In
1944, as a result of financial difficulties and legal actions, the estate of
Alice Hoffman was put in trust for the children of Eleanor and Ted Roosevelt,
who was President Theodore Roosevelt’s son. Members of the Trust were Theodore Roosevelt (sometimes referred
to as TR III); his sister, Grace; his brothers, Cornelius and Quentin. This
action by the courts established the Roosevelts as the sole owners of the Alice
Hoffman property on Bogue Banks. She was granted the right to live in her home
for the remainder of her life. Justice John Marshall Matthias, one of Alice’s Ohio
relatives who was an attorney and judge in the Columbus Municipal Court, helped
set up the trust and was a key player in actions that led up to the 1944 court
action.
On February
25, 1949, Frank M. Wooten, Jr., acting as attorney of record, wrote a deed for Alice Hoffman, the
Roosevelts and John Marshall Matthias to donate property to the Diocese of East
Carolina of the Episcopal Church. This property, comprising 62 acres, became Trinity
Center.
Development activities were of a haphazard or random
nature in the 1950s and eventually took on a more organized approach as the
1960s progressed. In 1951, Rivers and
Associates Consulting Engineers of Greenville, North Carolina, a firm in
business since 1918[i],
was engaged to map a small subdivision on the western portion of the property,
adjacent to the community
of Salter Path. This Greenville firm was probably brought onboard through the
recommendation of Alice’s legal advisor Frank Wooten, whose
office was in Greenville. The property was called and still is called Hoffman
Beach. On the recorded plot of the subdivision, it is referred to as “Hoffman Beach, Property of Mrs. Hoffman,” even though by the 1950s the Roosevelt Trust controlled the land. The first lot in
this subdivision was sold in June 1951.The deed included a one-page list of
covenants and restrictions. Establishment of a homeowner association was not
included. Hoffman Beach remains an unincorporated entity apart from Pine Knoll Shores and Salter Path.
After Alice Hoffman died in 1953, Rivers & Associates was
again engaged by the Roosevelts to map a subdivision near the eastern portion
of her property. It is on this map by Rivers and Associates that name Pine Knoll Shores first appears. Research to
date has not revealed the derivation of the name. John Royal called the land "Isle of Pines". Alice Hoffman referred to her home as "Shore House", and, for a time, called her business "Pine Grove Farms." Perhaps, these were in the mind of the originator. In the July 1973 issue of the Shoreline, Pete Rempe, then living in El Paso, Texas sent a letter to the editor saying, "Pine knoll Shores has always been close to my heart as I arranged the first meeting with the Roosevelts in my office at 90 Broad St N.Y.C. when I was with Stone and Webster. I am the guy who thought up the name Pine Knoll Shores and am delighted that the whole plan out so successfully." The meeting referred to most likely took place in 1954. Pete Rempe's enthusiasm for Pine Knoll Shores was demonstrated by his purchase of one of the first lots put on the market in 1957, on the corner of Pinewood and Salter Path Roads.
Also during the early 1950s, George McNeill, a Morehead City
resident, became attorney-in-fact for the Roosevelt family and would remain in
that role through the 1970s.
 |
| Vickstrom map from advertising brochure by Real Estate Agent Fred Clarkson circa late 1950s |
By the late 50s, lots were being sold on Salter Path Road and on new
streets running north and south: Cedar, Holly, Willow, Yaupon, Juniper and
Oakleaf on the sound side; Pinewood and Knollwood on the ocean side. These streets were
the original Pine Knoll Shores. Later, this area would be casually referred to as “Old PKS” and was mapped
by Donald E. Vickstrom of Rivers & Associates in March 1957. In May 1957,
the “General Plan of Subdivision” was filed at the Recorder of Deeds Office
(Book 174, Page 643).
Our research to date has not
revealed why that particular ¼ mile of the eight miles the Roosevelts owned was
chosen to develop first.
 |
| 1964 Aerial view |
This is an aerial view from 1964. Found
in a report by Simon Baker, Aerial
Photography for Planning and Development in Eastern North Carolina (Raleigh 1976). The white strips on
the right are development activity outside the Roosevelt property limits. The
north-south roads further to the left are the roads developed in the late 50s.
 |
| 1953 Aerial view from USDA survey |
The 1953 and 1964 aerial
photos show the same stretch of land. The cleared area on the 1953 photo was
used by Alice Hoffman to raise produce and livestock. Her house was to the
left. The straight line extending from Salter Path Road is a roadway leading to
her house. Perhaps the cleared area and existing roadway had something to do
with the development decision.
The first
lots were sold in July 1957. The first buyers in this original plot of PKS were
Mr. & Mrs. Wade Cooper (block E, lot 3), Mr. & Mrs. Peter Rempe (block
F, lot 10) and Mr. & Mrs. Warner Wells (block W, lot 16). The local real
estate representative of the Roosevelt Trust at this time was Fred Clarkson of
Morehead City. Shelby Freeman, also of Morehead City, sold lots to interested
buyers. One of Shelby Freeman’s buyers was A.C. Hall, who purchased 300’ of oceanfront in July 1959 and
built the Atlantis Lodge, the town’s first motel; he would become a key planner
for the next phase of development. Shelby Freeman also purchased 300’ of oceanfront
in March 1959, on
which he later built the Iron Steamer complex, which is no longer in existence.
The “General Plan of Subdivision.” mentioned above, included the
Vickstrom map and restrictive covenants. The covenants did not include any
mention of a homeowner association or membership therein—an omission that
complicated the Roosevelts’ development strategy for years to come.
The concept of homeowner associations
(HOA) was taking shape nationwide in the early 1960s. HOAs allow localized preferences in community living and are an
overlay to municipal government. They
operate like businesses
and, as such, are corporations with geographical limits. They are essentially
private governments and have unique differences when compared to
municipalities, which are public. In HOAs, each property is entitled to a vote,
regardless of where the owners live, whereas, in municipal governments, legally
registered residents vote, whether they own or rent, one vote per person. By
2010, this concept of private government had taken hold throughout the nation, and
there were over 300,000 such associations.[ii]
The activity level of HOAs varies significantly, here and throughout the
nation. Some take on major responsibilities and others little. In spite of the
widespread acceptance of HOAs, there is no statistical database for HOAs; they
are not part of the census records or any federal, state or county statistical
records.
 |
| Ball additions to Rivers map |
Up until the mid 1960s, the full
development concept for the Roosevelt property was yet to be articulated and
put to paper. Either at
this point or earlier, the Roosevelts hired the management-consulting firm of Stone
&
Webster, with offices in New York City and Atlanta, to provide overall
direction and management. They would do so throughout the remainder of the
project, working for the Roosevelts and with people in North Carolina
representing Roosevelt interests. Also in the 1960s, the Roosevelt family hired Henry Von Oesen Associates from
Wilmington, North Carolina, to conduct some technical assessment of the Bogue
Banks property. Don Brock, who later worked directly for the Roosevelt family,
was a surveyor on the Von Oesen project.
In the mid 1960s, Ted Hearth
from Stone & Webster started to stay at the Atlantis Lodge and got to know
A.C. Hall, who was not only the owner of the Atlantis but also a city planner
from Raleigh. Hearth recruited A.C. Hall to develop a series of broad conceptual plans for the entire property and
detail development layout for the central
section of Pine Knoll Shores, which was legally called Pine Knoll Shores
Extension, Sections I through V.
By the mid 1960s, the
Roosevelts have been in possession of the land for 20 years, some limited development
has begun and some parcels have been sold off. A professional development team
has been assembled, and significant development is about to get underway.
See “Homeowner Associations: Part I” for more of the story.
Post Author: Walt Zaenker, revised 7/2/21014
To contact the author or the History Committee
[i] http://www.riversandassociates.com
[ii]
Homeowners Associations in Historical Perspective, by Robert H. Nelson,
University of Maryland, published in Public Administration Review, 2011