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1524-1954; Before “Pine Knoll Shores” As Pine Knoll Shores looks forward to our 50th Anniversary celebration, the History Committee will post a series of stories that describe some of the milestones leading up to town incorporation in 1973. Last month, we began our series with the adventures of Giovanni da Verrazzano, who sailed along the NC coastline in the 1500s, possibly even coming ashore here in Pine Knoll Shores. Next month, we will fast forward to the late 1800s, with a fascinating article containing recently discovered information about a significant but somewhat unknown Pine Knoll, Shores founding father, John Allen Royall. To put these and future events into perspective, this month we will feature an annotated timeline, highlighting Pine Knoll Shores milestones in context with other local and world events. ' 1524—Giovanni da Verrazano sails along the coast of Bogue Banks. See article in the February 2022 issue of The Shoreline (townofpks.com/The Shoreline/Past Issues). 1663—King Charles II of England grants Province of Carolina to eight Lords Proprietors. Sir George Carteret, for whom the county is named, was one of the eight. 1800—Census lists Jones Meginnis as living on Bogue Banks. He was assumed to be a squatter living where McGinnis Point was later developed on the sound. 1826-34—Fort Macon is constructed. Fort Hampton, built in 1808-09 to guard Beaufort Inlet, was abandoned after the War of 1812. Shore erosion and a hurricane in 1825 swept it into Beaufort Inlet. 1860— John Allen Crosskeys Royall is born in Savannah, GA. 1861— The American Civil War begins when Southern forces fire upon Fort Sumter in South Carolina. 1862— Alice Green is born in New York City to a prominent, wealthy family. George Vanderbilt is born in Staten Island. 1864— The SS Pevensey, a Confederate iron steamer blockade runner, is chased ashore by a Union ship and sinks 220 yards offshore. The remains lie just beneath the surface where the former Iron Steamer Pier was located. 1865— The American Civil War ends. 1890s—Shackleford Banks residents leave Diamond City. A series of storms and the decline in whaling force Diamond City “bankers” to move to Salter Path on Bogue Banks, Harkers Island and the Promise Land in Morehead City. 1895—George Vanderbilt opens Biltmore House in Asheville, NC, to friends and family. 1901-1909—Theodore Roosevelt serves as the 26th US President. Later, his grandchildren develop Pine Knoll Shores. 1903—The Wright Brothers make their first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft. 1905—Alice Green (age 43) marries John Ellis Hoffman. 1908—Oscar Kissam of Huntington, NY, buys 82 acres in the central section of future Pine Knoll Shores and names the property Aibonita. He subdivides the property and sells lots to his friends and neighbors in New York, who build winter retreats. 1910— John Allen Crosskeys Royall of Boothbay, Maine, buys 8,000 acres of land on Bogue Banks, roughly 4/5 of the island. In todays measurements, he bought from mile marker #5 to the western end of the island. 1911— Alice Green Hoffman and John Ellis Hoffman divorce. 1912— RMS Titanic sinks in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage after collision with an iceberg. 1914- 1917—World War 1. Alice Hoffman leaves Paris as the German Army approaches. 1915— RMS Lusitania is torpedoed by German U-boats and sinks. 1917- Alice Hoffman buys a 2,000-acre tract of land from John Royall. The property extends into current-day Atlantic Beach on the east and through Salter Path to the west. Hoffman resides in a remodeled and expanded cottage built by John Royall for his physician. She initially rents and then buys the cottage with the land purchase. 1918- 1919—The Influenza Pandemic of 1918, also known as the Spanish Flu Epidemic, kills an estimated 50 million people worldwide. 1919- 1926—U.S. Post Office is established at Alice Hoffman’s house and named Bogue Banks Post Office. 1922—John Royall sells his remaining property west of Salter Path to Pennsylvania businessman Henry K. Fort for $70,000. Royall left Bogue Banks and bought Standard Sand & Gravel in Lillington, NC. 1928—First bridge from Bogue Banks to the mainland opens, connecting Atlantic Beach to Morehead City. 1935-38—Alice Hoffman’s financial difficulties cause her to lose control of her property. In 1935, all of Hoffmans NC property was up for sale at auction, and her NC attorney, Llewellyn Phillips, bought it for $17,000 to hold and satisfy her debts. Many court cases ensued. 1938—Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) program builds Salter Path Road. (Continued on page 29) 22 The Shoreline I March 2022
