The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter., 1962-07-13
veniences

Vacation sports, picturesque
beauty, history and tradition
combine in the allure of Ocra-
coke Island.
Sand and sea are the main
attractions, as elsewhere on the
North Carolina Banks. But they
are not all. To the history mind
ed Ocracoke evokes a picture
of Croatan, of Lost Colony fame,
and of Blackboard, sinister pir-
ate.
For the lover of beauty,
Ocracoke village offers a rare
reward. Nowhere else in the
Outer Banks country is there a
spot to match this quaint COM
munity that encircles a impid
lake, about a mile across, with
streets around it's perimeter and
other streets and lanes meander.
ing away to the shore line on
Pamlico Sound, or eventually to
be swallowed up in the all-con.
suming sand.
| Village homes are neat, lawns
are trim, and there are many
shade trees. A lighthouse moi
far from the lake is the CHIEF
landmark. It was built in 1928
and is one of the Oldest on the
Atlantic coast still in use the
others being at Sandy Hook and
Henlopen.
| A thickly wooded point hall
a mile east of the village or
iOcracoke Inlet is pointed out
as the site of Blackbeard's home
in the early 1700's and out ir
the inlet not far away il
"Teach's Hole" where the pirate
met his fate in 171S.
! Along with its aura of tht
past, Ocracoke has modern con
yeniences for the visitor. There
|are stores, restaurants and mo
tells, and there is a camping
ground on the ocean shore main
tanned by the National Parl
Service. A 12-mile paved roat
runs the length of the village
and ferries across Oregon ant
Hatteras Inlets are free. II
another year, probably, a bridg'
will have been built across
Oregon Inlet, making Ocracok'
even easier of access. From Nor
folk, it is a 9O-mile drive to Ore
gon Inlet, the first water to b
crossed.
Both Oregon and Hatteras In
let's were carved out by a tire
mendous hurrican Sept. 7-s
l1846. Previously for a centur!
since the filling up of an ear
J her inlet, Ocracoke and Hattera
, islands had been one. Oregon
Inlet incidentally, was name'
for the first ship that passe'
through 1.-THE side wheele.
Oregon, owned by one William
H. Willard.
+ As the motorist nears Ocra
coke village he may, if he il
lucky, see Banks ponies grazing
on the sparse beach grass. Thes'
are remnants of a once grea
herd descended from survivors
of long-ago shipwrecks. A rang'
has been provided for them b!
the National Park Service, ant
they are multiplying again aftel
having almost vanished from the
island.
| Most of Ocracoke Island is in
cluded in the Cape Hatteras Ma
tional Seashore, a great pre-
serve on the Outer Banks main
tanned by the National Parl
Service. At Ocracoke village, the
Park Service has rest rooms ane
an information center to serve
those interested in camping
picnicking, fishing, boating and
of course, the history of the
| island.
The first European visitor te
Ocracoke probably was Ralph
Lane who headed Sir Walter
Raleigh's first colony in 1886
though it is possible that Anna.
das and Barlow Raleigh's ex'
plorers, stopped there a veal
earlier. John Whites map od
"Virginia" designated an island
roughly corresponding to Ocra.
coke as Croatan in 1887; and
! the word "Croatan" carved on 8
gatepost at Fort Raleigh indi.
Gated that his colony went
there on leaving Roanoke Is
land. It was the last definite
word of the Lost Colony.
After the coming of perman-
ent settlers to North Carolina
Ocracoke Inlet became an i'm
portant entry point for colonial
shipping. A settlement there fol
ships pilots was recognized for.
mally by the General Assembly
in 1715. The Assembly "appoint'
ed Ocracoke a town" in 1853.
There were shipwrecks ovel
the years, among them the
steam packet Home in 1887 with
90 lives lost, and the steamer