Mayor Ken Hanan: 1985-1991

 The following represents the fourth in a series of posts on the early mayors of Pine Knoll Shores. Most of the information and quotes, unless otherwise indicated, come from back Shore Line issues available on www.digitalnc.org. PKS History Committee member Susan Phillips provided supplementary information from town records and an Internet search.

Ken Hanan

The Shore Line 1983-85

The period from 1983 to 1985 is a time of celebration and dissension in Pine Knoll Shores —as interesting for what does not happen as for what happens. Let’s begin this retrospective with the celebrations. 

 

Shore Line: 1980-82

A.C. Hall design drawing of proposed town village from PKS archives. 

Photo by Susan Phillips.

1980 ushers in a new phase of growth in Pine Knoll Shores. It is the decade of McGinnis Point and Beacon’s Reach as well smaller multi-family properties. Side-by-side patio homes, town houses and condominiums encourage more North Carolinians to buy second homes here. There are plans to build a shopping center or “village,” which is to contain a supermarket, drugstore, variety store, bank and restaurants. But, the greatest source of real growth is in residential development by what the paper generally refers to as “the Roosevelt Interest.” 

Shore Line 1979

Architectural Drawing photographed by Susan Phillips from PKS town archives.

The Shore Line was not being published when the dedication took place.

 “After a hiatus of more than a year the Shore Line is back in business with a new format, a new editor and a new sponsor.” With these words, 14 months after founding editors Betty Hammon and Mary Doll said their goodbyes, the paper begins anew in September 1979. 

Shoreline 1978

“So this is the final issue,” announces Mayor Ken Haller in the June 1978 edition of what has become the Pine Knoll Shoreline. Throughout 1977, founding editors Mary Doll and Betty Hammon expressed their lack of time and energy for keeping the paper going. However, by adding George and Moni Eastland to the staff and having the paper appear quarterly rather than monthly, they hoped to continue. The March 1978 issue appears on schedule, but by June, the plan has fallen apart. 

1977 Shore Line

The Shore Line changes as 1977 progresses. It adds writers, moves from black mimeograph print to blue stencil, reduces frequency of issues, grows from four to six pages, introduces yellow paper and begins to use double-sided sheets. There is no shortage of news and interesting stories, but first a look at what is happening with the paper.

Shore Line 1976

The Shore Line Story Continues...

Early drawing of Marine Resource Center

Among big news stories in 1976 are a marine resources center in Pine Knoll Shores, a miniature golf course on the town’s eastern border, a high-rise bridge over Cape Carteret, more condominiums east and west of Pine Knoll Townes, plans for a Fire Department, formation of a Community Appearance Commission and Shore Line’s introduction of new staff members. As the town marks another year of growth, Betty Hammon and Mary Doll remain as editors and receive official commendation for “the valuable contribution to the life of the community made by their paper.” 

Shore Line 1975

Growing pains are evident in 1975 reporting on Pine Knoll Shore.... 

Swing bridge is originally the only bridge from mainland to Bogue Banks

History in the making and resistance to change are unconscious themes of Shore Line editors Mary Doll and Betty Hammon in 1975. References to bridges, roads, ordinances, fire protection, garbage collection, mail delivery, and boundaries dominate the paper’s pages. 

Shore Line 1974

There are 235 houses, 122 condominium units, 42 apartments, and, at least, one alligator “surfacing occasionally, sunning himself on the sand” in Brock Basin. 

Photo from by Debbie Morris taken in North Carolina 
but not in Pine Knoll Shores

It’s 1974 in Pine Knoll Shores. The Shore-line newsletter has lost its hyphen and become Pine Knoll Shore Line. High spirits of being a new town and publishing a new paper are still evident, but so are the challenges of both endeavors. At no time does the paper become political or negative, but a statement at the end of the first paragraph of the January issue suggests a theme: “…many voices were heard, many viewpoints aired.”

Shore-line 1973

 Interest in the early history of Pine Knoll Shores’ monthly newspaper,  originally a newsletter—called Shore-line and, later, Shore-Line, or The Shore-Line—began in 2010 when resident Jack Goldstein donated to the town back issues he and his wife had kept from 1973 to 1985, a valuable collection with very few missing issues. It was then discovered that past editors—including Betty Carr, long-time town employee—had kept back newsletters in notebooks. Putting together what was in the notebooks with what the Goldsteins had donated provided a complete set of newsletters from 1973 to 2002, when publication temporarily ceased. 

In 2004, with the support of newly-elected Mayor Joan Lamson, Bill White revived the town’s monthly publication, converting The Shore-Line newsletter into The Shoreline newspaper. About a decade later, members of the town’s History Committee and past Shoreline editors organized a collection of back papers so the town would have a complete archive from 1973 to the present, except for brief periods when the newsletter was not published. 

Thanks to efforts of the History Committee, that archive is now easily accessible at www.ncdigital.com. “Shore-line 1973” is the first in a series of articles attempting to provide highlights from the archive.