Hurricane Hazel swept the U.S. Eastern Seaboard in mid-October 1954, eventually landing in the record books as one of the most deadly and enduring hurricanes. After punishing Haiti with mudslides that killed hundreds, Hazel edged northward, striking the Carolina coast as a ferocious category four. Landfall occurred near the South Carolina�North Carolina border, where a massive surge washed over barrier beaches and swept away hundreds of homes. Coastal communities like Myrtle Beach, Long Be...

This informative and engaging book tells the true stories of the hurricanes that had the greatest impact on North Carolina and South Carolina, from the eighteenth century to the present day. Hurricane historian Jay Barnes offers an illuminating and compelling account of the Carolinas’ most recent storm disasters, Matthew and Florence, as well as thirteen other memorable hurricanes in the Tar Heel and Palmetto States, including Hazel, Hugo, Fran, and Floyd. In Barnes’s hands, the examinatio...

North Carolina’s Hurricane History charts the more than fifty great storms that have battered the Tar Heel State from the colonial era through Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, two of the costliest hurricanes on record. Drawing on news reports, National Weather Service records, and eyewitness descriptions, hurricane historian Jay Barnes emphasizes the importance of learning from this extraordinary history as North Carolina prepares for the inevitable disastrous storms to...

North Carolina is a traveler’s dream, from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks’ historic lighthouses, wild horses, and charming fishing villages; from battlegrounds of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to the “heart of motorsports”; from rolling wine country and golf courses to stately plantations and rustic settlements. Whether you travel North Carolina for its historic treasures or natural beauty, this handy guide will help you find the Old North State’s most spectacular sites an...

Discover the fascinating and nearly forgotten history amid Cape Cod's salty waves and sandy beaches—photos included.From Provincetown to Falmouth, the Cape's fifteen towns offer a plethora of hidden and enchanting tales. Learn why one of the most famous rescues in Coast Guard history spent nearly fifty years in the shadows without public notice. Discover which wild creature went from the nineteenth-century soup pot to enjoying conservation protection under state law...

The Outer Banks is much more than an idyllic vacation destination. A day at a time through history, it has claimed its place as a colorful region of the Old North State. Author and historian Sarah Downing offers a daily look at the quirky and fascinating stories from the region's four-hundred-year history. During a fierce hand-to-hand battle off Ocracoke Island on November 22, 1718, Lieutenant Robert Maynard killed the infamous pirate Blackbeard with five pistol shots and twenty sword cuts...

Little-known stories of North Carolina's celebrated barrier islands, with photos included.The history of North Carolina's Outer Banks is as ancient and mesmerizing as its beaches. Much has been documented, but many stories were lost—until now.Join local historian Sarah Downing as she reveals a past of the Outer Banks eroded by time and tides. Revel in the nostalgic days of the Carolina Beach Pavilion, stand in the shadows of windmills that once lined the coas...

The Outer Banks of North Carolina have been a destination for seasonal visitors since Algonkian Indians hunted and fished on the islands. In 1584, English explorers arrived and before long were promoting the area as a land of natural abundance and beauty, pleasant weather, and kindly natives. Not much has changed in that respect. By the beginning of the 20th century, visitors and residents alike were using postcards to share the things that make the Outer Banks unique with family and frien...

Nags Head boasts a plethora of natural wonders. From an ecologically unique maritime forest to breathtaking coastal dunes, the dynamics of the area corroborate the sentiment Thomas Nixon expressed in his 1964 classic. Indeed, as early as the 1830s, merchants and planters from the Albemarle region of North Carolina and Southside Virginia brought their families to Nags Head via boat to exchange the oppressive inland summer heat for cool ocean breezes. In this striking photographic collection...

Connecting communities from Corolla in the north to Ocracoke Island in the south, scenic North Carolina Highway 12 binds together the fragile barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks. Throughout its lifetime, however, NC 12 has faced many challenges—from recurring storms and shifting sands to legal and political disputes—that have threatened this remarkable highway’s very existence. Through the unique lens of the road’s rich history, Dawson Carr tells the story of the Outer Banks as it...

The fast-paced and gripping true account of the extraordinary construction and spectacular demise of the Key West Railroad—one of the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken, destroyed in one fell swoop by the strongest storm ever to hit U.S. shores.In 1904, the brilliant and driven entrepreneur Henry Flagler, partner to John D. Rockefeller, dreamed of a railway connecting the island of Key West to the Florida mainland, crossing a staggering 153 miles of open oc...

While John McPhee was working on his previous book, Rising from the Plains, he happened to walk by the engineering building at the University of Wyoming, where words etched in limestone said: "Strive on--the control of Nature is won, not given." In the morning sunlight, that central phrase--"the control of nature"--seemed to sparkle with unintended ambiguity. Bilateral, symmetrical, it could with equal speed travel in opposite directions. For some years, he had been planning a boo...