Pine Knoll Shores’ first
Board of Commissioners selected the town’s first mayor in August 1973. Earlier
that year, the first edition of “Shore-line,” a newsletter that became a
monthly newspaper appeared. Much of what is known about the early mayors of
Pine Knoll Shores comes from Shoreline
issues, now available at ncdigital.com (The paper’s name is variously spelled,
but this post will consistently use Shoreline).
Other sources, including interviews with family members and residents, add to
the following history, which covers years when elected Boards of Commissioners
selected mayors from their membership, a practice that continued until 2003.
Mayor Jim Redfield—1973-1975
James Winston Redfield, Sr.
Photo by Susan Phillips from framed photos in
town hall.
On August 1, 1973, Pine
Knoll Shores voted to incorporate as a town although it had to wait until 1974
to get official state recognition. The August 1973 Shoreline reported 146 of the town’s 161 registered voters took
part in making the decision: 120 were for and 26 were against. In addition to
voting for incorporation, residents elected, from a slate of 16 candidates, the
town’s first Board of Commissioners—Jim Ramsey, Ruth Bray, Bill Doll, Waightsel
Hicks, H.W. McBride and Jim Redfield.
Shoreline editors Mary Doll and Betty Hammon proudly concluded: “The newly
elected commissioners come from varied backgrounds and from all corners and
shores of PKS.” (Of course, in 1973, nothing much was developed west of today’s
Pine Knoll Blvd.)
At their first board
meeting, commissioners selected Jim Redfield to be the first mayor. He would
preside over Board of Commissioner meetings and be the town’s primary
spokesperson for one two-year term. Redfield was a member of Pine Knoll
Association (PKA), the only homeowner association in town in 1973 and, as such,
Pine Knoll Shores primary governing body prior to the town’s incorporation.
Why he was selected may be
explained by the August 1973 Shoreline,
which provided the following personal profile:
JIM REDFIELD is a retired
consultant to top managements of major corporations, providing counsel in
general management, organization, long-range planning, and marketing. His 30
years experience in this field will be of much value to him in his new role as
mayor. Jim has a BA from the University of Cincinnati. He and his wife, Carol,
lived in New York just prior to coming to PKS about a year and a half ago. They
are both eager fisher-people, photographers, and musicians, but their great
love is gardening, and their garden is glorious, both to the eye and to the
palate. Jim and Carol have a son, James, Jr., who lives in California.
In 1986, when the
Redfields left Pine Knoll Shores to live near their son, the Shoreline added additional details. They
had come from Bronxville, New York, and Jim had been a consultant with Cresap,
McCormick and Paget, Inc.
We also learn that commercial and development interests had been working against Pine Knoll Shores’ incorporation, and Jim Redfield was one of the town leaders strongly supporting an “incorporated village.”
Many issues to come before
the Board of Commissioners and Mayor Redfield were basic to the town’s formation.
Together they wrote ordinances that would both reflect and determine the values,
growth patterns, and character of Pine Knoll Shores; created a Planning Board and Board of
Adjustment; established a partnership with Atlantic Beach for fire protection; supported major ventures such as a proposal for a marine
resource center, which would become a state aquarium; and formalized important
volunteer organizations, such as the Garden Club.
Other issues to come
before commissioners during Redfield’s term of office were more mundane, like street
lighting or speeding in the canals; and some would remain issues long Redfield
left office, such as proposals for a third bridge from Morehead City to Bogue
Banks.
From an historical
perspective, perhaps Redfield’s biggest accomplishment as mayor was the fight
in Raleigh for recognition of the town’s incorporation. It was on April 11,
1974, that he announced, “We Are a Town!” The Shoreline provided this comment:
“Jim Redfield’s hours of anguished devotion to the cause were at last
rewarded.”
Appropriately, on
September 7, 1974, with two state legislators present, Jim Redfield presided
over dedication of the first town hall, which was a small building that had
been the kitchen area of Alice Hoffman’s house. (For a history of this
building, see “A House Where Alice Lived” on the pineknollhistory. blogspot
site.”
Kitchen area of Alice's Hoffman's Bogue Banks home, moved from Yaupon and Salter Path Road, where it was a property management office, to municipal property. It served as the first PKS town hall.
Jim Redfield, like future
mayors, cared deeply about Pine Knoll Shores, wanted to preserve much of what
was here but also had a vision for the future and was willing to enter the fray
to fight, when necessary, for what he envisioned whether that fight was in Pine
Knoll Shores, Carteret County, or the state. The May 1974 Shoreline concluded: “Jim Redfield, as Mayor, has had literally a
full time job and many times a hard and demanding one....” — an assessment that
may explain why he chose not to consider a second term.
Additional research has indicated that James Winston Redfield, Sr., born
March 7, 1906, died at age 91 in California on February 24, 1998, outliving his
wife Carolyn (“Carol”) by about a year.
Post Author: Phyllis Makuck with research assistance from Susan Phillips.
(Series on Pine Knoll Shores Mayors: 1973-2003 continues.)