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| Historic
marker on Ocracoke, located near the ferry dock and old
Coast Guard Station. |
History
and legend go hand in hand on the Outer Banks. Weave in some
ghost stories and mysteries, pirates, shipwrecks and unselfish
bravery,
and you have the fabric that makes up the folklore of the Outer
Banks. There is history surrounded by legend, not the least
of which is Blackbeard, whose mark is all around the coast
of North
Carolina, from Bath, to Beaufort, to Ocracoke and beyond. Ghost
ships and mysterious sightings, and other tales live on of
dreadful fates of shipwreck victims spawned by the truth that
is the "Graveyard
of the Atlantic". Magical, mystical tales, such as those told by
superstitious men of the sea, weave their threads into those stories
of the crews of the Life-Saving Stations, whose fearlessness in
the midst of deadly storms is factual, recorded history, now become
legend.
With such a wealth of material to draw upon,
how do you decide what can be highlighted in the space of a web
page or two? Certainly it is not easy. Books such as Charles Harry
Whedbee's "The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke and Other Tales of the
Outer Banks", and his "Legends of the Outer Banks" provide
good reading on many of the less widely known stories. Here though,
the aim is to entice you into looking further into it for yourself. |
  So,
what about Blackbeard, the infamous Edward
Teach (or Thatch, or Tatch, as variations exist on the name)?
Was he real? The answer is "yes", as real as they come. Of course
his "image" is likely to be a little larger than life, but apparently
he earned every bit of it. There is no shortage of writings about
him and his exploits, so that will not be repeated here. But if
you go to the Outer Banks, to Ocracoke, or historic Bath, ride
the ferry from Bayview to Aurora, or Hatteras to Ocracoke, or across Pamlico Sound, then you are treading the very grounds and sailing
the waters he called home. (More detailed information on Blackbeard
and his dubious exploits is contained in this background
document.) |
Wreck of
the "Altoona", Oct. 22, 1878, at Cape Point, Hatteras. |
But
the history of this place will tell you it wasn't pirates that
mariners feared most along the Outer Banks, it was the shoals,
the shallows and the vicious storms that took more ships than pirates
ever dreamed of scuttling. Shipwrecks were in fact an integral
and important part of life on the Outer Banks. Being so isolated,
the residents made good use of everything, especially salvaged
cargo from wrecks, including the wood, beams, ropes and hardware
from the ships themselves. Nothing went to waste. Many homes were
built, furnished or repaired from ship salvage. |
Sightings
and Location Reports
If you would like to assist by sharing new or changed information
on these or other shipwreck sites along the Outer Banks,
please email to:
But first, please read this information on how
to make your report. All valid information will be shared
right here with credit to you.
You can also sign up to be promptly notified of new reports as
soon as they are verified. Just email to the same address
above and ask to be added to our list. Your email address
will not be shared with anyone. Email notifications will
go out individually so your address will not appear
on others emails. |
Finding The
Shipwrecks
Thirty
years ago there were more wrecks visible onshore than there are
today. Time and storms have taken their toll. Wrecks get washed
ashore, then covered by sand, then uncovered in storms, and covered
again. They even get moved by storms, as well as broken apart and
scattered over the years. As a reference, visit this shipwrecks
page at our sister site, www.CarolinaOuterBanks.com, which
will show you what was visible and accessible back in 1973. Then
compare that with the more current information listed here.
Locating the remains of shipwrecks on the
Outer Banks is not necessarily as easy as the tourist pamphlets,
travel brochures and other web sites might imply. Many or most
of the brochures, and especially the web sites are publishing inaccurate
and out of date
information. Some even publish locations using beach ramp numbers
that no longer exist and were changed by the park service over
10 years ago!
Of course,
we are talking
about
wreck sites which are onshore, near shore
or in
the surf
where
they
are visible and accessible to the average visitor. There are also underwater
wreck sites,
which require scuba gear and experience to reach. Other web sites
are devoted to this interesting sport activity, but that is not
within the scope of these pages.
NO OTHER WEB SITE IN THE
WORLD PROVIDES OUTER BANKS
SHIPWRECK INFORMATION AS UP TO DATE AND ACCURATE
AS
OuterBanksGuidebook.com. |
Please keep in mind that many of the smaller pieces of wrecks listed in these pages
either are moved around by the storms and tides, or are covered and uncovered randomly
at the whim of nature. These are virtually impossible to keep updated, and more often
than not, will disappear within days or weeks of being found and recorded here. Most in
this
category
are labeled as "Unknown Wreckage" with an ID in the "UNK-#_date" format. If it has
a name (example- the "Laura Barnes") then it's probably been stuck for many years
or decades right where it is now. Unless otherwise noted, these are the sites you can actually expect to
find if you go looking. The fun part is that if you do go looking, you might find another site of wreckage all on your own.
Directions for finding these sites are noted
by using 4WD beach access "Ramp" numbers (How
to find Ramps) and
the mile markers along NC Highway 12 on the Cape Hatteras National
Seashore,
which
look
like the example at right.
Watch for them. For those of you with GPS receivers, we also provide
GPS coordinates in the Decimal Degree format (hddd.ddddd°,
also called dd.dddd°). If you need to convert them to other
formats, click
here for some handy conversion pages. Okay,
let's start with an easy one to find.
1889 Shipwreck of the Schooner Frances E. Waters
 Location: Nags Head Town Hall parking lot (no kidding)
GPS coordinates: N/A
How to find it: The entrance to Nags Head Town Hall complex
is at the base of the Nags Head water tower, easily found on the
east side of US 158, south of Jockey's Ridge and north of Whalebone
junction.
Turn
east
into the town hall complex entrance, marked with a sign. The shipwreck
is
in
the grass
median
in the
middle
of the parking lot. There is an interpretation display which features
four newspaper articles about the wreck. At right is an aerial
view of the location.
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 The
Frances E. Waters sank in October, 1889. It sat on the beach
at Nags Head until a storm in May of 1978 picked it up and floated
it
southward,
crashing through Jennette's pier, cutting the pier in two.
The storm
then carried the wreck south to Oregon Inlet. The city
moved it back to Nags Head to rest outside city hall. |
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The
photos at right and below, added in October, 2004, were
taken on a cloudy day to minimize deep shadows, and may show
a bit more detail than the set above.
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1921 Shipwreck
of the Schooner Laura A. Barnes
Location: Coquina Beach - Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Coquina Beach entrance is located on NC Highway 12, exactly across
from the entrance road to Bodie Island Lighthouse.
GPS coordinates: N 35.83226 W
075.55751
 How
To Find It: Coquina Beach is on NC Hwy 12, south of Whalebone
junction/Nags Head, and north of the Oregon Inlet Bridge. The entrance
to Coquina Beach (and Bodie Island Lighthouse) is 7/10 mile south
of mile marker 22. Turn east off the highway, park in the parking
area, and walk north to the bath house/restroom area. The boardwalk
from the bath house takes you over the dunes to the beach. Immediately
at the end of the steps down to the beach you will find the remains
of the Laura A. Barnes. The aerial
photo above right shows the parking area, bath house, boardwalk
and the wreck site.
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Above: the
view at bottom of boardwalk steps |
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The
Laura A. Barnes sank in 1921 at another location. It was eventually
moved to it's current location at Coquina Beach for public display.
Compare these multiple views in the two columns at left, taken
in April, 2004, with two photos taken in 1973 (below).
It was already partially covered by sand
in 1973, and eventually became hidden from view for many years.
In September of 2003, Hurricane Isabel eroded away some of the
huge dune which had built up over it. Once again parts of the wreck
are visible.
Back in 1973 it had already been vandalized
many times, and set afire as well. Evidence of the fire is still
quite obvious in some of the 2004 photos, especially
this one. |
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Update: October, 2004 - More of L.A.Barnes Visible
The
photos above were taken in April, 2004. The L.A. Barnes wreck
was visited again in October of 2004 to see what changes
had occurred during the extremely busy 2004 hurricane season.
Compare
the two images below, and the two images at right, taken
6 months apart from similar angles. It can be seen that a
bit more of
the wreck is visible in the later October images. |
October,
2004 |
October, 2004 |
April, 2004 |
April, 2004 |
There are many more shipwrecks to see.
Continue to Folklore and History - Page
Two > |
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