Early Pine Knoll Shores

The Town of Pine Knoll Shores was chartered by the state General Assembly in 1973. Before it was chartered, many actions and events occurred that set the stage for the community we have today. Prior to being a town, the land was under stewardship of members of the Roosevelt family, and before them, Alice Hoffman, and before her, John Royall. Before Royall, several others claimed it. In colonial times, the Lords Proprietors ruled, and, before them, it was the land of native peoples. They all had one trait in common: they left the land essentially untouched. That all changed starting in the 1940s, when two significant events occurred that shaped development of Bogue Banks.

Locating Alice's House

A certain amount of uncertainty and confusion exist around the location of Alice Hoffman’s house.  All evidence puts it on the north shore of Bogue Banks, west of Yaupon Point and east of McGinnis Point. Several people have claimed that remnants of her house are on their property. This post presents the stories, evidence and observable data as a basis for further discussion.

Alice's Tie to the Roosevelts

Some of the most commonly known facts about Pine Knoll Shores are that members of the Roosevelt family owned this land, preserved some of it in a natural state and developed most of it. Covenants they left behind continue to shape the character of the town. The Roosevelt connection came through Alice Hoffman’s niece, Eleanor Butler Alexander. Who was she? How was she connected to the Roosevelt family? Why were her children Alice Hoffman’s heirs? This post attempts to answer these questions while shedding some light on Eleanor’s life.[i]

Homeowner Associations: PKA & PIKSCO

Pine Knoll Shores has a complex governance system. In addition to a mayor, town manager, board of commissioners and various departments of city government, the town consists of numerous homeowner associations. The exact number depends on how one counts them. Some sections of town have one homeowner association, and others have a master association with several small associations representing specific constituencies in a larger development.

Understanding the history and makeup of homeowner associations is one way of understanding Pine Knoll Shores. (For background information, see post on “Early Pine Knoll Shores Development: 1950s & 60s.”)

Iver-Johnson Revolver

In an earlier post entitled “Alice in Her Own Words,” it is noted that the unpublished autobiography tells us that Alice Hoffman kept “two pistols, one on each side of her bed, in fear of intruders who might do her harm.” Following is information about one of those pistols.

Kitchen, Food, and Drink

History is often told through grand events and momentous changes, but in trying to understand an individual person and why they did what they did, the mundane, day-to-day activities may provide a more nuanced and human picture. And when we get down to a daily activity, which we all can relate to, another side of Mrs. Hoffman, shows through. Lets go to Alice’s kitchen and see what’s cooking.

Homeowner Associations: Beacon's Reach

In the 1970s and 80s, the Roosevelts sold off property for development, primarily condo development, but they held on to the property that would become Beacon’s Reach. Proceeding on what would be their final project on the island, they created a new corporation in the form of a homeowner association for each section under development. A Master Association, working with its various constituent HOAs, would be responsible for internal roads—their paving, lighting and parking enforcement—for waste-water treatment as well as for parks, marinas, tennis courts, pools and other amenities. Consequently, the most complex homeowner structure in Pine Knoll Shores emerged with the development of Beacon’s Reach.

Beacon’s Reach 1985 Planning Map on conference room wall in Property Management Office.