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.
In five years—from 1970 to 1975, Pine Knoll Shores’ population has grown from 60 to 680. Doll and Hammon note: “There were 350 at the time of incorporation.” In 1975, like today, the majority of the population is over 50 with a sizeable number over 60. However, unlike today, Pine Knoll Shores residents are clustered in a small geographical area, from the border of Atlantic Beach to Bridge Road (now Pine Knoll Boulevard).
There is no mention yet of Beacon’s Reach (it is still undeveloped land), but the subject of annexation of property further to the west, east of Salter Path, is a hot issue. Indian Beach is also interested in this land. Doll and Hammon do not define specifically the acreage in question, but we do know that in 1975 Pine Knoll Shores’ western boundary is about where Beacon’s Reach ends today. In May 1975, Shore Line covers a public hearing in Pine Knoll Shores on the subject:
Points were brought up regarding costs of services as compared with anticipated income. Services which would have to be provided in an annexed area would include policing, street lighting, and road maintenance. An annexed area would come under PKS zoning ordinances. Development is now controlled by county ordinances and the area comes under planning regulations covering coastal resources.
The following month, readers learn about “the bid by Indian Beach for annexation of the area directly west of Pine Knoll Shores” and the desire that county zoning remain in effect in that area. Immediately, Pine Knoll Shores’ Board of Commissioners go “on record opposing that annexation by Indian Beach” and make a counter claim to the General Assembly, knowing the bid by Indian Beach has “apparently been received favorably by the House.” The issue remains undecided in 1975.
On the other side of Pine Knoll Shores, a road that has been private becomes town property. Myrtle and Gus Wertz in 1958 “…bought 152 acres on the eastern edge of PKS, 95 of which is the golf course and club now and the rest commercial and residential property.…” They turn over the deed to “the eastern loop of the road,” owned by “Gus’s group, Bogue Enterprises.” The town welcomes the addition. Doll and Hammon hope it will contribute to “pulling the Town together into a united community.”
Susan Phillips provided this 1950's vintage Wertz Realty sign
On another issue, town residents are less ready to accept change. The January 1975 Shore Line reports a study group to consider “pros and cons" of a bridge from the mainland to Pine Knoll Shores.” The name “Bridge Road,” mentioned earlier, reflects A.C. Hall’s city plan, which proposed a bridge from the north end of what is now Pine Knoll Boulevard or McGinnis Point to Morehead City. In accord with the results of a survey, Pine Knoll Shores’ Planning Board supports plans for “a third bridge across the Sound,” but adopts the “majority view…that the bridge should not come into Pine Knoll Shores.” So, momentum for a third bridge between Bogue Banks and Morehead City stalls in 1975.
Another decision against change proves less permanent. Up through mid-1975, Pine Knoll Shores does not have house numbers and enjoys rural route delivery of mail out of Morehead City. In April 1975, Doll and Hammon write:
…there is a push on by Atlantic Beach to bring PKS into their postal area, which would mean a most inconvenient change of address for us as well as a curtailing of services (Atlantic Beach wants what is known as city service and this does not allow for things like buying stamps from the carrier, etc.).
Doll and Hammon go on to say, “…city service represents a radical change.”
Even though a system of house numbers is ready for town approval by August 1975, resistance to becoming part of the Atlantic Beach postal district remains strong, and many continue to use a rural route number instead of their house numbers for mail delivery as long as they can.
A more successful partnership is formed with Atlantic Beach for fire protection. Also, Pine Knoll Shores rather easily moves from having individual resident contracts for garbage collection to a universal collection system under a town contract with Atlantic Sanitation.
A decision to ask the North Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) to pave Salter Path Road comes with a condition that the road remain two-lane. However, despite lobbying efforts by Pine Knoll Shores’ mayor and commissioners, DOT makes no progress on this project in 1975, beyond a commitment to do the job.
In terms of what is in their control, town commissioners proceed successfully. They pass ordinances on a range of issues such as zoning, parking, signs, noise, traffic, farm animals and pets.
Other notable events include moving town hall from the Atlantis Lodge to “a small house set far back…on Bridge Road.” The new town hall described here as “a small house” was formerly Alice Hoffman’s kitchen, the same structure Don Brock was forced to abandon as his local office in 1974.
It is large enough for the town’s small staff but too small for large meetings. So, commissioners continue to meet at the Atlantis Lodge until August 1975, when they begin to hold meetings at other locations around town.
Also of historical interest is mention in July 1975 that George McNeill (for whom the Roosevelts named McNeill Inlet) is stepping down from Pine Knoll Association (PKA) homeowners’ board. According to Doll and Hammon, he “served for more than eight years, since the whole thing began here in PKS.” Interestingly, in a later 1975 issue of the paper, we learn of the Kirkmans arrival in Pine Knoll Shores. Ken Kirkman will join George McNeill’s law firm while it is still handling most of the local legal work for the Roosevelt family and the town. Kirkman provides legal services for the town many years after George McNeil’s death.
North Carolina history buffs and collectors of vintage license plates may be interested in knowing the first Pine Knoll Shores’ city tag (at the time a requirement for all municipalities in North Carolina) comes into use in 1975. Also in 1975, Hammon and Doll comment on the new motto on the state license plate: “First in Freedom,” chosen at the end of 1974.
Citing the News-Times, they say the primary reason for adopting the slogan was that North Carolinians “couldn’t live under a system of law that didn’t guarantee the very freedom they had fought for in the Revolutionary War, so did not ratify the Constitution until the Bill of Rights had been made forever a permanent part of it.” Doll and Hammon also provide other justifications for the phrase: North Carolina was “the first colony to call a provincial assembly” (1774), the first “to expel its royal governor” (1775) and the first “to authorize…delegates to the Constitutional Congress to vote…for independence” (1776). However, claiming to be “First in Freedom” is controversial given North Carolina’s secession from the union in 1861. (Other sources indicate this motto was dropped from the base plate in 1978 but could be used as late as 1992 with annual registration stickers.)
For those interested in local history, I recommend the 1975 Shore Line as a good source. In various issues, Hammon and Doll discuss the swing bridge from Atlantic Beach to Morehead City; place names on Bogue Banks that have not been used for over a century—Belcove and Rice Path; the “road” to those places; World War II days on the island, when “there was a patrol riding the beach”; days when Morehead City was known as Shepard’s Point; and the possibility that Arendell and Bridges streets were named for Bridges Arendell, perhaps a spelling variation of Arundell of Arundell Castle in England. Clearly, early Shore Line writers and readers enjoyed learning about the history of this area as much as we do.
Post Author: Phyllis Makuck