Salter Path is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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. A

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 ...

community, it lies on

Bogue Banks Bogue Banks form a barrier island off the mainland of North Carolina in Carteret County. The island, separated from the mainland by Bogue Sound, runs east to west, with the ocean beaches facing due south. Bogue Banks is the only island on the C ...

as an enclave within Indian Beach.

History

The decline in the whaling industry in the mid-to-late 19th century and good fishing on Bogue Banks caused many settlers, mostly near Cape Lookout ( Diamond City), to move toward the middle and western reaches of Bogue Banks. Many of the families who moved to Salter Path in the late 19th century and early 20th century established their residences without deeds before Bostonian John A. Royall purchased Salter Path. The area of Salter Path subsequently became known as a squatter's community. Salter Path was passed from John A. Royall to Alice Green Hoffman, a distant relative of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and daughter of Albert W. Green of Green-Joyce Company. Alice Hoffman developed an estate in present-day Pine Knoll Shores and sued the residents of Salter Path in 1923 because their cows were wandering onto her estate. A subsequent court decision permitted the residents of Salter Path to remain, but the cows were not allowed to graze on the Hoffman Estate. The village was restricted to that the squatters occupied, and direct ownership of the beachfront was granted to the village to use collectively. This ruling further stated that only current residents and descendants could occupy the property, but it did not give any individuals title to the land. This ruling remained intact until 1979 when a legal settlement permitted Salter Path residents to hold a title to their property and for Carteret County to levy taxes on the former squatter's village. Recent studies, provided by the Duke Institute of Marine Sciences (located in

Beaufort, NC Beaufort ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina (after Bath, New Bern and Edenton). On Februar ...

) have shown that Salter Path was a frequent refuge for the notorious pirate,

Blackbeard Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known abou ...

Toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

The community of Salter Path is believed to be named after Owen Salter or possibly Riley Salter, although Riley Salter's true whereabouts during the 1880s have been questioned by historians and native Bogue Bankers. Schools of mullet fish that ran close to the ocean shorelines were the prime catch for many of the natives. These fishermen would quickly mobilize from the sound to the ocean, wearing a path in front of a Salter household, hence the name Salter Path. Alternatively, in the 1800s the word "salter", in common usage, meant a ''one-way'' deer gate, used for centuries to control deer populations. Inserted in a fence completely spanning a narrow point in the island, it would tend to sequester deer to one end, away from farms and crops. The narrowest point on the island is, in fact, the village of Salter Path. There is the possibility it is named for the path that would inevitably lead to the salter, the only passage through the fence. However, no archeological evidence has yet been located for this.

References

Unincorporated communities in North Carolina Unincorporated communities in Carteret County, North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Bogue Banks Landforms of Carteret County, North Carolina Populated coastal places in North Carolina {{CarteretCountyNC-geo-stub