Talk:Coinjock, North Carolina

Text moved from main page

I moved this detail here until it can be incorporated into the main article, and removed the cleanup-context tag. Xsmith 03:24, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

"In addition, William Henry Hampton and family had owned this wispy parcel of prime land located on the northernmost tip of Waterlily Island. In 1898, they opened a general store, which marketed mostly consumables and hardware, shipped fish reeled and waterfowl shot via the nearby port of Norfolk, to patrons up and down the eastern seaboard. Hosted the induction of Waterlily’s post office back in 1900, which later in the century merged with the Coinjock branch. Prior to the arrival of the postal service, the quaint island was only reachable by boat. Since U.S. mail was neither held up by rain or snow, sleet or ice, nor now challenged to cross the swamps of the waterways, innovated locals elected to build a punching road (cutting timber and laying each log side by side through the marshland. Much like wooden pallets of our time, thus securing a safer avenue for all). The strip of land was once known as Emperors Isle and White Island, Churches Island, and on this day, Waterlily Island. It rapidly flourished, following the modernization of the route. A sleepy town bustling with activity, catering to sportsmen of the world who traveled to her shores to hunt the land and fish her water. The enterprising Hamptons built a lodge on the northern end to accommodate them all. Locals were mainly farmers and crabbers, hunters and fishermen, boat-builders and busy decoy makers. Church service was attended by a religious congregation via boat to the surrounding communities until Pierce Hampton donated a small plot of land to build a nondenominational chapel. More lodges sprung from her soil and more people wandered to the island.

Today, Hampton Lodge Campground sits where William’s hunting and fishing lodge stood. Its general store sells food and drink, an assortment of modern day camping supplies, rents to year-round and seasonal residents, and hosts a variety of events tantalizing the tastes of those who come here to escape the turbulence of a contemporary world. On this peaceful edge of the Currituck Sound, campfires are center-stage. A popular means of retelling tales of old, wordily handled through the yellowed ages of local time and at moments twisted to instill a drop of fear. On occasion, curled also about the corner to entice a shiver, and nightmares of young and old alike.

Algonquian-speaking tribes called the Tuscarora Indians were originally kin to this region. Revolting against white colonists back in 1711 they massacred for annexing their land and stealing their children then selling them into slavery. Surviving and desperate settlers allied with other tribes in the area for a counterattack. History also states three hundred Tuscarora warriors were killed. Those who lived fled to the north and joined the Iroquois Confederation in 1713, leaving behind the beauty of their island paradise. A place once coined Emperors Isle as denoted on the Conberford Map of 1663, with the term “emperor” indicating the highest-ranking status among chiefs in the Algonquian tribe. In a now out-of-print local newspaper called the Current that was also dated 26 March, 1986, prompted by a rapidly eroding shoreline of Waterlily, and where a disheartened and frustrated archaeologist working at North Carolina’s Department of Archives and History referred to the solemn discovery of two Indian remains unearthed in the 1970’s. It was one of four such sites discovered on that island since 1956 and known together as the Waterlily Complex. Their remains were taken to a local museum where all disappeared without a trace. Algonquians were known to bury their dead on high ground, by the way."

(excerpt from "Spirit of the Sound" by John T. Lehman ISBN # 1-59800-635-5, once resident of Waterlily Island, and his fictional tale concerned the historical facts he discovered about this region when writing about this region).

As you can see from the fact discovered aboved, Waterlily Island and the Hampton Lodge Campground merged with Coinjock, North Carolina, its marina, and the Intracoastal Waterway now used by many boating and hunting enthusiasts. Converging as one delicate part of North Carolina's history. And is said to have significance in the life and shenanigans of the infamous pirate of the high seas, Blackbeard. Across the Currituck Sound and to the east on Waterlily Island, you can clearly see the Currituck Lighthouse. Beyond the lighthouse is the Atlantic Ocean. Just to the north, is Bell's Island. And titters on the Virginia border. All rich in the history of the original colonists who came to America to settle her shores, the Lost Colony to the south, and attracts visitors year after year. Not only for its grand beaches and southern hospitality, but it is also provides us the opportunity to retrace the steps and gives us the wings of Orville and Wilbur Wright's First Flight in Kill Devil Hills.