1977 Shore
Line
By Phyllis Makuck
The Shore Line changed as 1977 pro
gressed. It added writers, moved from
black mimeograph print to blue stencil
print, reduced the frequency of issues,
grew from four to six pages, introduced
yellow paper and began to use double
sided sheets. There was no shortage of
news and interesting stories, but first
a look at what was happening with the
paper.
Mary Doll and Betty Hammon
seemed to be running out of steam. In
August, they wrote: “THE SHORE
LINE DEADLINE HANGS over our
heads like an ominous rain cloud each
month (a month goes by at about the
speed a week did in one’s youth) and
we find that lately, as wives of traveling,
working husbands, we are traveling too
(not working too, but traveling too).
And so, one morning recently, we had
a summit meeting over coffee and but
termilk biscuits, and we made a stag
gering decision: FROM SEPTEMBER
ON, WE WILL PUBLISH THE SHORE
LINE FOUR TIMES A YEAR.” So, they
produced no paper in October and
November of 1977, and the first issue in
1978 would appear in Ivlarch.
In September 1977, they introduced
new writers in a rather quaint way, po
litically incorrect by today’s standards:
“... the George Eastlands are joining
our, for want of a better word, ‘staff,’
and we are enormously pleased, sighing
with joy, actually. They’ve done a couple
of stories for us this time. You’re going
to love the new style and approach to
things.” Actually, the new staff mem
bers were George and Moni Eastland,
who had recently moved to Salter Path
Road in Pine Knoll Shores.
One of the first articles George
Eastland wrote was “Alice Roosevelt
Slept Here.” No, he did not mean Alice
Hoffman. The “here” he was referring
to was a wing of Alice Hoffman’s house
where, he claimed, Hoffman’s cousin
Alice Roosevelt liked to stay. In 1977, it
was serving as town hall.
But who was Alice Roosevelt? Hoff
man was not a blood relative of the
Roosevelts. The daughter of Hoffmans
sister married President Theodore
Roosevelt’s eldest.son. They had only
one girl, and her name was Grace not
Alice. Perhaps President Roosevelt’s
daughter Alice knew Hoffman and
visited Bogue Banks, but the two were
not related. The visitor was more likely
Grace Roosevelt, who with her broth
ers and their wives would develop Pine
Knoll Shores. Grace Roosevelt may well
have wanted to preserve a section of the
house.
Ahce Hoffman died in 1953, and a
few years later, most of her house was
torn down, as plans for developing the
entire property were about to begin.
Only this eastern wing of the “spa
cious and sprawling home on Bogue
Sound” survived. In the early 196ds, the
Roosevelts had it “.. .moved intact to a
location near the corner of Yaupon and
Salter Path Roads to serve as an office
for the manager of the development.”
This “manager” was probably Don
Brock. (He and others who worked in
the “office” thought it had been Hoff
man’s kitchen.)
Although George Eastland’s article
has raised some historical questions, it
provided fascinating details about Alice
Hoffman and her house, drawing from
information provided by Don Brock,
George McNeill, Mrs. Eugene Willis
and Mrs. DoaFiorini (no first names
provided). Eastland concluded: “The
house was an intricate part of the fabric
of Bogue Banks and in retrospect—es
pecially in the view of many—its razing
was a loss to the island.” Unfortunately,
the one remaining wing was removed
from the municipal site as well; a new
building would replace it.
The progress of plans for the new
municipal building appeared in almost
every 1977 issue of the Shore Line.
January began with thanks to volun
teers for helping clear the site. A Febru
ary story looked back to 1971, when
the Roosevelts “gave the town acreage
where the present town hall stands...
and where a proposed town hall and
firehouse would be located.” In March
came an indication that there would
be a referendum on the overall “plan
for a municipal complex.” April pro
vided “BIG NEWS: The plans for the
proposed building for PKS municipal
area are on display....” These “exciting,
contemporary style” plans included
offices and work areas as well as space
for fire and police departments. In July,
a public hearing on the new municipal
complex was held.
Commissioners were proposing
$375,000 in bonds, underwritten by the
FHA and divided to cover construc
tion, equipment and “a pumper.” The
town had a matching grant from the
North Carolina Department of Natural
Resources to equip “a surplus army
vehicle” for fire and rescue purposes.
A “grant” to purchase a rescue vehicle
was dependent upon the town’s having
“a trained volunteer rescue squad made
up of certified Emergency Medical
Technicians or Ambulance Attendants.”
(A few residents already qualified, and
more were in the process of getting
certified.)
In August, there was a referendum.
“Yes” votes meant Pine Knoll Shores
would have not only a new town hall
but also its own fire department. The
issues passed easily with 189 voting,
fewer than “half the registered voters”
and a small fraction of the total popula
tion.
Shore Line writers, while engaged
in forward-looking plans for the town,
devoted considerable space to looking
back. A brief history provided insights
on what constituted Pine Knoll Shores
in 1977. The history divided develop
ment into two phases: “In the first
phase, land was designated for a golf
course, an ocean park, and one on the
Sound,.and the section now known as
old’ Pine Knoll Shores was laid out.”
A description of phase two helped
define what was “old” and “new” in
1977. Land in the “new” part of town
was “.. .low and even swampy, so a
drainage ditch was dredged which
drained the area and provided fill for
low-lying sections. This drainage ditch
is now our beautiful canal along which
are so many attractive homes.” Also,
“a channel was dredged on the south
shore of the Sound paralleling what
is now Oakleaf Drive. The canal and
channel make the greater portion of
the second phase of Pine Knoll Shores
an island within an island, accessible
on Oakleaf at McNeill Inlet bridge and
by the Mimosa bridge near the Ocean
Park at Salter Path. In addition to the
main canal,’ there are branches and ba
sins—Brock Basin, Hall Haven, Davis
Landing, Hopper’s Hideaway, Hearth’s
Cove, and King’s Corner.”
The above place names appeared
without further explanation but pro
vided a good list of key players in the
early development of the town. George
McNeill, a local attorney, worked for
the Roosevelts and drew up many
of the original legal documents that
determined the character of Pine Knoll
Shores. Don Brock did early survey
work here as an employee of Henry
Van Ossen and Associates, became
an employee of the Roosevelts and
played a key development role from
the 1960s through the 1980s. A.C. Hall,
Raleigh City Planner and owner of
the Atlantis Lodge, drew up plans for
“new” Pine Knoll Shores. A.C. Davis, a
heavy-equipment contractor, dredged
canals and made equipment available
to clear other land as the town devel
oped. Harry Hopper, a management
consultant, worked for the Roosevelts
through Stone and Webster manage
ment firm. Ted Hearth, an attorney for
the Roosevelts, also worked for Stone
and Webster. Charles King was a land
planner, who did survey work during
the development of the so-called “new”
Pine Knoll Shores.
But a newer Pine Knoll Shores was
yet to come; “And now, plans are being
made for another beautifully planned
section of the community to be located
to the west of the Roosevelt State Park.
These plans include a boat basin for
the use of its residents.” This, of course,
would be Beacon’s Reach.
Statistics printed in December
put the Pine Knoll Shores of 1977 in
perspective. It had a population of 770,
less than half its current population.
Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle were
even smaller with 560 and 260 respec
tively, according to the North Carolina
League of Municipalities, which listed
Morehead City’s population at 5,670
and Beaufort’s at 3,800.
Pine Knoll Shores’ tax rate was 20
cents per $100 of assessed property, by
far the lowest in the county; however,
the value of its real property was the
highest in the county— $41,316,000.
Emerald Isle, with its long stretch of
oceanfront property, was a close second
even though its population was the
smallest; unlike Pine Knoll Shores,
Emerald Isle had considerable rental
property, as did Atlantic Beach. Inter
estingly, the listed value of property in
Beaufort was only $21,094,680; later
restoration of historical homes and
some new development would raise the
profile of Beaufort considerably.
For the next several years, coastal
development would remain in high
gear. By looking back and forward, the
Shore Line in 1977 prepared readers for
a bigger Pine Knoll Shores.
22 The Shoreline I April 2011