Corolla ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in Poplar Branch township,

Currituck County Currituck County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Ca ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States, along the northern

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, separatin ...

. It has a permanent population of approximately 500 people; during the summer vacation season, the population surges into the thousands. Corolla is home to the

Currituck Beach Light The Currituck Beach Light ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Currituck Sound Currituck Sound ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, Corolla attracts mainly beach-goers, especially in the summer months. Corolla is home to numerous attractions such as the historic Whalehead Club,

Currituck Beach Light The Currituck Beach Light ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

Banker horse The Banker horse is a horse breed, breed of feral horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') living on barrier islands in North Carolina's Outer Banks. It is small, hardy, and has a docile temperament. Descended from domesticated Iberian horse, Spanish h ...

s. They are located on a 12,000-

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

(49 km)

animal sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...

situated north of the populated areas of Corolla. Over fifty thousand people come to see these wild horses every week in the summer months.

Pronunciation

Named for the collection of petals of a flower, the correct pronunciation has an emphasis on the second syllable, ''rah'' (kuh-RAH-luh, /kəˈrɑːlə/); however, many visitors incorrectly pronounce ''Corolla'' the same way they pronounce the name of the

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

, with the second syllable sounding like ''row'' (kuh-ROW-luh, /kəˈroʊlə/).

Corolla Demographics

Corolla is a diverse place, with its native residents describing themselves as belonging to various ethnic groups. The greatest number among them are white, followed by African Americans. Significant ancestries of people in Corolla include English, German, Italian, and Polish. The principal language spoken is English, but Spanish and Italian are other popular languages. Per capita income in Corolla is $48,670. 52.80% of the adult population has a four-year degree or equivalent, while in other parts of the United States the average is 21.84%.

Parks and nature preserves

Corolla is home to the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, located in Currituck Heritage Park. The park has a boardwalk through

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. It is listed as an

eBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

hotspot, with at least 219 species recorded in the park since 2000. Less than a mile north of Corolla is the Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve.

History

The community of Corolla began as a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an development on American Indian hunting grounds. Tribes including the

Chowanoke The Chowanoc, also Chowanoke, are an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe who historically lived near the Chowan River in North Carolina. At the time of the first English contact in 1580s, they were a large and influential tribe and rema ...

and Poteskeet hunted along the barrier island. The town of Corolla was first called Jones Hill, after an early settler. It was also known as Whalehead or Currituck Beach. Early settlers made a living from fishing and hunting, as well as from salvage from

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

and serving as guides to hunters. Currituck was derived from an American Indian term, ''Carotank'', meaning land of the wild geese. On the Atlantic migratory flyway, the area at the time had a large wild geese population. Over hunting in the late 19th century caused numbers to severely drop. The town officially took the name Corolla in 1895 when a post office opened in the community. The name was chosen to refer to the botanic term for the petals of a flower. It wasn't until 1905 however, that a teacher and curriculum were provided to the local school.

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

of Currituck's Northern Outer Banks began in 1967 when

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

s from Sandbridge, Virginia, put together an investment group to purchase undeveloped land. The first

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

plotted was Carova with 1,993

lots Lot, LOT, The Lot or similar may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *A Quantity, great many of something, as in, "There are a lot of beetles," or "T ...

. The lots were originally priced in the early 1970s at $8,000; as of 2006, some of these lots are worth up to $500,000. The investors planned for a road to come through from

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

, to allow access to the lots; however, these plans were abandoned in 1973 when the

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in an isolated portion of the former Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. ...

south of Sandbridge was closed to all vehicular traffic, except by permit. Development pushed south through the 1970s, creating well over 1,000 additional lots in several subdivisions. In 1984 the residents of Corolla succeeded in their attempts to gain a public access road from the south. The state began paving the extension of NC-12 toward the north. In addition to the Currituck Beach Light, the Currituck Shooting Club and Whalehead Club are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Beaches of Corolla

There are 15 beaches with public access, of which six have lifeguards and public parking and two include showers: * Corolla Village Road (shower, bathhouse) * Shad Street * Sturgeon Walkway * Bonito Street * Sailfish Walkway * Yaupon Lane (shower, bathhouse)

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Corolla has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(Cfa).

Ecology

According to the

A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 26 July 1907 – 17 June 1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system that has become widely used in the United Sta ...

U.S.

potential natural vegetation In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...

types, Corolla, North Carolina would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern

Cordgrass ''Spartina'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Species in this genus are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Eu ...

(''73'') with a dominant vegetation form of

Coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

(''20'').

References

External links

Whalehead Club
at Visit Currituck County
Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education

Currituck Beach Lighthouse
at Outer Banks Conservationists
Currituck County Dept. of Travel and Tourism
{{authority control 1895 establishments in North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Historic Albemarle Tour Landforms of Currituck County, North Carolina Outer Banks Populated coastal places in North Carolina Populated places established in 1895 Unincorporated communities in Currituck County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in North Carolina