Outer Banks’ premier historic sites.

“Well, we just seen ‘em out there and 

went and brung ‘em in.”

- Ocracoke Life-Saving Station 

Keeper James Henry Garrish

life-saving stations were often manned by 

volunteers, risking their lives to save others that wrecked along their coast.

The stories associated with these stations are vast and varied. Perhaps one of 

the more unique stories was the nation’s 

first all-black life-saving crew at the Pea 

Island station. Richard Etheridge, an exslave who fought for the Union in the CivNorth Carolina State University-Chapel Hill Library
40Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 51. Life-Saving Stations on the North Carolina Coast: Chart of the locations from Currituck Beach to Cape Fear.

il War at Roanoke Island, became the first 

black keeper, being considered one of the 

best surfmen in North Carolina. Etheridge 

and his crew were posthumously awarded 

the Gold Life-Saving Medal by the U.S. 

Guard for the rescue of the crew of the 

three-masted schooner E.S. Newman under harrowing circumstances in 1896.

The Pea Island station’s physical history perfectly illustrates the changing nature of the maritime cultural landscape. 

The original station, built in 1880, was 

destroyed by arson and rebuilt. It stood at 

its site with its associated structures until a 

new site was selected and the station was 

moved in 1930. The station remained in 

use until it was “disestablished” in March 

1947. The site and buildings were turned 

over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the newly established Pea Island 

Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in 1949; by 

that time the Pea Island boathouse had 

been moved by a local contractor across 

the water to the newly established Oregon 

Inlet Station. In 1966, the Fish and Wildlife Service no longer required the site 

and remaining buildings. They were sold 

at auction by the General Services Administration. As noted by the U.S. Coast 

Guard Historian’s Office, “The cookhouse of the second station was moved 

to Collins Park in Manteo, NC, in 2006 

from Rodanthe, where it had been relocated from its original location on an unspecified date.” The landscape elements 

relating to Pea Island, therefore, include 

two sites, one where the heroic events of 

the 1896 rescue occurred, the second site, 

and relocated structures (Stover 2008).

The life-saving stations served an important role in the Outer Banks and remain powerful elements in the landscape. 

They provided work for local residents 

and further developed regional identity. 

Their infrastructure made them a setting 

for more than a single building, growing in time into complexes of interrelated 

structures. Many of these stations still 

exist today as tangible reminders of this 

heritage. Some of these sites have become well-developed museums such as 

the Chicamacomico Station, while others 

have been converted to local residences, 

or serve as unique venues as restaurants 

or other small businesses.

The United States Life-Saving Service 

integrated with other agencies to become 

the United States Coast Guard. The Coast 

Guard assumed operation of the life-saving stations, and beginning in the 1930s, 

as Coast Guard stations, these landmarks 

adapted to changing technologies in 

search and rescue, including motorized 

boats and helicopters, as well as an evolving role in coastal patrols for law enforcement. Prominent modern elements of the 

maritime cultural landscape in the Outer 

Banks, sounds and the Cape Fear region, 

the Coast Guard stations at Oregon Inlet, 

Mark Anderson Moore; Courtesy North Carolina Office of Archives and History - Raleigh
41Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 52. Pea Island Life-Saving Station: As it appeared in 1916.

Ocracoke, Oak Island, Cape Hatteras, 

Cape Lookout, and Bogue City, for example, include station buildings, security 

fences, and docking facilities as part of 

their infrastructure and as maritime cultural landscape elements. 

Also part of the extended maritime 

cultural landscape is the station at Elizabeth City, North Carolina, which includes 

an extensive air base. Commissioned in 

1940, the station is intimately linked to 

the coast and its waters, both in location 

and mission. As the United States Coast 

Guard notes in its website for the base 

and station:

During World War II, the Air Station 

was under U.S. Navy control conducting 

Search and Rescue (SAR), anti-submarine 

and training missions. Since then the Air 

Station’s missions and assigned aircraft 

have shifted and grown with changing national priorities and technologies. In 1966 

Air Station Elizabeth City expanded after 

absorbing the Air Stations in Bermuda 

and Argentina. In addition to the Air Station, Elizabeth City’s Coast Guard complex includes the Aircraft Repair and Supply Center (AR&SC), Aviation Technical 

Training Center (ATTC), Support Center, 

and Boat Station Elizabeth City (http://

www.uscg.mil/d5/airstaElizabethCity/).

An important aspect to be considered, 

and one that is highlighted by the Air Station at Elizabeth City, is that important elements of a maritime cultural landscape are 

not confined to its immediate context, either 

on or in the water. Air Stations, from which 

wide-ranging coastal patrols, search and 

rescue, and defense take place, are also key 

elements in the maritime cultural landscape.

Figure 53. U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City: As it appeared in 1999.

U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office U.S. Coast Guard photo 821201-A-5555A-009
42Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Charting and Lighting the Coast

Beginning with the first 

voyages of exploration, and 

then colonization, the navigators who visited the Outer 

Banks and Cape Fear regions, 

and penetrated past them 

into the sounds and rivers, 

expended time, energy and 

capital, at times with great 

risk, to chart, map and understand the landscape and 

to ensure their safe passage. 

Part of that process was also 

placing names on each landmark – or seamark – that they 

encountered. The naming at 

times attempted to utilize an 

indigenous, or native, place 

name, some of which persist, 

transliterated by non-native 

speakers and by writing down 

a language that may be only 

spoken. Other names reflect 

the different nationalities and 

political allegiances of the explorers, with some names not 

only blatant acknowledgements of Royal or private 

sponsors, but also reflecting 

religious beliefs and figures. 

Naturally, these were different if named by Spanish, 

French or English explorers 

and colonial entrepreneurs, 

with the result that certain 

landmarks can and do have 

“more than one name,” which 

is itself part of the intangible 

maritime cultural landscape.

The earliest known handdrawn chart to depict this 

section of coast dates to the 

16th century voyage of Verrazano; other charts, notably 

Figure 54. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Floating Lights and Lightships: Lightships and light buoys on the sounds illuminate the 

maritime highway from the coast to the interior in this 1845 chart.

NOAA Central Library
43Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

those of the English explorers and settlers, 

include the 1590 charts of John White and 

Theodore DeBry. Throughout the Colonial Era, maps of the coast were made and 

published; what remained difficult and often unpublished were charts that depicted 

not only the observable landscape above 

water, but also attempted to depict the unseen, submerged landscape, a landscape 

delineated by soundings that marked the 

locations of channels, bars and shoals. 

The dynamic nature of the region includes 

processes such as storms altering the sea 

bed and the Banks, shifting shoals, carving 

new inlets, filling in formerly deep channels and coves, as well as coastline erosion, accretion and sea level change.

The United States’ First Science 

Agency and Charting

To better navigate the coast, the federal government sent out the U.S. Coast 

Survey to accurately chart it. This group, 

established in 1807, was the nation’s first 

scientific government agency and predecessor to NOAA. From 1838 through the 

1870s, their surveys resulted in detailed 

base maps, known as “T-sheets,” which in 

turn were processed into published charts 

for navigation. T-sheets contain detailed 

knowledge not noted on published charts; 

NOAA has archival copies of this data, as 

well as various versions of charts published 

in response to changes on the coast. 

This process of surveying and charting 

was ongoing and demanding; it included 

extensive work in small boats, sounding 

with lead-lines, as well as mathematically 

precise observations that plotted shorelines. Events like the storms of 1846, 

which created Hatteras and Oregon Inlets, 

demanded resurveys as quickly as they 

could be accomplished, especially when an 

inlet such as Hatteras generated a response 

vital to the local and national economy -- 

as Hatteras began to prosper as a port with 

connections not only around sounds, but to 

and from the West Indies (MacNeill 1958).

In addition to charting the Banks and 

sounds, the Coast Survey beginning in the 

1840s conducted the first systematic surveys of the Gulf Stream at the urging of 

its then Superintendent, Alexander Dallas Bache. Oceanographic, hydrographic 

and geological work, including deep-sea 

trawls, marked their work and gradually 

delineated the vast undersea stream and 

its confluence with the Labrador Current 

off Cape Hatteras. These two currents, 

like the Banks themselves, are the largest 

discrete elements of this region’s maritime cultural landscape.

“Several inlets once connected the ocean to the 40-mile-long lagoon made up of 

Currituck Sound...The last of these inlets, New Currituck, was closed by natural sedimentation in 1828. Within 50 years, over 100 square miles of brackish water and salt 

marsh were converted to freshwater lagoon and marsh. This change was termed “one of 

the most important geological changes which has taken place along the Atlantic Coast 

in recent times by G.R. Weiland, who described the effect of the inlet closing...in 1897.”

- Dirk Frankenberg, The Nature of the Outer Banks (1995), p. 4

Figure 55. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Cape Hatteras: This is one of the earliest of 

these charts of Cape Hatteras, NC.

Figure 56. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of the Gulf Stream: This depiction was 

created in1860.

NOAA Central Library

NOAA Central Library
44Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

The other aspect of the maritime cultural landscape that the charts capture is 

that they exist in an environment which 

is in flux, not only culturally, but physically. Since the concept of maritime cultural landscapes addresses the questions 

of an environment’s influence on human 

culture, and humans’ influences on the 

environment, understanding that these 

charts reflect both aspects is key.

The federal government also responded to the dangerous nature of this part of 

the coast by erecting lighthouses with adjacent fog signals as aids to navigation. 

These became icons, and the keepers and 

their families became important members 

of the community.

Vanished and Shifting Lights

Increased commerce on the east coast 

led the newly formed Republic to create 

the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) in 1789 under the Department of the Treasury. The first lighthouse 

commissioned and built by the USLHE 

was at Cape Henry, VA in 1792, and 

just two years later in 1794 construction 

began on the first lighthouse in North 

Carolina at Shell Castle Island, just inside Ocracoke Inlet. The lighthouse itself 

was a wooden pyramidal-shaped structure adjacent to a small keeper’s house. 

While the structure is long gone, the site 

remains a significant element of the maritime cultural landscape. The Shell Island 

Lighthouse’s “disappearance” highlights 

Figure 57. U.S. Coast Survey Chart of Oregon Inlet: This chart of the inlet was created in 1862.

NOAA Central Library
45Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

the fact that standing structures alone do 

not constitute key aspects of the maritime 

cultural landscape. 

 Other notable examples within the 

Outer Banks/Cape Fear maritime cultural 

landscape include Cape Hatteras Light, 

whose location has shifted twice. The first 

light, built in 1802, was destroyed during 

the Civil War. The second light, built in 

1870, was endangered by ongoing coastal 

erosion. In 1999, the National Park Service moved the 1870 lighthouse 2,870 

feet inland. All three sites, including the 

original 1802 site (now in the sea), and 

the 1870 site, close to the shore’s edge 

and delineated by a ring of granite foundation stones, are important elements of 

the maritime cultural landscape.

Figures 58 & 59. North Carolina’s First Lighthouse at Shell Island Castle: The only known image that exists 

of the lighthouse is on this piece of pottery depicting Shell Castle Island inside Ocracoke Inlet. The lighthouse, 

along with every other structure on the island, no longer exists.

Figure 60. Ocracoke Light: This historic lighthouse is 

75 feet tall and was built in 1823.

Eric Blevins/North Carolina Museum of History

National Park Service
46Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Bald Head Island Lighthouse

Built in 1817, the lighthouse built on 

Bald Head Island near Cape Fear was 

North Carolina’s first permanent lighthouse, and still stands today as the oldest in 

the state. This structure is 110 feet tall and 

constructed from brick covered in mottled 

stucco. The light was originally outfitted 

with 15 separate lamps and reflectors, but 

in 1855 was fitted with a state-of-the-art 

3rd order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse today is a historic tourism attraction.

Iconic American Lighthouses

North Carolina is home to some of the 

most iconic American lighthouses. Cape 

Hatteras Light, which was considered to 

be the most important light on the east 

coast, was originally built in 1802 and was 

notoriously insufficient. After decades 

of urging from the Navy and Merchant 

Mariners, Congress approved construction of a new tower which was first lit in 

1870 and remains at 198 feet the tallest 

brick lighthouse in the world and the tallest light in the United States. This light is 

one of the most recognizable lighthouses 

in the world and is a powerful symbol of 

the region’s significant maritime heritage. 

The lights at Currituck, Bodie Island, Ocracoke and Cape Lookout served similarly 

critical roles in maritime navigation, and 

continue to remind all residents and visitors of the area’s heritage. 

Like the historic life-saving stations, and 

other modern maritime complexes, it is important to note that the maritime cultural 

landscape elements that comprise historic 

lights are not confined to the towers alone. 

These stations included keeper’s quarters, 

storehouses, oil rooms, fences, and access 

roads, which were part of each lighthouse 

complex, and a number of them survive 

at the various historic lighthouses on the 

coast. Notable examples include the intact 

complex at Currituck Light in Corolla, and 

the relocated structures at Cape Hatteras.

Lightships and Light Towers

The natural landscape of the oceanic 

environment off North Carolina was 

such that shore-based lighthouses were 

often insufficient. Each of the notorious 

capes have dangerous shoals which jut 

far out to sea and can suddenly put a ship 

aground miles from the shore. For these 

reasons, the area of Diamond Shoals is 

considered to be one of the most dangerous spots on the coast. The first attempt 

at keeping a lightship at this location 

began in 1824. The vessels were routinely broken from anchorage, and over 

the decades several ships served in this 

capacity, as well as periodically being 

replaced by buoys. Following the WWI 

loss of LV-71, a lighted buoy was placed 

on station. In the 20th century, when not 

in wartime, a series of six different lightships served this area. By 1966, a permanent “Texas Tower” style lighthouse 

was erected here and at other similarly 

dangerous locations, such as Frying Pan 

Shoals near Cape Fear. The Frying Pan 

Shoals was first lit by a lightship in 1854. 

The station remained active until 1964, 

when the Texas Tower replaced it. While 

these stations are now in disrepair and 

decommissioned, they still stand as silent monuments to the dangers of these 

shoals. Modern lighted buoys now take 

the place of the old structures continuing 

to warn mariners of ever present danger.

Figure 61. “Old Baldy” Lighthouse: This is the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina. First lit in 

1817 this site remains a historic attraction for visitors 

to Bald Head Island.

Figure 62. Lighthouse Icons: North Carolina is home to some of the nation’s most iconic lighthouses. Perhaps the most recognizable is Cape Hatteras Light, which is the 

tallest in North America. These lighthouses served as important safety and navigational aids and continue to serve as reminders of our connection to the sea. (Left to Right: 

Bodie Island Light, Cape Hatteras Light, Currituck Light and Cape Lookout Light) U.S. Coast Guard

National Park Service
47Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 63. Frying Pan Shoals Lightship and Texas Tower: Such tower platforms as this replaced older lightships as more prominent aspects of the maritime cultural 

landscape of the coast; here the Frying Pan Shoals Lightship departs its station after being replaced.

U.S. Coast Guard
48Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Protection, Tourism and Recreation

One of the most intriguing aspects of a 

cultural landscape is that it is constantly 

evolving. Over time, a place and its past 

continue to shape how humans interact 

with the landscape. As such, the rich 

maritime heritage of landscape in North 

Carolina has continued to influence many 

of the important uses of the region today. 

While traditional uses still persist in some 

cases, new uses now serve as the foundation for burgeoning eco- and heritage 

tourism industries, while others have inspired new generations of scientists and 

historians to use this unique landscape as 

a living laboratory where we can learn 

more about ourselves, our past, and the 

world we live in.

The maritime landscape of the Outer 

Banks made it a mecca for marine-related tourism, beginning with 19th century 

“resorts” and salt-water bathing as well 

as beach-strolling and picnics beginning 

in the 1830s. Prior to the construction 

of the bridges to the mainland, and the 

later (1963) construction of the Bonner 

Bridge over Oregon Inlet, all access was 

by sound boat and ferry, with sound-side 

landings serving as the focal points for 

access. Now gone, the sites and archaeologically surviving remnants of those 

docks, dolphins and landings were part of 

the maritime cultural landscape. 

Tourism has also included visits to 

beached wrecks. Modern tourism now includes sport fishing, boating, parasailing, 

scuba diving (including a well-developed 

wreck-diving industry), and the rise of 

extensive modern resort communities 

as well as private homes, many of them 

seasonal rental properties in communities such as Currituck, Duck, Nags Head, 

Mirlo Beach, Avon, Rodanthe and others.

Figure 64. “Taking a Dip in the Atlantic, Nags Head - Kitty Hawk, N.C.”: The long chain of barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks are recognized as having 

some of the most spectacular beaches in the country. Recreation and tourism on the beaches during the summer months has long been a mainstay of Outer Banks life.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Library
49Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Museums and Parks

In addition to state beaches and parks, 

multiple museums and historic sites also 

cover the coastline. The winds on the dunes 

of Kitty Hawk enabled the first manned 

flight, and a National Park Service monument commemorates this site. Coastal fortifications Fort Macon and Fort Fisher are 

well maintained state historic sites with 

interpretive centers. The North Carolina 

aquarium system showcases both the natural wonders of the state’s ocean resources as 

well as its maritime history. North Carolina 

also has an excellent network of state-run 

maritime museums: Graveyard of the Atlantic in Hatteras, Southport near Wilmington, and Beaufort Maritime Museum 

in Beaufort, NC. All of these sites serve as 

places for residents and visitors to experience the breadth of natural and cultural resources available in coastal North Carolina.

Figure 65. Lifeboat Drill Reenactment at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station: Coast Guard personnel reenact the drill at a life-saving station that is now a 

museum in Avon.

National Seashores

In recognition of its unique natural and 

cultural resources, Congress designated 

the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area in 1953. In addition to the 

Seashore, the northern Outer Banks is also 

home to the Pea Island National Wildlife 

Refuge (established in 1938), and the 

Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, 

which commemorates the world’s first 

successful air flight in 1903. In 1966, an 

additional section of the Banks was designated as the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Together these areas protect over a 

100-mile stretch of shoreline, and provide 

access to countless recreational activities.

Beach-Going in North Carolina

One of the most accessible activities of 

the maritime culture of the Outer Banks 

is the simple timeless act of beach-going. 

North Carolina’s chain of barrier islands 

provides a world-renowned stretch of hundreds of miles of sandy beaches. Some of 

these are secluded and remote with wild 

horses, while others are vibrant vacation 

meccas with boardwalks, piers, shops and 

restaurants. Each year, the spectacular 

beaches of North Carolina lure millions of 

visitors to these unique shores.

Sport Fishing

North Carolina sport fishing has a long 

and continued heritage on the Outer Banks 

and in the sounds. Beach fishing draws 

thousands each year to catch fish that migrate along the shores. The offshore sportfishing industry brings in additional visitors 

to experience the rich catch that can be had 

in these waters, and fills marinas with colorful ‘Hatteras-style’ fishing boats, providing local watermen with employment.

Figure 67. Cape Lookout National Seashore Sign: The majority of the Outer Banks 

shoreline is recognized as unique and has been federally managed by the National 

Park Service to ensure its continued beauty for future generations.

Figure 66. Shore Fishing: Whether in the sound, on the beach or offshore, this is a 

major draw for tourism and recreation along the Outer Banks. Sportsmen from all over 

the world come to this area to experience one of the region’s most persistent pastimes.

Figure 68. Oregon Inlet Fishing Center: Images such as this one taken in 1951 

reflect changes in vessels and infrastructure, historical ecology of an area, and types 

and sizes of catches.

U.S. Coast Guard Outerbanks.org

National Park Service North Carolina State University Libraries
50Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Figure 69. Hatteras Harbor: The fishing fleet at Cape Hatteras, ca. 1950.

Figure 70. A Fishing Boat Takes Shape: This image was taken on the Outer Banks, ca. 1938.

Library of Congress Library of Congress
51Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Among the landscape elements that relate to this aspect of the coast are the modern 

marinas and boat harbors. A recent website 

lists twelve marinas in the northern Outer 

Banks/Sounds alone, such as the Oregon 

Inlet Fishing Center, the Hatteras Harbor 

Marina, Teach’s Lair Marina, the Ocracoke 

Fishing Center/Anchorage Marina, Oden’s 

Dock, the Hatteras Landing Marina, the 

Broad Creek Fishing Center, and the Dock 

of the Bay (Outer Banks Fishing n.d.). 

These new facilities and their infrastructure 

are a reminder that ongoing activities like 

fishing, as they evolve over time, inspire 

change not only in craft but also in the infrastructure that becomes part of the changing maritime cultural landscape. The rise of 

recreational boating has expanded the need 

for docks, piers, marinas and haul-outs. 

Watercraft

North Carolina’s rugged seascape has 

necessitated sound craftsmanship for seagoing vessels. As such, there is a rich tradition 

and vibrant industry in building boats in the 

region, anywhere from skiffs for the sounds, 

to large luxury motor yachts. Some of the industry’s most recognized names, including 

v, Regulator, Fountain, Parker, Jarret Bay, 

Hatteras and many more, make their home 

in North Carolina and continue this rich tradition, while creating jobs and supporting 

recreational use of ocean resources. Local 

watercraft more recently introduced to the 

maritime landscape include kayaks, as kayaking the sounds has grown in popularity.

Figure 71. Construction of a Carolina-style Yacht: North Carolina has a long tradition of building quality watercraft thanks to the tough conditions these boats face. 

Coastal North Carolina is home to several well-established and nationally known boat builders.

Flickr/Mike+Tiffy

Jarrett Bay BoatworksJarrett Bay Boatworks
52Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Recreational Activities 

One of the most immediate and intimate ways to experience the maritime 

heritage of North Carolina is to participate in many of the recreational activities along the shore. Recreational fishing, 

whether from the beach or offshore, is 

internationally recognized as a wonderfully enjoyable activity. The beaches of 

the Outer Banks are also renowned for 

surfing and other watersports. Kiteboarding in particular has become a staple in 

North Carolina, with the Banks serving 

as a windbreak, providing smooth waters 

and high winds in the sound. Additionally, Wildlife Refuges such as that on Pea 

Island are known as excellent places for 

bird-watching and experiencing the area’s 

unique natural environment. North Carolina’s coast is also home to world-class 

scuba diving. North Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top 

destinations for diving due to the incredibly rich range of shipwrecks and the large 

diverse marine life found here. Landscape 

elements that relate to these activities also 

include smaller focused areas such as the 

wind-surfing spot off Canadian Hole on 

Hatteras Island, the island’s Mountain to 

Sea Trail, dive shops, kayak rental facilities in the various communities, and kayak launching sites into the sounds.

Discovery of USS Monitor and 

Designation of the Nation’s First 

National Marine Sanctuary

In 1973, researchers Dr. John Newton and Gordon Watts set out for an expedition armed with a new technology, 

side-scan sonar, with the intent of locating one of the nation’s most iconic shipwrecks, USS Monitor. Located in 1973, 

Figure 72. Scuba Diving Advertisement: Shipwrecks, maritime heritage and a unique ecosystem rank North Carolina as one of the world’s premier diving destinations (bottom left).

Figure 73. The Wreck of U-701: A NOAA Diver documents the conning tower from a World War II era German U-boat, U-701, lost off the coast of North Carolina. SCUBA Diving Magazine and NOAA
53Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

Figure 74. Discovery of USS Monitor: Duke University research vessel Eastward was used to find the Monitor. This 

discovery and subsequent investigations of the wreck site represented the pinnacle of oceanic research at the time.

Steve Sellers/NOAA

NOAA National Geographic Society

the site was positively identified in 1974. 

The country recognized the significance 

of the site and utilized new protectionist 

and management legislation, the National 

Marine Sanctuaries Act, and then designated the site as the nation’s first national 

marine sanctuary in 1975. The wreck subsequently was also designated a National 

Historic Landmark. The National Marine 

Sanctuary System has since grown to 14 

sites to protect, manage and interpret hundreds of thousands of square miles of U.S. 

ocean and coastal waters and their accompanying uses and resources.
54Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4 Graveyard of the Atlantic

Conclusions

This document serves as an introduction to the diversity, uniqueness and significance of humanity’s ongoing relationship with 

North Carolina’s coastal environment. In this overview of the maritime cultural landscape of this region, what is obvious is not only 

how much the marine environment influences human activity and culture, but also how, in time, people affect the environment. 

Storms, changing sea levels, and beach erosion and accretion are one part of this story. Another part of this story is how highways, 

urban development, and increased population have had an impact all their own. No one part of the story is significant alone, but 

rather the entire story is significant when considered collectively.

Therefore, studying and more comprehensively characterizing this maritime cultural landscape is the recommended next step. 

However, this effort should not be accomplished only by a small group of government historians, archaeologists and historical 

ecologists, but as a collaborative process in conjunction with regional and local experts and residents. This process must be open, 

transparent and inclusive, and give voice to the myriad perspectives and cultures represented. It should not be an exercise to determine what element is or is not significant. Instead, the process should reflect all that has happened here and determine how this 

highly dynamic environment has played a role.

Acknowledgements

This document was compiled in consultation with many important sources and partners. Historic information came from, United 

States Coast Guard, National Park Service, Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, Whalehead 

Club, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Outer Banks History Center, National Archives and Records Administration, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and several published sources. Partners at UNC Coastal Studies Institute 

and East Carolina University contributed greatly to the archaeological knowledge base of historic shipwrecks in the region. We 

are indebted to the various websites documenting the Outer Banks and Cape Fear regions’ history, culture and attractions. We also 

acknowledge and thank Carl Bornfriend and the late David Stick for their knowledge and advice.

ONMS staff members Paul Ticco and Lauren Heesemann were also instrumental in compiling this document. The contributions 

of historians Capt. Albert Theberge and John Cloud of the NOAA Central Library were also key and are gratefully acknowledged. 
55Graveyard of the Atlantic Maritime Heritage Program Series: Number 4

References

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Bornfriend, Carl

2014 Interview by James P. Delgado, Frisco, North Carolina, April 12.

Bright, Leslie S.

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Child, Thomas

1752 Report by Thomas Child concerning the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe landed in North Carolina, February 25, 1752. UNC Chapel 

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Duffus, Kevin P.

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Farb, Roderick M.

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Ford, Ben (Ed.)

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Shomette, Donald G.

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ONMS Maritime Heritage Program

NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries

National marine sanctuaries are living classrooms where people can see, touch and learn about our nation’s maritime heritage treasures. The mission of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program is to protect, promote and explore 

our national maritime heritage resources as part of our evolving coastal, marine and Great Lakes stewardship.

Did You Know?

• Maritime heritage resources are physical, such as historic shipwrecks and prehistoric archaeological sites, as well as archival, 

including oral histories, traditional seafaring and the knowledge of traditional cultures.

• The maritime heritage program documents, inventories and protects over 300 known shipwrecks and prehistoric sites in our 

sanctuaries.

• Maritime heritage resources play a major role in demonstrating the relevance of the oceans to our past, present and future lives.

Program Highlights

Exciting Expeditions

Archaeologists and historians study sanctuary maritime resources including the shipwrecks of Thunder Bay, the cultural sites at the 

Olympic Coast and the search for the lost Civil War submarine Alligator.

State of the Art Technology

Side scan sonar, magnetometers, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and mixed-gas diving provide the technical support for cutting-edge research and discoveries.

Preservation through Education

As part of responsible stewardship, the maritime heritage program designs and implements a variety of efforts to educate the public 

about the importance of protecting and preserving our maritime past.

www.MaritimeHeritage.NOAA.gov

• Current Project Updates

• Expedition Reports

• Field Updates

• Research Topics

• Related Resources

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910

301-713-3125

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov
The National Marine Sanctuary System

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, serves as the trustee for a system of 14 marine protected areas encompassing more than 170,000 square miles of ocean and Great Lakes waters. The 13 national marine 

sanctuaries and one marine national monument within the National Marine Sanctuary System represent areas of America’s ocean and Great 

Lakes environment that are of special national significance. Within their waters, giant humpback whales breed and calve their young, coral 

colonies flourish, and shipwrecks tell stories of our maritime history. Habitats include beautiful coral reefs, lush kelp forests, whale migrations 

corridors, spectacular deep-sea canyons, and underwater archaeological sites. These special places also provide homes to thousands of 

unique or endangered species and are important to America’s cultural heritage. Sites range in size from one square mile to almost 140,000 

square miles and serve as natural classrooms, cherished recreational spots, and are home to valuable commercial industries.

The Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries

is part of NOAA’s 

National Ocean Service.

Vision - People value 

marine sanctuaries as treasured 

places protected for future 

generations.

Mission - To serve as the 

trustee for the nation’s system of 

marine protected areas to conserve, protect and enhance their 

biodiversity, ecological integrity 

and cultural legacy.