The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1953-04-03
COMPACT HISTRY
OF HYDE'S LAKE
MATTAMUSKEET
An Entertaining Account of
interesting Body of Wat
err, Given by D. w.
Lupton of Pan
tego

The growing popularity of the
Lake Mattamuskeet region for
hunting and fishing makes its his
tory interesting. To those who wish
to file away a compact history of
the lake, we publish the following,
which was the subject of an ad-
dress by Mr.. Lupton, sometime ago.
Mr.. Lupton, for many years dep
uty sheriff of Beaufort County, and
a native of Hyde County, is well
informed on the subject.
Mattamuskeet Lake,
Hyde County, North Carolina
Legend has it that several cen
turtles ago, when the Indians roam
ed over this section of eastern
North Carolina, a fire swept over
a vast juniper forest, with the
peaty soil burning for Thirteen
Moons leaving a vast open and
burned expanse of approximately
eight miles wide and fifteen miles
long, which space, when filled with
water, was named for the local
tribe of Indians, MattamUskeet
Lake.
Sc. far as records are concerned
this lake remained unmolested ar
til during the period just pr,'r
to the Civil War, or the War Be
tween the States, when the local
and adjacent landowners conce,v-
ed the idea of draining said Lake
by cutting, with spades and shov
els in the hands of the slaves, q
canal from the lake, at The near
est point, into Yesockin Bay, now
Wysocking Bay, and on into Pam
leo Sound, the same being the
present Lake Landing Canal. This
canal was cut following the cattle
path" which led the large herds
of cattle from the marshes (along
the bay and sound) to the shore or
reef of Mattamuskeet Lake and
today has the many turns and
bends as of the original cutting.
This canal has been dredged sever
al times and was navigable at one
time so that steamer, built at
Fairfield, used the same to trans
port freight to and from Fairfield
to Washington, New Bern and 9TH
er eastern Carolina markets.
The bottom and shore lines of
the lake is of a peety or chaffy
formation, easy to wash and work
with the tide, making it impossi-
BILE to keep up a profitable boat
line due to the filling of the canal,
hence, the same was abandoned.
The lake so far as excessive wa
ter was and is concerned was a
problem as to drainage, for under
excessive rains the lake would fill
to where it overfowed, or seeped
through the soil, to where it filled
the back or lower lands full of
water and drowned out the crops.
Much discussion was had. The
Council of State, consisting of Gov
.ernor Bicket and his state cO-work-
|ers, visited the county and upon
their decision and the cooperation
of the adjacent landowners an
agreement was reached wherein an
undertaking of draining said lake
was had.
At the 1909 General Assembly of
North Carolina a law was passed
authorizing the state to sell said
lake bottom, it then belonging or
being in the custody of the State
Board of Education. Also this same
Or another act provided for the
>elms and conditions of the estab-
fishing Mattamuskeet Drainage
District, authorizing the issuing
and sale of bonds, erecting a huge
pumping plant, doing a vast
amount of canal cutting and pump
ing dry the water of the lake. All
this was done and in 1915 the &C
tlaI construction began. with a fin