Radio Island

A first time visitor when coming across a place with the odd name of Radio Island may, for a moment, wonder about the derivation of the name. It probably wasn’t named by European explorers in the 16^th Century or Native Americans or even some early settlers. It was, in fact, first named Inlet Island.

A House Where Alice Lived

It’s just up the road, not the whole sprawling Bogue Banks house where Alice Hoffman lived from 1917 to 1953 but an important remnant of it—the old town hall.  A search began in 2013 after Corrine Geer, who had worked for the town in the mid 70s, said the old building was sold at auction when the new building replaced it. Discoveries made since correct past misconceptions. 

Civilian Conservation Corps

It was 1935, the height of the Great Depression, Jane Hobson’s father, Fred Hobson, was an education advisor, stationed at the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at Fort Macon. He was courting her mother, who was back home in Leaksville, NC. His letters home and the material he saved provide a look into life on Bogue Banks at that time. We thank our neighbor Jane Hobson for sharing this material with the Pine Knoll Shores History Committee. The letters, together with related photos and papers, started a research effort to learn more about the CCC on Bogue Banks.

Banks, Outer Banks

On the east coast of the United States from Maine to the southern tip of Florida, there are 165 barrier islands; all have the generic identifier "island" except four—Currituck, Core, Shackleford and Bogue—which carry the name “Banks.” Bogue is the southernmost land mass referred to as a “bank.” Beyond Bogue Inlet, the nomenclature “island” is used.
US National Park Service Poster, 1986, Charley Harper