HISTORY OF PINE KNOLL SHORES
Was Verrazzano Here?
By Barbara Milhaven and Phyllis Makuck
HISTORY STQRIEI
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Reflections of Pine Knoll Shores
This is the first in a series of articles commemorating the 50th anniversary of
Pine Knoll Shores. For more information about the towns interesting history, visit
the History Committees website atpineknollhistory.blogspot.com.
How far back can we trace the history of the section of Bogue Banks we know
as Pine Knoll Shores? We have evidence that Native Americans camped and
fished here, but the earliest recorded history of a westerner visiting may be when
the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano arrived in the 16th century.
Giovanni da Verrazzano may or may not
have made landfall in Pine Knoll Shores,
but a letter he wrote to King Francis I of
France, dated July 8,1524, indicates that
Verrazzano did sail along our coast. North
Carolina Department of Cultural Resourc
es (NCDCR) highway marker ID: C-59, on
the corner of Highway 58 and Pine Knoll
Boulevard, honors his passage.
Francis I, along with Italian merchants
and French bankers, sponsored Verrazza-
nos navigational venture to find a north
west passage to Asia. Several years earlier, -
Christopher Columbus and Ponce de Leon, both sailing in a similar search
under the Spanish flag, had made famous landings in North America.
Verrazzano began his cross-Atlantic voyage with three vessels—the Brittany,
the Normandy and the Dauphine—but only the Dauphine survived to make it to
our shores. It’s believed he first came to the tip of Cape Fear and continued up
the coast to the Pine Knoll Shores section of Bogue Banks.
In his letter to the French King, Verrazzano described campfires along the
coast. When he and his crew first came ashore, he marveled at what he saw:
VERRAZZANO
I f Itwrentine sailing under 1
French flag. His voyage
along the coast in lSz41
marked the first re*
corCM Curopeancontact
with North Carolina.
—Photo by Susan Phillips
The seashore is completely covered with fine sand XV feet
deep, which arises in the forms of small hills about fifty paces
wide. After climbing farther, we found other streams and inlets
from the sea, which come in by several mouths, and follow the
ins and outs of the shoreline. Nearby we could see a stretch of
country much higher than the sandy shore, with many beautiful
fields and plains full of great forests, some sparse and some
dense; and the trees have so many colors, and are so beautiful
and delightful that they defy description.
Was he down by the mouth of the Cape Fear River or right here along the
shores of Bogue Banks? Verrazzano also described a native population he and his
crew encountered:
They go completely naked except that around their loins they
wear skins of small animals like martens, with a narrow belt of
grass around the body, to which they tie various tails of other
animals, which hang down to the knees; the rest of the body is
bare, and so is the head. Some of them wear garlands of birds’
feathers. They are dark in color, not unlike the Ethiopians, with
thick black hair, not very long, tied back behind the head like
a small tail. As for the physique of these men, they are well
proportioned, of medium height, a little taller than we are. They
have broad chests, strong arms, and the legs and other parts
of the body are well composed. There is nothing else, except
that they tend to be rather broad in the face: but not all, for we
saw many with angular faces. They have big black eyes, and an
attentive and open look.
Are these early residents of Pine Knoll Shores? The North Carolina Depart
ment of Cultural Resources does consider the possibility that Verrazzano could
be describing a coastal area further south: “Cases can be made for Brunswick
and Onslow Counties as well as Carteret County. In recent years, in fact, a real
estate development in the Cape Fear region has taken the name ‘Landfall’ for the
event.” But, in finally making the decision that Verrazzano was describing Bogue
Banks, those working with the highway marker program relied heavily on one
important detail—specifi
cally, Verrazzano’s obser
vation that after he and
his crew made their first
landing the coast “veered”
eastward.
In the translation used
to support the highway
marker, Verrazzano is
quoted as saying, “We
departed this place still
running along the coast,
which we found to trend
toward the east.” And
NCDCR remarks, “In
defense of the Pine Knoll
Shores site in Carteret
it is pointed out that the
geographical landmass on
Bogue Banks is the only
spot along the explorer’s
route where the land
‘trendjsj’ toward the east.”
(Continued on page 27)
Verrazzano’s approximate route, coming ashore near Cape
Fear in mid-March 1524.
—Matthew Twmp, CC BY-SA 3.0, vta Wikimedia Commons
22 The Shoreline I February 2022