I'm writing this week's column within feet of the Atlantic Ocean in Nags Head, N.C.
And I mean, literally, "feet from the ocean." Our unit is one of the older ones built here and was, in hindsight, probably too close to the water. Yet it has managed to not yet be washed into the sea.
If you listen carefully while reading this, that is the sound of the ocean in the background.
Life is so hard ...
Many folks from Carroll County vacation on the Outer Banks in places such as Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Ocracoke, Kitty Hawk, Corolla and Manteo. Of course, most people come down here in the summer. (Which is why I like the Outer Banks in the off-season. It is way less crowded.)
Of course, I can't get away from history -- the Outer Banks is rich in history, lighthouses, scenery and miles of pristine beaches.
The Banks was the site of the first attempt at an English settlement on Roanoke Island in 1585.
Nags Head was first established in the 1830s, by a planter by the name of Francis Nixon. Hotels sprang up on the Outer Banks as early as the 1838. The first oceanfront cottages were built around 1855, by an investor named Dr. W. G. Pool, who bought 50 acres of oceanfront property for $30.
During the Civil War, on Dec. 30, 1862, a gale off Cape Hatteras sank the Union ironclad USS Monitor.
The Outer Banks is also where Orville and Wilbur Wright became the first to pilot a mechanically driven, heavier than air, machine about 120 feet, for 12 seconds, on Dec. 17, 1903.
OK, that's enough out-of-Carroll history. Many readers might be surprised to learn that Westminster was promoted 120 years ago as a summer vacation destination.
A promotional piece published by Vanderford Bros. on Jan. 1, 1887, and called to my attention by historian Jay Graybeal, included a section entitled, "(Westminster) as a Summer Resort"
Those who have been following recent discussions in Westminster Common Council meetings about efforts to maintain our streets would be fascinated to learn that the current struggle is not new. The 1887 promotion read, in part:
"The streets are lighted by gas, and are wide and straight. They have recently been graded and the sidewalks been relaid to conform to a uniform grade.
"On several of the outlying streets, much new paving has been done, and the work will begin anew in the spring. A proposition for paving the beds of the streets has been considered for some time, and the Mayor and Common Council, by a vote of the people, are authorized to have the work done when a suitable plan is decided upon ..."
"In short, Westminster is a live town, filled with an active, industrious, and thrifty population, that is unsurpassed for intelligence, skill and business energy.
"Altogether there is no more desirable place for business, for a comfortable, healthful and convenient permanent residence, or for the summer's sojourn, than Westminster."
All we need is a lighthouse.
Read the entire column here:
We had joy, we had fun, we had sidewalks in the sunhttp://explorecarroll.com/community/1289/we-had-joy-we-had-fun-we-had-sidewalks-sun/
20081019 SCE Westminster as a summer resort
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