History of the History Committee

 

The Pine Knoll Shores History Committee

The actual roots of the History Committee go all the way back to the year 1910 when a group of fishermen from the Long Island area, one of whom was a grandparent of Martha Edwards, decided to go south for the winter rather than stay for the New York cold winter.  They settled on land that later came within the bounds of land owned by the Roosevelt Family Trust and eventually became the Town of Pine Knoll Shores.

The Town of Pine Knoll Shores decided to form a History Committee in early 2011.  The impetus for the decision initially came from Martha Edwards and her husband Clark, a current Town Commissioner.  They were reviewing old family photo albums and realized that they were sitting on some very significant historical photographs of what the area looked like in those early years.  Then along came, as a donation, a large volume of notes, sketches, drawings and letters from the family of Mr. A.C. Hall. 

Mr. Hall, or AC as all knew him, was the owner/designer of the “Atlantis Lodge” and was the city planner in Raleigh, N.C. from 1952 to 1980.  

         
   

AC had also been the individual chosen by a group representing the interests of the heirs of the Roosevelt family, a trust, who had become the owners of the majority of the land occupied by Mrs. Alice Hoffman.  As many are aware, the Roosevelt family was very environmentally conscious, and they realized the value of the area they controlled both environmentally and financially.  The trust selected AC to develop concept plans for a community to be developed, and the data received represented the majority of AC’s early documentation of that concept.  As it turned out, he was an excellent choice as his love for trees is evident in both Raleigh and Pine Knoll Shores.

The Pine Knoll Shores Board of Commissioners (BOC) realized the historical value of those plans and determined that a group of volunteers was needed to catalog and preserve the information in a form that could be of use and interest to residents of the Town and the region in general.  Clark Edwards was at the time a member of the BOC and had been the one to bring all the donated data into the town’s possession.  He began to look for volunteers to work together to inventory of all of the data that included maps, drawings and sketches, letters, legal documents, advertising, and development plans. 

Not surprisingly, all of the original volunteers had a strong interest in the town and while the inventory effort was significant, it was also enjoyable and fascinating.  Eventually that fascination became the drive to establish the Town’s History Committee.  Fortunately, some members of the original group had, from prior experience, knowledge of the processes and procedures involved in properly documenting data.  Others had, as noted above, personal knowledge of the actual history of the area, and others had, in addition to an interest in historical items, an enjoyment of research and strong writing abilities.  For the sake of historical interest, the following people comprised that initial group: Clark Edwards, Martha Edwards, Ted Lindblad, Phyllis Makuck, Michelle Powers, and Walt Zaenker. 

The committee grew from there as they looked over the fascinating trove of data and wondered how to share it with the rest of the town.  To satisfy that goal, a plan was developed for a display. To assemble information for the display, the first step was to create a timeline.  Research had already been done that gave the basis for starting the timeline at the area’s initial date of sighting by early European explorers and for documenting town events through the time of the display.  The timeline also provided a sequenced layout for the documents, photographs and drawings selected for display.

The Bogue Banks branch of the county’s public library, located in Pine Knoll Shores, was kind enough to donate the use of their community room display area, and a show was held during the month of June 2013.  The display was well-received, and there were many, many visitors.  The following picture is just one of the many items which were on display.

  

First exhibit at Bogue Banks Public Library's

 community room in June 2013. 

The next couple of years were spent documenting data, researching items uncovered in the data, and writing articles covering the information learned through the research efforts.  Those and other articles, now over 100, created in subsequent years have been collected and are published on this website, the committee’s Blogspot (aka “the Blog”). 

Our second project was to create a display about the Town’s history for the History Place (now History Museum of Carteret County) in Morehead City.  It was to be the first exhibit in their new Rodney Kemp Gallery, dedicated to featuring important parts of the county’s history.  The project was a large undertaking for the History Committee.  The Museum staff with their resources joined in support and created the professional, museum appearance for the exhibit, entitled “Beach Town in a Forest: The Story of Pine Knoll Shores.” For details and photos, see the “Opening Night” article under Museum Exhibit on the Blog's sidebar menu. 

     

In the ensuing years, the committee has undergone some changes as original members moved or otherwise dropped out, new members joined, and new projects were conceived. One of the first was a 2019 monthly photo calendar of images around town that incorporated snippets of the Town’s history in the captions. It was very well-received, and a second printing was required.

After the calendar, the committee has stayed busy with a variety of other

projects:

    Digitizing records:  Reviewing and selecting files to be converted to digital images for permanent safe keeping and to offer an online capability for reviewing information about the town.  The project is being facilitated by a grant involving The University of North Carolina where the data is being digitized.  It will take several years before we can hope to have all of our data in digital form.

Oral histories:  Conducting interviews to create video files of people who have been active in the town – these currently include Betty Carr, Lib Fleming, Bruce Flynt, Corinne Geer, Ted Lindblad, Elaine & Tom Tempel, Jim Wagner,and past Mayors – Bob Gallo, Mary Kanyha, and Joan Lamson.  Unfortunately we did not get started soon enough to catch earlier town leaders prior to their passing away.  We also have an interview with Police Chief Ryan Thompson, Fire Chief Jason Baker, and Public Works Director Sonny Cunningham documenting much of the activity that they and their staff were involved in during and after Hurricane Florence in September 2018.

Archive Room:  We were provided a new and hopefully permanent home for the Town’s historical records, now located in a closet of the boardroom and now labeled, PKS History Archive instead of Storage.  Managing, reviewing, and inventorying the records are ongoing tasks of the committee.

     Hurricane Florence & Beach Nourishment :  In addition to the video interview, our members have collected all of the information that could be found regarding the storm and its impact on the town, including articles from the local newspaper, the Shoreline, and a variety of photographs and videos taken by residents and staff during and after the storm.  The collection is displayed in two large three-ring binders, entitled “Hurricane Florence”.  Also displayed in a single three-ring binder is the beach nourishment efforts that followed.

     Special Programs: The committee hosted a history night at Town Hall in October 2019 called “Wine and Cheese with Alice and Rodney”.  The guest speaker was Carteret County’s own infamous “fish house liar”, Mr. Rodney Kemp.  He was joined by committee member Kathy Werle, who played the role of Alice as dressed in her typical attire of jodhpurs, boots, a pistol and parrot.  In addition to refreshments, guests received a booklet featuring a “Shoreline” article about Alice Hoffman, written by long-time resident Barbara Milhaven. The program was a huge success with over 100 in attendance, and all asking for more programs about our town’s interesting history.  

"Fish House Liar" Rodney Kemp
and "Alice Hoffman" aka
HC Member Kathy Werle. 

  Guests listen to Rodney Kemp's stories of early PKS,
Salter Path, and Alice Hoffman.

         
          

      50th Anniversary:  As the town approaches its fiftieth anniversary in 2023, the History Committee will provide historical information for the Town’s celebration.

Written Communications:  “The Story of Pine Knoll Shores” is a booklet that the town uses as a handout for visitors and/or potential new residents to offer a brief history of the town.  The last update of the booklet was in 2007 so there is quite a bit of new information that needs to be included.  The committee will work with the town to offer some of the more significant updates: beach re-nourishment, the development of the Maritime Woods subdivision, and the dramatic changes at the Bogue Banks Country Club as it became the Crystal Coast Country Club.  The committee also will continue to research and write various articles for future issues of “The Shoreline” and posts for the Blog. This is one area where we are in need of help from new members.  While some of our group write very well, they need others willing to take on some of the research and writing along with them.

The history files are remarkably extensive for a town as small as ours.  They include almost all of the published issues of the “Shoreline,” the yearbooks from the Women’s Club, the Garden Club and the Veterans Memorial Books for WWII, Korea and Vietnam and now the Hurricane Florence files along with a variety of other documents and objects.  Naturally, all of the documents provided by A.C. Hall depicting the initial conceptual planning for the town are filed as well.

All of the effort to compile, document and display this data is the work of the dedicated members of the committee.  The current membership includes Susan Phillips as Chairperson, Martha Edwards, Joanne Ferguson, Deb Frisby, Susan King, Jean Macheca, and Val Ryan. Other active but non-voting members are Clark Edwards, Ted Lindblad, Michelle Powers, and Kathy Werle with Alicia Durham serving as commissioner liaison and Betty Carr providing staff support. Our charter limits membership to a total of eight.  We welcome interested participants, especially people who enjoy writing or research and who are willing to spend some time for the town. Anyone interested in becoming a member should complete and submit a volunteer form, available at Town Hall or on the Town’s website at https://www.townofpks.com/.

______________________________________

Post Author:  Ted Lindblad with assistance from Susan Phillips, October 2020; updated April 2021.

Published: April 30, 2021