Harkers Island is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
(CDP) in
Carteret County,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, United States. The population of Harkers Island was 1,207 at the 2010 census.
Harkers Island is
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
and receives most public services, including law enforcement and public education, from Carteret County. A membership cooperative provides the island with electric and water services. Major industries on the island include fishing, boat building, tourism, and waterfowl decoy carving.
Formerly named Davers Ile and Craney Island, Harkers Island was occupied by
Native Americans of the
Coree
The Coree (also Connamox, Cores, Corennines, Connamocksocks, Coranine Indians, Neuse River Indians) were a very small Native American tribe, who once occupied a coastal area south of the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina in the area no ...
tribe when the first
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an explorers arrived in the 16th century. Ownership of Harkers Island was first titled to Farnifold Green, a native of the
Carolina colony
Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alabama ...
, by the
lord proprietor
A lord proprietor is a person granted a royal charter for the establishment and government of an English colony in the 17th century. The plural of the term is "lords proprietors" or "lords proprietary".
Origin
In the beginning of the European ...
in 1707. Ebenezer Harker purchased the island in 1730, settled there with his family, and built a plantation and boat yard. The island became known as Harkers Island soon after his death. A large immigration of islanders fleeing the hurricane-ravaged
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...
in 1899 dramatically increased the island population, which largely depended on fishing and boat building. Separated from the mainland for centuries, many Harkers Island residents speak a distinct dialect of English, earning them the nickname "
Hoi toiders."
History
Before the arrival of European explorers and settlers, Harkers Island was inhabited by Native Americans of the
Coree
The Coree (also Connamox, Cores, Corennines, Connamocksocks, Coranine Indians, Neuse River Indians) were a very small Native American tribe, who once occupied a coastal area south of the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina in the area no ...
tribe, who likely spoke a language of the
Algonquian family, like most coastal tribes. The nearby
Core Sound
The Core Sound is a sound (geography) in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It lies between the large Pamlico Sound to the northeast and the smaller ...
and
Core Banks
The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina, part of the Outer Banks and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Named after the Coree tribe, they extend from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Lookout, and consist of two low-relief narrow islands, North ...
are named after the Coree. The Coree left little in the way of evidence of permanent habitation on Harkers Island, except for a large
mound
A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...
of oyster shells at Shell Point on the eastern end of the island. Similar shell mounds were found by Europeans on the
Shackleford Banks
Shackleford Banks is a barrier island system on the coast of Carteret County, North Carolina. It contains a herd of feral horses, scallop, crabs and various sea animals, including summer nesting by loggerhead turtles. It is a tourist and beach cam ...
and other islands of the Outer Banks. The exact purpose of the mounds for the Coree remains unknown, but varying cultures of
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in the
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
had been building major
earthwork mounds since 3500 BCE, the
Middle Archaic period, usually related to religious and ceremonial uses.
In 1584, an English expedition financed by
Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Philip Amadas and
Arthur Barlowe
Arthur Barlowe (1550 – 1620) was one of two British captains (the other was Philip Amadas) who, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh, left England in 1584 to find land in North America to claim for Queen Elizabeth I of England. Hiaccoun ...
explored the North Carolina coast for a suitable site for the first English colony in North America. Two Native Americans,
Wanchese and
Manteo, accompanied the expedition back to England in the fall of 1584. According to local island legend, Wanchese was a Coree from Harkers Island.
[Murphrey, Kelly and Murphrey, Wanda (2006)]
Harkers Island History
Retrieved July 28, 2006. The island was first charted on the maps drawn by
John White during the 1584 expedition, but it was unnamed at the time. The island appears on a 1624 map of the greater Virginia coastline created by
Captain John Smith
John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...
. On that map, the island is labeled "Davers Ile", probably for Sir John Davers, one of the founders of
Jamestown in 1607.
[Prioli, Carmine and Martin, Edwin (1998). ''Hope for a Good Season: The Ca'e Bankers of Harkers Island''. John F. Blair Publisher, July, 1998.]
On December 20, 1707, Farnifold Green obtained the first
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
for land in the Core Sound area from the Lords Proprietor of the Carolina colony, which had been established by the English monarch
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in 1633. This patent included Harkers Island, which was then known as Craney Island.
[Paul, Charles L. (1965)]
"Colonial Beaufort"
. The Colonial Records Project. North Carolina Office of Archives & History. Vol. 42, pp. 139-152. On June 25, 1709, Green sold the island to William Brice for £5, who on the very same day sold it to Thomas Sparrow for £10. Sparrow soon sold the island to Thomas Pollock, who would twice be governor of North Carolina (from 1712 to 1714 and again in 1722). Pollock did not take up residence on the island, but had several farm buildings erected and then leased to settlers. The 1720 lease to a Captain Stone was £3 a year. Thomas Pollock's son George inherited the island upon his father's death on August 30, 1722.
[Angley, Wilson (1983)]
Raleigh, N.C.: N C. Division of Archives and History, 1983.
Settlement of Ebenezer Harker
George Pollock sold Craney Island to Ebenezer Harker on September 15, 1730, for £400 and "one boate twentey foot long with oars & mast". Harker had immigrated to
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
from England on a ship that set sail from
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Living in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Harker had been involved in the
whaling
Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution.
It was practiced as an organized industr ...
trade, and became familiar with the North Carolina coast during this time.
[Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (2006).]
Port of Call: Harkers Island, NC
. Text adapted from "This Is Core Sound", by T. Edward Nickens in Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, 2000. Retrieved July 28, 2006. Harker had moved to
Beaufort, North Carolina, by 1728, where he was appointed a tax collector for the
whale oil
Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' (" tear" or "drop").
Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the head ...
revenue generated in the area. After purchasing the island, Harker took up residence there with his family and began building a small plantation and boat yard. Harker sold half of the island to his nephew John Stevens of
Onslow County
Onslow County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 204,576. Its county seat is Jacksonville. The county was created in 1734 as Onslow Precinct and gained county status in 1739. Onslo ...
on March 8, 1733 for £300, with many restrictions on its agricultural use. Prohibited from farming or ranching the land for profit, Stevens eventually sold his half of the island back to his uncle on June 9, 1737, for just £180.
[Lewis, Robert G. (1999). ''Ebenezer Harker, Island Namesake'' Carteret County Historical Society, Inc., Morehead City, NC, p. 3.]
The Harker plantation and boat building facility were located at the western end of the island, near Harker Point, and grew to support an extended family with three sons, two daughters, and at least nine African slaves. Ebenezer would be the last sole landowner of the island. In 1752, he deeded approximately of the island to his daughter Hepsobeth and her husband Nathan Yeomans as a wedding gift. On his death in 1762, his son Zachariah inherited the western third of the island, an adult slave woman named Vilet, and a young female slave named Daisie.
Another son, James, inherited the eastern third of the island, an adult slave woman named Hague and a young male slave named Peter. Ebenezer, Jr. inherited the central third of the island, an adult male slave named Jeffrey, and a young male slave named Sutton. Hepsobeth inherited "one barrel of
corn", and Ebenezer's other married daughter, Sarah Freshwater, was given a female slave named Hope. The fate of an elderly female slave named Badge and a young male slave named Ben was left to the heirs to decide.
The will referred to "Craney Island"; the name "Harkers Island" was only adopted after Ebenezer's death.
The sons of Ebenezer prospered on Harkers Island. Ebenezer, Jr. was elected
Sheriff of Carteret County in 1758. Zachariah Harker developed a
salt works on the western third of Harkers Island in 1776. In the following years, Zachariah and his brothers became supporters of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, and Zachariah was appointed one of five
captains
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the Carteret Regiment fighting against the British.
Harkers Island was involved in the Battle of Beaufort, North Carolina. Revolutionaries used warehouse facilities on Harkers Island to store provisions sought by British troops who had seized the nearby county seat of Beaufort. Thirteen men guarding the stores on Harkers Island, probably led by Zachariah Harker, repulsed British troops in a brief battle on April 6, 1782.
The first national
census of 1790 recorded 16
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
residents and 13
slaves on Harkers Island. By 1800, the population had expanded to 26 white residents, 16 slaves, and 7 "others", probably those of
mixed race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
or
freed slave
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
s.
Ebenezer Jr., James, and Zachariah Harker died in 1803, 1814, and 1824, respectively.
Nineteenth century
Harkers Island remained sparsely populated until the latter part of the 19th century. The island saw no direct military conflict in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
; however,
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
warships anchored near the island to control access to
Bogue Sound
Bogue Sound is a lagoon in the state of North Carolina separating the Bogue Banks, a barrier island, from the mainland. The sound is part of North Carolina's "Crystal Coast", a tourism marketing term that is also used interchangeably with the ter ...
and Core Sound during the
Battle of Fort Macon
The siege of Fort Macon took place from March 23 to April 26, 1862, on the Outer Banks of Carteret County, North Carolina. It was part of Union Army General Ambrose E. Burnside's North Carolina Expedition during the American Civil War.
In late ...
. The besieged
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
garrison at
Fort Macon
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
surrendered on April 26, 1862. Harkers Island and the surrounding area remained under Union control for the duration of the war.
The few, if any, descendants of the Harker slaves still living on the island likely left soon after
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
. The vast majority of the freed slaves in the coastal societies of Carteret and
Craven counties either emigrated to other parts of the state, or moved into their own, separate communities, such as Davis Ridge, the North River Community, and Craven Corner.
[Cecelski, David (2001)]
"The Last Daughter of Davis Ridge: Slavery and Freedom in the Maritime South"
. Greenville: Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences, East Carolina University.
In 1864, the first school on the island was established when Miss Jenny Bell came to Harkers Island from Boston, sponsored by the
Northern Methodist Episcopal Church.
[Harkers Island Electric Cooperative (2006)]
A Brief History of Harkers Island and the Dawn of Electricity
. Retrieved July 28, 2006. A
fish oil
Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation in the b ...
factory was built on the island in 1865 and remained operational until 1873.
A small
milling facility was built on the west end of the island in 1870 by Louie Larson, an immigrant from
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, but it closed before the turn of the 20th century.
Most island residents continued to earn a subsistence living from boat building or fishing.
The Hurricane of 1899
Harkers Island saw an influx of new residents after hurricanes in 1896 and 1899 devastated the communities established on the nearby Core Banks and Shackleford Banks. Mostly fishermen and whalers, the people of the Outer Banks began openly debating the merits of moving after the Hurricane of 1896. William Henry Guthrie of
Diamond City was one of the first to relocate, buying of land on Harkers Island in 1897.
Some others moved to more sheltered locations on the coast, but most Shackleford residents remained on the Banks. Diamond City was by far the largest town in that area of the coast, with over 700 inhabitants.
Three years later, another hurricane hit the Carolina coast, and this time the disaster for the residents of the Shackleford Banks was total. Diamond City was completely destroyed by the August 17
Hurricane of 1899. The storm ravaged the Banks' protective sand
dunes, and washed away nearly all of the top soil. Orchards and maritime forest on the Banks soon began dying from the salt left behind by the
storm surge. Homes were ripped from their foundations, shattered, or submerged. Even graves in the local cemeteries were uprooted and disturbed. A botanist who visited the Banks after the storm described the landscape as completely devastated.
Many families used boats to move what was left of their houses, plank by plank, from the Outer Banks to Harkers Island where they could rebuild. Some settled on the Guthrie property, which he began to subdivide. Others purchased or leased land on the island anywhere they could. Some emigrated to
Morehead City
Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast.
Hist ...
, on the mainland, where they built a new neighborhood soon nicknamed "The Promised Land". The last resident had left Diamond City by 1902.
In the five years between 1895 and 1900, the population of Harkers Island expanded fourfold from just 13 extended families to over 1,000 residents. The island had gone from being one of the smallest communities in Carteret County to one of the largest.
Elders of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church) proselytized extensively on Harkers Island after the hurricanes. Many of the refugees from Diamond City, uprooted physically and emotionally by the devastating hurricanes, converted to the Latter Day Saints, and soon outnumbered the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which had been founded on the island in 1875. A national wave of
anti-Mormon sentiment was sparked by the
Smoot Hearings in 1904, fueling fears that Mormons secretly continued to practice
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...
. The relationship between the Mormons on Harkers Island and their neighbors deteriorated.
Residents threw rocks and oyster shells through the windows of the LDS
meetinghouse and fired at least one gunshot into the building. In 1906, arsonists burned the meetinghouse to the ground. Organized Mormon religious services did not resume on Harkers Island until 1909. A new LDS meetinghouse was constructed on the island in the 1930s.
[Rees, Franceine Perry, "Joel Hancock," ''ECU Report,'' Summer 1989, Volume 20, No. 1.] Despite these difficult beginnings, Harker's Island has one of the highest percentages of residents as members of the Latter-day Saints of any locality in North Carolina.
["Harkers Island NC Ward"](_blank)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
official website. Retrieved Sep. 19, 2007.
Twentieth century
Harkers Island gradually became more connected to North Carolina and the world at large early in the 20th century. With the influx of new residents from the Outer Banks, a post office was opened in 1904. The first public road to extend the length of the island, Harkers Island Drive, was built in 1926 when a footpath was widened and paved with the oyster shells from the Coree mound at Shell Point. The road was hard paved by the county in 1936. The road and the post office were connected to the mainland by a ferry service until the Earl C. Davis Memorial Bridge was built in 1941.
A wooden structure, the bridge connected the northwestern end of Harkers Island to the small town of Straits directly to the north. The location of the bridge was a matter of some local controversy at the time. Most islanders would have preferred a bridge to the west, connecting the island directly to the city of Beaufort with its commercial infrastructure and the county hospital. Local politics and the shorter distance to Straits likely dictated the final location of the bridge. A local political effort to relocate the bridge during its renovation to a steel structure in 1966 also failed.
The
1933 Outer Banks Hurricane which made landfall on September 15 would forever change the economy of Harkers Island. The storm was blamed for at least 21 fatalities in North Carolina (although none on Harkers Island) and an estimated $1 million USD of damage. The
storm surge damaged fisheries and inland waterways, but there was one unexpected beneficial result. Retreating storm surge and heavy rainfall combined to carve out a new channel in the Banks, separating the Core Banks from the Shackleford Banks near the
Cape Lookout Lighthouse
The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is a 163-foot-high lighthouse located on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. It flashes every 15 seconds and is visible at least 12 miles out to sea and up to 19 miles. It is one of the very few lighthouses tha ...
. This new channel gave Harkers Island fishermen a new, direct access route to offshore fishing grounds. The new channel was named Barden Inlet after US Senator
Graham Barden, who sponsored legislation to require that the
use dredging equipment to maintain the new channel.
More economic opportunity for Harkers Island came as the country began pulling itself out of the
Great Depression. Electrification came to the island in 1939. The Harkers Island Rural Electric Authority was the first
electrical cooperative in the United States to supply power to members through a submarine cable system.
[Roses's Vacation Rentals (2002)]
Island History: Harkers Island, NC
Retrieved July 28, 2006. In November 1941, the construction of a new
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
Air Station at
Cherry Point, to the northwest of Harkers Island, brought more wage-earning jobs to the local economy. When the United States entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Harkers Island was on the front lines.
German submarines patrolled the North Carolina coast and sank merchant shipping traffic, especially oil tankers. Island residents could watch the tankers burning offshore at night.
Further improvements in the island's utility services would have to wait until after the war. Telephone service finally arrived in 1948.
The man who primarily owned most of the property on Harkers Island at this time was Earl Davis.
The National Seashore
The
Shackleford Banks
Shackleford Banks is a barrier island system on the coast of Carteret County, North Carolina. It contains a herd of feral horses, scallop, crabs and various sea animals, including summer nesting by loggerhead turtles. It is a tourist and beach cam ...
played an important economic role for the people of Harkers Island throughout much of the 20th century. Islanders continued to use the Banks for livestock grazing, including sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Harkers Island fishermen first built seasonal camps and later cottages on the Banks. A herd of
wild horse
The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
s on the Shackleford Banks provided new colts every spring to those from Harkers Island who rounded them up. The islanders viewed the improvements of cottages, horse
corrals, and campsites as an extension of their economic livelihood on Harkers Island.
All of that would change with the government determination to acquire the barrier islands for public park land. The state of North Carolina began purchasing land on the Core Banks and Shackleford Banks in 1959 with the intention of creating a state park. The federal government became interested a few years later, and envisioned the Outer Banks of North Carolina being included in a string of national seashores stretching the length of the United States Atlantic coast. After negotiations between the state of North Carolina and the
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...
, the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
passed a law authorizing the creation of a
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Cape Lookout National Seashore preserves a 56-mile (90-km) long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina, USA, running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast. Three undeveloped barrie ...
, which was signed into law by President
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
on March 10, 1966.
[National Park Service (2007)]
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Retrieved Mar. 20, 2007.
Conversion of the Banks to a national park brought much turmoil to Harkers Island. Many Harkers Island fishermen discovered that cottages and other improvements they had made on the Banks were on land that would be
condemned
Condemned or The Condemned may refer to:
Legal
* Persons awaiting execution
* A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons
* A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain
...
. Many land
deeds had recording errors, some had been poorly surveyed, and natural changes to the shorelines affected many claims. Few of the cottages that had been built were on land that the builders owned. Legal eviction and condemnation proceedings lasted into the 1980s. The creation of the park also ended the open grazing of livestock on the Banks by December 31, 1985. A herd of wild horses, allegedly descended from Spanish horses that swam to shore from
shipwrecks in the 16th century, was allowed to remain on the Banks. In late December of that year, a series of arson fires destroyed most of the major structures on the Shackleford Banks, including a recently constructed park visitor center. An inquiry by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
failed to discover the arsonists.
The creation of the National Seashore marked the end of a lifestyle practiced by many Harkers Island residents. Fishing and boat building remain important components of the community's economy, but are increasingly augmented with
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
. Visitors arrive at Harkers Island seeking access to the National Seashore, for
sport fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit (economics), profit; or subsistence fishing ...
opportunities, and to experience the local cultural heritage of the islands.
Geography
Harkers Island is located south of the center of Carteret County at (34.694503, -76.555383).
The Harkers Island
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
covers the entire island and extends slightly out into the surrounding water. According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 41.76%, is water.
At its highest point, the island is above mean
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
, in an area known as the "sand hole", on the western end of the island, made up of mostly white sand on rolling dunes.
Harkers Island is protected from the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
by the barrier islands of the
Shackleford Banks
Shackleford Banks is a barrier island system on the coast of Carteret County, North Carolina. It contains a herd of feral horses, scallop, crabs and various sea animals, including summer nesting by loggerhead turtles. It is a tourist and beach cam ...
to the south and the
Core Banks
The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina, part of the Outer Banks and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Named after the Coree tribe, they extend from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Lookout, and consist of two low-relief narrow islands, North ...
to the east. The body of water directly south of the island is
Back Sound. To the east is
Core Sound
The Core Sound is a sound (geography) in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It lies between the large Pamlico Sound to the northeast and the smaller ...
, to the north is The Straits, and to the northwest is the mouth of the North River. The Straits are shallow but navigable by those with local experience. There are two small bays on the north side of the island, Westmouth Bay and Eastmouth Bay. North of Eastmouth Bay is Browns Island, which is accessible only by boat. Harkers Island Road, designated as State Road 1335, connects the island to the mainland by the Earl C. Davis Memorial Bridge, a steel swing bridge built in 1968 to replace a wooden bridge built in 1941.
Government and services
Harkers Island is unincorporated and receives most public services, including law enforcement and public education, from Carteret County. Law enforcement on the island is provided by the Carteret County Sheriff Department. The only public school on the island, Harkers Island Elementary, educates students from kindergarten through
fifth grade, and is operated by
Carteret County Public Schools
Carteret County Public Schools is a PK– 12 graded school district serving Carteret County, North Carolina. Its 18 schools serve approximately 8,000 students, as of the 2023-2024 school year.
Student demographics
For the 2010–2011 school year ...
. The school has won the state Battle of the Books competition twice and has been to the competition for four years in a row; both are state records.
[Harkers Island Elementary School](_blank)
. Carteret County Schools. Retrieved Oct. 30, 2006. There are no
hospitals on Harkers Island. The local newspaper is the ''
Carteret County News-Times
Carteret County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,686. Its county seat is Beaufort. The county was created in 1722 as Carteret Precinct and gained county status in 1739. It was named fo ...
'', published in
Morehead City
Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast.
Hist ...
. Electricity service and drinking water are both provided by the Harkers Island Electric Membership Corporation, a
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
operating as both a Rural Electrical Authority and the manager of the water system for the Harkers Island Sanitary District since 1969.
Economy
Major industries on the island include fishing, boat building, tourism, and
waterfowl decoy carving. In 2013, the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
reported 22 business establishments on Harkers Island employing 107 people. A majority of the business fall into Retail and Food Services (9) or Construction, Manufacturing, and Warehousing (9). The businesses in the latter category are almost entirely associated with boat building, boat repair, and boat storage. Many island residents are self-employed in the fishing trade. A relatively large percentage of island residents are over the age of 65 and/or
retired
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
.
Commercial fishing has always been an important component of the island economy. Historically, this trade included whaling and the hunting of
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s. Until ice became available in the 1920s, the primary commercial catch was mullet, which was caught near the beaches of Shackleford Bank and Core Bank and salted on shore. In the late 19th century, the Core Sound area produced 80% of the salted
mullet sold on the United States east coast. An ice plant was built in nearby Beaufort in 1920, and fish houses were established on the island to process fish and shellfish. Some bay areas on the north side of the island have been developed for harvesting cultured shellfish. In addition to mullet, the commercial fishing industry of Harkers Island brings in oysters, clams, shrimp,
scallops, crabs,
spot
Spot or SPOT may refer to:
Places
* Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States
* The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia
* South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse
People
* Spot (prod ...
,
croaker, trout,
flounder,
bluefish
The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...
, and
mackerel.
Tourism on Harkers Island is becoming a more important part of the local economy. The
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
operates the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitors Center on Harkers Island.
Ferry service from Harkers Island is one of the principal means of tourist access to
Cape Lookout and the Shackleford Banks.
Big-game fishing
Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually done on a large body of water such as the ocean.
History
Big-game fishing st ...
operations cater to growing demand for sport fishing in the area. Other tourism related industries include gift shops, local artists, hotels, and restaurants. Despite growth in the tourist trades and the local effort to make the island a top destination for waterfowl enthusiasts, Harkers Island continues to have some of the least developed tourist facilities on the
Crystal Coast
In North Carolina, the Crystal Coast is an 85-mile stretch of coastline that extends from the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which includes 56 miles of protected beaches, southwestward to the New River. The Crystal Coast is a popular area with ...
.
One of the fastest growing industries on the island is waterfowl enthusiast tourism. Founded in 1987 at the Harkers Island home of Wayne Davis, the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild organized the first of what would become an annual festival in December 1998. The first Core Sound Waterfowl Festival attracted 1,800 attendees. Later renamed the Core Sound Decoy Festival, the event has attracted over 10,000 tourists to Harkers Island.
[Core Sound Decoy Guild (2007)]
"How the Carvers Guild Began..."
. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2007. The Core Sound Waterfowl Museum, operated by a separate board of directors from the Carvers Guild, is a major year-round tourist attraction for the island. The museum building is a structure located on property leased from the National Park Service. In addition to telling the history of local waterfowl and the traditions of decoy carving, the museum operates exhibits of local historical interest. The museum also hosts events during Waterfowl Weekend, held on the same weekend as the Decoy Festival.
[Core Sound Waterfowl Museum (2006)]
. Retrieved Mar. 20, 2007. The festival weekend is the most important annual event for the Harkers Island tourism economy.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 1,525 people, 661 households, and 497 families residing in the CDP. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 598.4 people per square mile (230.9/km
2). There were 1,109 housing units at an average density of 435.2 per square mile (167.9/km
2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.56%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.33%
Native American, 0.20%
Asian, 0.07% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.85% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.13% of the population.
There were 661 households, out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.9% were
married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.65.
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 15.3% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 21.6% from 25 to 44, 35.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,125, and the median income for a family was $35,492. Males had a median income of $37,375 versus $18,913 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the CDP was $19,790. About 13.6% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.
Local dialect
With a long history of physical and economic isolation from mainland North Carolina, residents of Harkers Island and other Outer Banks islands, such as
Ocracoke, have developed a distinct
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, commonly referred to as
High tider
High Tider, Hoi Toider, or High Tide English is a dialect of American English spoken in very limited communities of the South Atlantic United States, particularly several small island and coastal townships in the rural North Carolina "Down East ...
, that can be traced back to that of the
Elizabethan period
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
. The dialect of Harkers Island developed in almost complete isolation for over 250 years. Harkers Island English shares features with other regional dialects of the US Atlantic coast.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...
,
vocabulary
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...
, and
grammatical constructions can be traced to eastern and southwestern England.
The dialect has survived because the community continues to depend on traditional trades, like fishing, boat building, and decoy carving, and the coastal tourism trade developed on Harkers Island much later than islands like Ocracoke.
[North Carolina Life and Language Project (2006). ''Linguistics at North Carolina State: Harkers Island''. Retrieved July 28, 2006.][Linguistic Diversity in the South (2004). ''Linguistic Diversity in the South: Changing Codes, Practices and Ideology''. (University of Georgia Press: Bender, et al.)]
Pronunciation in Harkers Island English can be different from the English spoken in the rest of the United States. "High tide" spoken in Harkers Island English might sound like "hoi toide", "time" sounds like "toime", "fish" is pronounced close to "feesh", "fire" sounds like "far", and "cape" is pronounced "ca'e". Words with "oi" substitute the pronunciation "er": "Toilet" sounds like "terlet". Words with a short "a" substitute
schwa: "crabs" become "crebs". Words beginning with "i" frequently receive a prefix aspirated "h": "it" becomes "hit". Words ending in a vowel are frequently suffixed with an "r". The traditional word for a porch across the width of a building, "piazza", loses the "t" of the Italian pronunciation and becomes "poyzer".
Thus, "Hit's so hot the
blue crebs hev come up on the poyzer to git in the shade," and "hit was so rough there were whiteceps in the terlet." Another phrase is "The
ersters hev arroived;" the large fish with a prominent dorsal fin is a "sherk". The island dialect has also retained anachronistic vocabulary in regular usage. Some examples include "mommick", meaning to frustrate or bother, "yethy", describing stale or unpleasant odor, and "nicket", meaning a pinch of something used as in cooking. The islanders have also developed unique local words used in regular conversation, including "dingbatter" to refer to a visitor or recent arrival to the island, and "dit-dot," a term developed from a joke about
Morse code, and used to describe any visitor to the island who has difficulty understanding the local dialect.
As many as 500 islanders on Harkers Island are directly descended from the Harkers Island and Outer Banks settlers that developed this distinct dialect.
Linguists from
North Carolina State University,
East Carolina University, and other academic institutions continue to conduct research on the island dialect.
Education
It is within the
Carteret County Schools
Carteret County Public Schools is a PK– 12 graded school district serving Carteret County, North Carolina. Its 18 schools serve approximately 8,000 students, as of the 2023-2024 school year.
Student demographics
For the 2010–2011 school year ...
district. Residents are zoned to Harkers Island Elementary School, Down East Middle School @ Smyrna, and
East Carteret High School.
[ - Explains Down East Middle School @ Smyrna includes the Harkers Island Elementary boundary, as does East Carteret High School.]
Religion
In 2006, Harkers Island had eight Christian churches. Established churches and religious organizations on Harkers Island include
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
, Free Grace
Wesleyan Church
The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, L ...
,
[Free Grace Wesleyan Church. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2006.] Grace
Holiness Church, Harkers Island
Pentecostal Holiness Church
The International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) or simply Pentecostal Holiness Church (PHC) is a Holiness-Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1911 with the merger of two older denominations. Historically centered in the Southeaste ...
, Harkers Island
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
, Huggins Memorial
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
Church Parsonage, the Lighthouse Chapel (non-denominational), and the Refuge Fellowship Church (non-denominational).
See also
*
High tider
High Tider, Hoi Toider, or High Tide English is a dialect of American English spoken in very limited communities of the South Atlantic United States, particularly several small island and coastal townships in the rural North Carolina "Down East ...
References
Further reading
* Hancock, Joel G. (1998) ''Strengthened by the Storm: The Coming of the Mormons to Harkers Island, N.C., 1897-1909''. Campbell & Campbell, December 1998.
External links
Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, Harkers IslandCore Sound Decoy Carvers Guild''Carteret County News-Times''''The Carteret Herald''Harkers Island Pentecostal Holiness ChurchHarkers Island Bridge Scenes
{{authority control
1890s Atlantic hurricane seasons
Census-designated places in Carteret County, North Carolina
Census-designated places in North Carolina
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Islands of North Carolina
Populated places established in 1730
Fishing communities in the United States
1730 establishments in North Carolina
Islands of Carteret County, North Carolina
1899 natural disasters in the United States
1899 meteorology
Coastal islands of North Carolina
Populated coastal places in North Carolina