Northern Exposure Exposed
A sign in the unincorporated Cur¬
rituck County village of Corolla
reading “State Maintenance
Ends" serves word that it is the figurative
end of N.C. Highway 12, the storied road
that stitches the islands of the Outer Banks
together. Yet this is by no means the same
end of the road it was a decade ago. when,
in fact, the pavement literally stopped at
the north edge of Corolla. In those times,
the lew hearty and hardy souls who made
it home reveled in the silence and famil¬
iarity of an austere, uniramineled place
pinned between Currituck Sound and the
sea.
As recently as a decade ago. only a few-
intrepid Ix-achgoers and a resident herd
of wild horses could lx- found on these
lonely shores. But not anymore. So much
has changed since then that those times
are now more distant in memory than in
actual years.
Since 1984, when the North Carolina
Department of Transportation secured
the right of way to build and maintain a
paved road to Corolla, growth has rolled
up Ix'hind the dunes like a storm surge.
More lumber has come to Corolla by
truck than probably ever grew here natu¬
rally. Once a place of absolute solitude,
Corolla is now a growing attraction to
tourists along the Eastern Seaboard.
It‘s a time of change. While the out¬
buildings and grounds of the Currituck
Beach Lighthouse, restored by the Outer
Banks Conservationists Inc., now gleam in
glorious renewal, the tower stands sentinel
over an increasingly crowded beach. 'Hie
resident herd of wild horses in Corolla,
once people-shy and wary, emboldenly
graze in the “pastures" sown behind
expensive homes, a precarious practice
because of increased traffic. Since 1989.
I I horses have died from collisions with
automobiles. Even native Norris Austin,
the 30-year postmaster of this village, has
moved along, stepping down from his
post and retiring upstairs to his home
above his old office.
“Used to Ik* at tabor Day they turned
the light out in Corolla." says Dnt I lodges,
a building inspectoi in the satellite Cur¬
rituck County office that is abuzz with
activity. “Each holiday seems to bring
T hanks to the growing number
of tourists who are discovering
it. Corolla isn't quite the
Outer Banks frontier outpost
it used to be.
By Glenn Morris
A breathtaking full
пиши
in Corolla.
more and more people here, and it seems
as though the season is running longer
and longer."
Prior to Currituck County opening the
satellite offices in Corolla, building inspec¬
tions. permitting and the daily business of
the county were- negotiated in the main¬
land village of Currituck. 55 one-way miles
distant. The volume of new construction
necessitated an office in Corolla. It's sim¬
ply very busy here now.
Corolla is the epicenter of a county con¬
struction boom. Expensive and expansive
second homes sprout where once little
more than bayberry and American beech
grass fleeced the arid flats behind the
dunes. This is the 3 percent of the coun¬
ty. by population, that provides 56 percent
ol the Currituck County property tax rev¬
enue. T here’s small wonder at this, given
the price of precious oceanfronL Lots in
Pine Island, named after the Pine Island
Club from which the land came, cost
between $350.00 and $400.000. And that's
just for tin- sand and the view — no tent
or foundation.
Price is evidently no object or. at least,
not objectionable.
Postmistress 1 .inda I .ewis, who succeed¬
ed Austin (after the post was offered
nationwide), gives a clue about the
growth.
"I ast winter there were 81 new homes
built in Pine Island," Lewis says. Pine
Island is one of the newest developments
south of the village proper, on the ocean-
front property of the old Pine Island Club,
a tum-of-the-century private hunting club.
I.cwis figures there arc about 380 active
mail deliveries in C-orolla. A few belong to
the stalwarts who make their homes north
of Corolla in Swan Beach and Corova, two
unincorporated settlements accessible
only by four-wheel-drive vehicle.
The population on the entire Currituck
County beachfront soars with the ther¬
mometer to become 17,000 lobster-
backed souls in the peak of summer.
Slightly more than two years ago. Food
1 .ion ventured to a location at the edge of
Whalehead Beach, the initial sulxlivison
here. The store was noticeable enough to
serve as a landmark in its otherwise
windswept surroundings. Soon after, a
video store and pizza restaurant opened
in adjacent space. I -ast year, an Ace Hard¬
ware store, a blessing to the* self-sufficient
natives, opened across N.C. Highway 12.
Like mushrooms after a fall rain, a new
neighborhood has grown up around the
grocery. Corolla doesn't look nearly as
alone now and. really, not distinguishable
from other barrier beach development to
the south. While each additional house
adds to the property values here, it ironi¬
cally diminishes a value that is more intan¬
gible.
In the early 1980s, Corolla was as sin¬
gular and solitary as its great unpainted
symbol, the red brick tower of the Cur¬
rituck Beach I ighthousc. The word "tiny"
described the town best: a small outpost
of civilization consisting of a small store.
Wink's, and the post office, which upon
opening in 1895 officially renamed the
community from Currituck Beach to
Corolla. That was done presumably
because the newer name fit more com-
Пко>Н)
Kc*m .Vitum
The Statr/March 1995
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