Greyhounds, Miss America, Drinking, and Gambling . . .
now I’ve got your attention, but you’re probably wondering how am I going to
weave those subjects into a story about the history of Pine Knoll Shores. The story begins a few days back while I was doing
research on the history of Bogue Banks Public Library.
The Roosevelts who developed Pine
Knoll Shores, the grandchildren of President Theodore Roosevelt, were all
individuals of accomplishment before taking on their roles here. This post
attempts to outline what we know about them.[i]
John Royall’s “Isle of Pines” estate underwent major
changes after Alice Hoffman came on the scene. I use the phrase “came on the
scene” because Alice requested and made changes before she purchased the
property. When John Royall owned the land, the main house was his hunting lodge
with a small cabin nearby for his friend Dr Allison to use. The first two years
Alice was on Bogue Banks (1915 and 1916), she rented Dr Allison’s cabin and
immediately started remodeling it to her liking. After she purchased the 2,000-acre
estate from Mr. Royall, she continued to enlarge the cabin, and the hunting
lodge eventually became just another worker’s cottage. This post shows how her
homestead changed over time.
