Nags Headers

By Susan Rountree

It's easy to define true Nags Headers. They are the folks whose families have lived in this area of North Carolina's Outer Banks since it was settled in the 18th century. They're the descendants of those who braved choppy sound waters and northeasters to fashion small fishing shacks on the beachfront before the Civil War. And they're the families who have held on to this legacy for close to 150 years, preserving a piece of North Carolina's history within their shingled walls.Nags Head's Historic Cottage Row District -- on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977 -- stretches a mile along the beach, forming a pattern of angles and lines the color of driftwood. Defined by weathered wooden shingles, sweeping gable roofs, single, full-width dormers, and protruding benches built into the arms of porches, this simple architecture is the essence of Old Nags Head, what old-timers think of first when they see this beach in their mind.More than five generations have walked up the steps and through the halls of the cottages of Nags Head. They combed the giant dunes before paved roads marked the way, enjoying a summer life of tides, sea breezes, and mailboats docking daily in the Roanoke Sound. Family by family, they passed their legacy down through the generations, assuring that their familial love of house and beach will continue its hold.Nags Headers is a blend of oral history and narrative that allows readers to share in the summer lives of Nags Head's oldest families. The story traces the history of Nags Head through successive generations, from early settlement before the Civil War through the turn of the 20th century and the emergence of modern times. These families sharestories of life on their beloved stretch of beach and their efforts to preserve their legacy for generations to come.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0895872390
• ISBN13: 9780895872395
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: John F Blair Pub
• Length: 131 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 9.0"