A History of Portsmouth Island
Southwest of Ocracoke lies Portsmouth Island. It's deserted now, except for its ghosts in National Park Service uniforms. Empty. If you've never had that eerie feeling ... then maybe you'll want to take the trip that most Banks visitors never make, to quiet, unpopulated Portsmouth Island.
It wasn't always that way.... Read More
A History of Ocracoke Island
Ocracoke Island is the most remote inhabited island of the Banks, and Ocracoke is the southernmost town within the limits of Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
It's reached by ferry from Hatteras Village. The trip across is fast, free and scenic, following a winding course west of Hatteras Inlet, in the calm waters of... Read More
Outer Banks Birding on Pea Island
Pea Island is a particularly fine birding area, especially during the spring and fall. There is a variety and an abundance of bird life passing through the Atlantic flyway over Pea Island, one of several air routes that migrating birds use regularly during their semi-annual trips north and south.
The beginning birder... Read More
Nags Head History
Most everyone has heard the old story about how Nags Head got its name. How, as legend has it, the early inhabitants of the sandy banks were not above tying lanterns around horses' necks (or their tails, one variation goes) and leading the animals up and down the beach. Merchant skippers at sea, seeing the bobbing... Read More
Kill Devil Hills – History of the Wright Brothers
The early history of Kill Devil Hills is indistinguishable from that of Nags Head and Kitty Hawk. In the old days they were all simply part the “the beach.” The Kill Devil Hills themselves, a region of large, moving dunes, were unpopulated, though a small community known as Rosepock existed during the 18th century in... Read More
