Newspapers / The Coastland Times (Manteo, … / Nov. 18, 1955, edition 1 / Page 1
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VOLUME XXI NO. 20 HEARING HELD ON MILLION DOLLAR ROAD PROJECTED FOR NAGS HEAD SECTION Highway Officials In Manteo Thursday Explain Project Calling for 200-Foot Right of Way Be tween Wright Memorial Bridge and Roanoke Sound Bridge, Creating Great Boulevard for Beaches. Some 400 people, principally owners of, or interested in real estate in the probable path of a new road that is being projected by the North Carolina Highway Commission met in the Dare Coun ty courthouse Thursday morning to hear highway officials explain the three tentative locations that have been surveyed down the beach between Wright Memorial Bridge and Nags Head. The road, designed to relieve traffic on the beach highway and to provide for future needs of traf fic for many years to come would be 15 miles long and would cost about S7O to S9O thousand dol lars per mile. It would require a 200-foot right of way. But if right of way has to be paid for, the cost would run into a staggering sutn if paid for at anywhere near the value the own ers now put upon the land. One route would run almost par allel and some few hundred feet to the west of the present beach highway. Another takes a more central location but both would have to merge at Jockey Ridge and become a part of the old road. A third route would follow more closely 'along the sound shore. Os the three locations suggested, the sound shore route is believed to be ■ the least costly from a right of way standpoint, and offers more in the development of property values and scenic enjoyment than anything yet proposed for the ’>each. It has immense possibili es for developing the property in jture years and would add untoKT wealth to the area. Properly de signed, it would make a beautifu scenic drive from which the beau- ties of Currituck, Albemarle and Roanoke Sound and Kitty Hawk bay might be viewed and become a tremendous tourist attraction. The wooded area of Nags Head and Kitty Hawk would be devel oped. There is a possibility this road can be built next year. It may take a long time to arrive at a solution that will meet with least resis tance among landowners and bus iness men. In any route chosen some people may take the short view, and be expected to see in it a threat to their business prosperity. Others have hopes for a certain route because it might greatly en hance the value of property which otherwise may remain undeveloped for many years. The consensus of disinterested observers is that the farther to the west the road can be built, the greater will be its ulti mate value and ultimate service to the most people. It offers great er potentials for the development of the most real estate, in that it will speed the development of property long dormant so far as market goes, and it also suggests that the greater the distance is between the old and new high ways, then more connecting roads will be built, meaning of course that the development of hundreds of acres into profitable building sites will be made possible. Most of the property owners in- See HEARING, Page Four BEACH RESIDENTS MEET • TONIGHT TO PLAN FOR PHONE RATE HEARING Residents of the Dare Beaches, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, with interested civic leaders will meet on Friday night at the Carolinian Hotel at 7:30 p.m. to discuss plans for the telephone rate hearing affecting the Kill Devil Hills exchange. The hearing is scheduled for ueaday, November 22 in Raleigh oefore the State Utilities Commis ' sion to review the rate structure which was established -as a trial program for the beach exchange. Primary emphasis in the hear ing concerns whether or not the initial rate approved by the State for the beach exchange is fair to the subscribers and at the same time rendering a fair return to the telephone company upon its in vestment. The first year’s opera tion of the exchange, from the fi nancial standpoint, as well as oper ating service will be discussed. A representative group of beach res idents will attend the hearing in Raleigh for the purpose of exam ining the company’s report on op erations, and raising specific rate problems, which affect the area. THE COASTLAND TIMES PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST OF THE WALTER RALEIGH COASTLAND OF NORTH CAROLINA RISING YOUNG EDUCATOR -V. . ’ Donald Gordon Griffin was re cently appointed Assistant Princi pal of Granby High School in Norfolk, Va. He is the son of Mrs. Hattie Crees Griffin and the late Cecil Griffin. His grandparents were the late Mr. and Mrs. S. A. i Griffin, and the late Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Crees. He is a brother of Lt. Commander C. L. Griffin Jr., USN. An aunt, Mrs. Rennie Wil liamson lives in Manteo. Mr. Grif fin graduated from Maury High School in Norfolk; he attended the Norfolk Division of William and ■"Mary, and received his B. A. and M. Ed. degrees from the College of William and Mary in Williams burg, Va. He has been -with the Norfolk City School System for eleven See GRIFFIN, Page Four DEERING’S REMAINS AS LEFT BY STORM t • i’ ij i<Jk k • -xvv*.-*-* - -1 i i < * Vi--* : -'*** Mur * Here’s a picture by Dan Morrill, of what remained of the “Ghost Ship ’ Deering as she lay on the beach, a tourist attraction following the summer’s hurricanes. DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU By DAN E. MORRILL Throughout the ages the action of wind and tide have carved a strip of land and beaches of golden sand, warmed in winter by the winds from the nearby blue water of the Gulf Stream and drenched by sunshine. This strip of land is the Outer Banks situated in our own Dare County and known throughout the world. For years its isolation made it possible for only the adventure some and hardy to view its wild beauty. Its isolation also made it a natural rendezvous for pirates and buccaneers who lived here beyond the reach of the law. Fabulous legends have been woven about the pirates and of the shipwrecks on the shores and treacherous shoals and these tales have been told the world over. Today, however, with the advent of good roads and ferries most of the isolation has vanished and thousands of tourists and vacation ers visit these Outer Banks and TOURIST BUREAU DIRECTORS MET HERE TUESDAY Thirteen of the 16 members of the Dare County Tourist Bureau board of directors and officers are shown as they met in Manteo Tuesday to complete plans for publicizing and promoting the area during current year and to adopt a budget for operations. They are, from left to right: R. E. Jordan, Lost Colony, Gordon Kellogg, Manteo, Mrs. Lucille S. Purser, Nags Head, Manteo Mayor Martin Kellogg Jr., A. H. Gray, Waves, Tom Briggs, Kill Devil Hills (president of Nags Head Chamber of Commerce, who was present to discuss Ocean Highway), Wallace H. McCown, new president of Bureau, Mrs. Elizabeth Baum, Kitty Hawk, new secretary, treasurer, Mayor Emily Mustian, Kill Devil Hills, E. E. Meekins, Manteo, Boyd Gray, Hatteras township, Mrs. W. H. Smith, Kitty Hawk, George Fuller, Buxton, new vice president and M. R. Daniels of Wanchese. Only three members of the board were not present, Mrs. Diane Johnson, who is now in Europe, Archie Burrus, who was on vacation in New York and Mrs. W. S. White, of Manns Harbor. (Aycock Brown Photo) NAGS HEAD GROUP MEETS. TOM BRIGGS NOW HEADS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Thos. S. Briggs Jr. of Kitty Hawk, operator of the Hotel Croatan, was named President of the Nags Head Chamber of Com merce following a charcoal dinner i'huisday night at the Carolinian. Miss Sarah Halliburton continues as secretary. The organization takes up matters of interest in the entire beach area. A report was heard from Town Commissioner Herbert Morrison of Kill Devil Hills that the A rating of the town’s fire department will bring lower insurance rates to the area. Pat Bayne, John Evans and T. C. Kelford were named a committee See’“CHAMBER, Page Four spend their money with the natives i while here. They come here because i of the isolation and natural beauty, i because of the history connected s with the Banks; because the wa ters teem with fish, because of the I birds and wildfowl in the marsh i land and woods. They come be ■ cause it is different and still un i spoiled by the hand of commerce and greed. Over the years the acts of God and the mistakes of man have I caused countless numbers of ships’ • to be wrecked upon the coasts and i the skeletons and hulks of once 1 proud ships of sail and steam lay along the beaches. These too i are tourist attractions and folks 1 like to come and see and meditate ! and perhaps re-enact in their ; minds deeds of heroism and dan ger. To dream of pirates and the iron men of the ships of wood and of the daring exploits of the old life saving service. Recent'v the w-eck of the See DEERING, Page Four MANTEO, N. C., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1955 Her Tyrrell Ancestry and Its History Inspires Wife of College Professor Daughter of Capt. Howard Davenport, Now in lowa Reveres A System of Values That Places Learning Aboves Riches and Knowledge Ahead of Fine Carriages. By VICTOR MEEKINS The once great empire of Tyrrell Precinct, which flourished in aris tocracy and learning in Colonial days, has lost slices which form both Martin and Washington, and parts of other counties, has pro duced many great sons and daughters. Those who love it today look back upon great ancestry, great achievements and great traditions. It is some of the things associat ed wi.h Tyrrell County, which by the way gave much of its land in 1870 to form Dare County too, that fascinate me and inspire me to ask our readers to furnish us with more information about Tyr rell and its natives and the natives of other counties. Particularly , IMPROVEMENTS TO FERRY UNDERWAY AT OREGON INLET Hatteras Island Citizens Urgently Requesting Better Schedules Soon A project to considerably im prove the ferry channel on the north side of Oregon Inlet is un derway, and a hydraulic dredge is now widening and deepening the harbor at this point.. The dredge “Seabay Beach” of Wilmington, Del. has been on the job for more than a week. When the job is complete, it will make possible the building of another ferry slip, so that two boats may be in contin uous operation when needed. The' Oregon Inlet job is part of a general improvement the state is making to its ferry docks in Dare County. Several days ago some work was done at the East Lake ferry. Meanwhile, on Hatteras Island, a campaign is underway to urge the State to provide better ferry schedules. At present, the earliest boat leaving the north side is 7 a.m. and the last one leaving the south side at 4:30 p.m. Fisher men, hunters, and businessmen us ing this ferry contend that there is no reason why this service cannot begin an hour earlier in the morn ing, and last an hour later in the evening. They contend there is no element of hazard save in such weather as the ferries wouldn’t operate anyway. Trips now are on an hourly basis, and this, they con tend, is insufficient, resulting in many cars being left behind at times, particularly on the earliest and latest trips. During the splen did weather of this month, on oc casion other boats have had to be pressed into service to accommo date a few cars left over, apd this, the citizens contend, wouldn’t , have been necessary had the ex tra boat morning and night been provided all along. A petition is being taken direct | to Governor Hodges, signed by most of the people of the island, asking relief from the present in adequate ferry schedules. IN DISTANT FIELDS BUT LOVES TYRRELL COUNTY jyvjjfc.,-. 4 MRS. MIRIAM D. BURKE of lowa, who finds in her Tyrrell County ancestry and her county’s history much inspiration. See ac companying story. from the counties of Hyde, Dare, Beaufort, and Currituck. It would be valuable and inspir ing knowledge to our readers. It would be encouraging and uplift ing to recount for them the suc cesses that have been achieved by our natives. It is fine for us to recount the traditions that in flamed the ambitions of our an cestors. There seems little hope in the present nor in posterity among a people without pride and love for their traditions and their ancestors. This is the spirit that will make us all better. For this reason we are asking our readers to tell us of the great and the near great who have gone away from home. We are asking for articles about the things in See ANCESTRY, Page Four COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE TO BE HELD AT MANTEO BAPTIST CHURCH The annual Thanksgiving Day service held jointly by the Manteo Baptist and Manteo Methodist churches will be held on Thanks giving Day at the Manteo Baptist Church at 10:30. The message will be brought by the Rev. Lewis Aitken, pastor of the Manteo Methodist Church. The music will be in charge of the Manteo Bap tist Church. ‘ The public is invited to attend this Worship Service as the community gives thanks for what God has done for them in the past year,” says Rev. H. V. Napier, the pastor. There will be an offering taken at the service which will be given to the Baptist Orphanages of North Carolina for the homeless children they support. KITTY HAWK HIGH SCHOOL DISAPPROVED IN REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE An Elementary School Recommended For Enroll ment of More Than 160 Now Being Taught at Kitty Hawk; Survey Cites Poor Prospect of Growth in School Population. DIRECTORS OUTLINE TOURIST BUREAU'S SERVICES. IN DARE Meeting Wednesday Adopts Bud get For Current Year Totaling $14,650 By AYCOCK BROWN Dare County Tourist Bureau di rectors meeting here this week dis cussed various phases of what the organization is doing for the area and its supporters, adopted a bud get for the current 1955-56 year, planned for special events and heard reports of officers. A special report of Bureau acti vities presented at the board re flected ,gave a breakdown of how news and publicity about the area is disseminated throughout the country, special services to oper ators and information distribution. News and Publicity Distribution of information in the form of news stories and news pictures is one of the major activi ties of the Bureau. Also served in this connection are radio and tele vision stations, magazines, outdoor columnists, special writers or photographers assigned to stories in the Dare region and regular contact with editors and others in the form of suggestions for stories or ideas for same. “In addition to the foregoing,” said Chairman Wallace H. Mc- Cown, “Our Bureau also assists in the making of travel movies, such have been produced in the past or proposed to produced in the future.” Services direct to operators of facilities in the Dare County sec tion includes making pictures available for publicity folders, planning layouts for folders, dis tribution of advertising folders, helping operators with their adver tising problems and acting as a consulting agency in the prepara tion of material used in answering inquiries. “One of our services is process ing letters from students through out the country who write for in- See DIRECTORS, Page Four CONTRACT SOON FOR HIGHWAY ON OCRACOKE Civic Club Hears Assurance That Things Are About Ready to Begin Construction Ocracoke, Nov. 14.—Ocracoke Civic Club at its November meet ing tonight heard letters of assur ance from State Highway officials that the Ocracoke road contract is very near to the stage of being advertised for bids. Final surveys for drainage having been com pleted week before last, it was confirmed that all information necessary for drawing up the plans and contract are now in the hands of the Highway Department. Lo cation surveys made in the early summer have been since then re vised in the light of sea action ob served in eonnection with the series of hurricanes Connie, Di anne, and lone in August and Sep tember, two specific relocations having been determined upon, each byway of securing a more favor able route for the highway. J. Em mett Winslow, Commissioner of the First Division, expressed his hope that the work “will be done so you can be using it sometime next summer." In the absence but on the author ity of Hazen Brooks, National Park Ranger, plans were reported that have already reached the mapping stage, for the rehabili tation and preservation of the old Navy docks and building on Silver Lake harbor here. Congressman Herbert C. Bonner wrote explain ing in detail the careful study of timber preservation that has been ure'ertaken by the Park Service in tdis connectio i. A report was heard from the Federal Civil Defense Administra tion regarding the recent alloca tion by Hyde County authorities of 30 hours of mosquito spraying on Ocracoke at a total cost of $630.00. The Federal Civil Defense Administration reported this ap proach to the problem in lieu of machine foggin r : . It was further reported that this is almost cer- See HIGHWAY, Page Eight Single Copy 7^ Editor's Note: There has been much in terest in Kitty Hawk in recent months about the desire of that community to get a modern High School built to serve pupils residing between Nags Head and Coffey's Inlet, including Colinqton Island. There have *been some contentions as well as misunderstand ings about what was said as well as not said in various meetings and otherwise. We have therefore obtained a copy of the report of the Committee sent out from Raliegh to investigate the situation, and print it here with, verbatim and in full. KITTY HAWK SCHOOL SUR VEY, DARE COUNTY, July 19-20, 1955: At the request of Superin tendent of schools, Mrs. Mary L. Evans, a survey of school facilities in the Kitty Hawk School district was made on the above dates by the following committee. R. P. 1 Martin, Superintendent of Hert ford County Schools; Warren L. La than, Division’ of School Plan ning, Henry L. Buffaloe, Division of School Planning; and J. L. Pierce, Division of School Health and Physical Education; the latter three members of the committee being from the N. C. Department of Public Instruction. The survey requested was spe cifically for recommendations re garding future planning in the Kitty Hawk School district. Gen erally speaking, all the informa tion contained in this report relates only to the Kitty Hawk School district. The committee met with the Superintendent and Board of Edu cation at the exisiting Kitty Hawk School and heard a delegation of patrons from the Kitty Hawk School district h> aded by Wallace H. McCown. Mi. McCown present ed facts relative to school popula tion ill the Kitty Hawk district and to possible school expansion within the district if proper school facili ties were available. Mr. McCown See SCHOOL, Page Four INVESTORS FEARING HIGH TAXES, SLOW UP BEACH BUILDING Recent Big Jump in Dare Tax Rate Keeping People Out of Work, Realtors Believe Dare County appears to be los ing far more than it gained by the recent big jump in the tax rate put on property in the county, and it is feared much employment will be lost to the people, due to plans having been cancelled by a number of owners of beach prop erty who had planned to build houses this winter. A number of realtors interested in beach prop erty, have been singing it low, but privately say the*constant increas ing in budget and big pumping of taxes is discouraging people from building. Men who used to keep busy all fall helping to build houses, and lay concrete foundations and side walks find themselves with nothing to do this winter. Some realtors say it is because men who had planned to invest money on the beaches are uncertain and afraid. They don’t know where they stand, and they don’t know how far this tax raising business is going to go. They also say that until the county gets some responsible officials, and adopts a permanent and stable policy on which to de pend, that we may not soon see a resumption of the former rate of building on the beach. For one thing, and in particular, the investor doesn’t want his money tied up where he is as help less as in Dare County, where he is a non-resident, and has no vote. He is at the mercy of the caprice of the carelessness of a group of officials, or of a mere handful of residents, who with no property at stake, can vote unreasonable taxes which is mostly paid by the non resident. He can’t do a thing about it, or while he has the investment in property, and must pay most of the tajees, he hasn’t a bit of say so about how far the offic als can go, nor hew rhey spend the money. Consequently the news gets out, and discourages others from com ing in and investing money. Build ing investments during the past ten years have been the principal source of income for most of our working men. But we have a different picture this fall. Men who had jobs to do, and contracts for concrete and housebuilding, are walking around with no work to do. They are be ging to learn something of the See TAXES, Page Five
The Coastland Times (Manteo, N.C.)
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Nov. 18, 1955, edition 1
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