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NC 12: Gateway to the Outer Banks
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 has unfolded since a time when locals used oxcarts to pull provisions from harbors to their homes and the Wright Brothers struggled over mountainous dunes.
Throughout, Carr captures the personal stories of those who have loved and lived on the Outer Banks. As Carr relates the importance of NC 12 and its transformation from a string of beach roads to a scenic byway joining miles of islands, he also chronicles the history of a region over the last eighty-five years, showing how the highway and the residents of the Outer Banks came to rely on each other.
Throughout, Carr captures the personal stories of those who have loved and lived on the Outer Banks. As Carr relates the importance of NC 12 and its transformation from a string of beach roads to a scenic byway joining miles of islands, he also chronicles the history of a region over the last eighty-five years, showing how the highway and the residents of the Outer Banks came to rely on each other.
- GenresNonfictionHistoryTravel
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 5, 2020
Author Dawson Carr gives just the right amount of history of the Outer Banks themselves along with the efforts to connect the Outer Banks to not only help locals reach neighboring areas but also promote tourism. Naturally road and bridge construction always met with environmental concerns. Today's visitors appreciate the balance between the two. Hurricanes frequently wreak havoc, but the state plans for such eventualities and responds quickly. As I read the book, my travels took me on NC 12 from Corolla to the Graveyard of the Atlantic by the place one catches the ferry to Ocracoke, I truly appreciate the author's insights. Footnotes within the text and additional photographs would improve the book a bit, but this book will serve as a lasting reminder to tourists of their visit to the Outer Banks.
July 21, 2017
I bought this book upon my first trip to the Outer Banks this summer, and read it at home to keep the vacation spirit alive. I found it infinitely interesting after becoming familiar with NC 12 and many of the towns. I myself was awed by the Bonner Bridge when I first crossed it, and it's nice to know that residents kept hammers on board or left their windows down as recent as 1993 in case of collapse (and that the bridge, built in 1963, was initially projected to have a lifespan of 25 years). I had the pleasure of taking this drive in a convertible, and marveled at the construction and constant maintenance of the bridge over Oregon Inlet (I was sure to sit on my hat at the highest point so the wind didn't whisk it away) and wondered at the construction of an enormous bridge parallel to me that I now know will skirt around the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge.
January 6, 2023
Review title: Off the coast of Carolina
For the month of April 2022, thanks to some funds from my father's estate, my wife and I and our three married adult children and one grandson spent a month in an oceanfront beach hoise near the Outer Banks town of Corolla. On this once-in-a-lifetime dream and on a few other too-short vacations on the Outer Banks, we rode on NC 12, the two-lane road that spans these low, narrow, shifting barrier islands from south to north. Dawson Carr tells the story of how this iconic route came to be.
It is a short history, both in years and pages. Interestingly, the two bridges that still cross from the mainland to the islands were first planned, funded, and built by local businessmen and politicians because the state of North Carolina was not convinced of the value of a road to nowhere. Until they provided a soft landing place for the Wright Brothers in their experiments ending in the first powered flight in 1903, the Outer Banks were mostly a place for fishermen, pirates, lighthouses, and life-saving stations to rescue shipwrecked sailors who missed or misread the lighthouse signals. But as the twentieth century matured visitation grew slowly, until the bridges were built in late 1930s to connect residents to the mainland and give tourists access--to 100 miles of barrier islands subject to high winds and waves with zero miles of paved roads. With the Depression, spending anything on beach roads was unthinkable, so while the short stretch between the two bridges north and south of Kitty Hawk was built and paved by 1931, it took until 1953 for the road to reach the southern tip at Hatteras, and the northern stretch from Duck to Corolla was not finally paved until 1987!
Carr tells the history and provides lots of pictures of those early years: rutted sand tracks, wooden bridges over sinkholes, old cars and busses (yes there was a Manteo-to-Hatteras bus service even before NC 12 was paved!), and storm damage to the road (one quibble is that too often the picture captions don't identify the location). This a history of the road, not the Outer Banks, so while some historical events like the Wright Brothers' flight and the life-saving stations are mentioned in relation to the road, their history isn't fully documented here. One fascinating story in the introduction describes how NC 12 was actually instrumental in saving the Outer Banks from becoming an atomic bomb testing ground when the appearance of a paved road fronted by houses and businesses convinced the US army the Outer Banks was not the deserted space it needed for such testing!
This salvation is offset by the damage that the wind and waves cause to the highway, and the damage the highway and the construction and population it had brought is causing to the barrier islands. The islands are just a tiny Ribbon of Sand (this book describing the naturally fragile geography and geology of the Outer Banks is referenced in the bibliography) buffeted east and west by winds and waves, and attempts by humans to anchor the sand into "real estate" actually trends toward worsening the impact of storms on that sand. Carr acknowledges these issues and talks about considerations in maintaining and redesigning NC 12 in ways to reduce its environmental impact while making it more sustainable.
If you haven't been, you need to go and spend time on the Outer Banks. It is a beautiful and peaceful (at least in the off-peak months) place . If you have been, you've enjoyed the benefits of NC 12 and cursed the traffic that forces you to slow down and measure the few miles by the minutes it takes to travel them. I think it helps me to slow down and realize that distance and time is less important than time at rest off the coast of Carolina. Bring along or buy a copy of Carr's book to read while you rest.
For the month of April 2022, thanks to some funds from my father's estate, my wife and I and our three married adult children and one grandson spent a month in an oceanfront beach hoise near the Outer Banks town of Corolla. On this once-in-a-lifetime dream and on a few other too-short vacations on the Outer Banks, we rode on NC 12, the two-lane road that spans these low, narrow, shifting barrier islands from south to north. Dawson Carr tells the story of how this iconic route came to be.
It is a short history, both in years and pages. Interestingly, the two bridges that still cross from the mainland to the islands were first planned, funded, and built by local businessmen and politicians because the state of North Carolina was not convinced of the value of a road to nowhere. Until they provided a soft landing place for the Wright Brothers in their experiments ending in the first powered flight in 1903, the Outer Banks were mostly a place for fishermen, pirates, lighthouses, and life-saving stations to rescue shipwrecked sailors who missed or misread the lighthouse signals. But as the twentieth century matured visitation grew slowly, until the bridges were built in late 1930s to connect residents to the mainland and give tourists access--to 100 miles of barrier islands subject to high winds and waves with zero miles of paved roads. With the Depression, spending anything on beach roads was unthinkable, so while the short stretch between the two bridges north and south of Kitty Hawk was built and paved by 1931, it took until 1953 for the road to reach the southern tip at Hatteras, and the northern stretch from Duck to Corolla was not finally paved until 1987!
Carr tells the history and provides lots of pictures of those early years: rutted sand tracks, wooden bridges over sinkholes, old cars and busses (yes there was a Manteo-to-Hatteras bus service even before NC 12 was paved!), and storm damage to the road (one quibble is that too often the picture captions don't identify the location). This a history of the road, not the Outer Banks, so while some historical events like the Wright Brothers' flight and the life-saving stations are mentioned in relation to the road, their history isn't fully documented here. One fascinating story in the introduction describes how NC 12 was actually instrumental in saving the Outer Banks from becoming an atomic bomb testing ground when the appearance of a paved road fronted by houses and businesses convinced the US army the Outer Banks was not the deserted space it needed for such testing!
This salvation is offset by the damage that the wind and waves cause to the highway, and the damage the highway and the construction and population it had brought is causing to the barrier islands. The islands are just a tiny Ribbon of Sand (this book describing the naturally fragile geography and geology of the Outer Banks is referenced in the bibliography) buffeted east and west by winds and waves, and attempts by humans to anchor the sand into "real estate" actually trends toward worsening the impact of storms on that sand. Carr acknowledges these issues and talks about considerations in maintaining and redesigning NC 12 in ways to reduce its environmental impact while making it more sustainable.
If you haven't been, you need to go and spend time on the Outer Banks. It is a beautiful and peaceful (at least in the off-peak months) place . If you have been, you've enjoyed the benefits of NC 12 and cursed the traffic that forces you to slow down and measure the few miles by the minutes it takes to travel them. I think it helps me to slow down and realize that distance and time is less important than time at rest off the coast of Carolina. Bring along or buy a copy of Carr's book to read while you rest.
December 19, 2017
There is some good historical information presented here that I was not aware of before reading this book.
But the tome is flawed on several levels.
First, there is really no information about the author, his reason for writing the book, and more importantly, his ties to the area.
The work is also poorly organized. In one passage I'm being introduced to Highway 12 south of Oregon Inlet in a chapter that takes one along the route from Corolla to the mainland, the next paragraph I'm reliving the same exact story lines the author covered earlier about how the inlet was formed.
Likewise, narratives about how past and recent hurricanes cut inlets through the islands are repeated throughout the book. It's almost maddening as one tries to decide if its deja vu or really new material. Trust me, it's probably deja vu.
Finally, the book is full of errors.
Kitty Hawk does not end at Milepost 2 (nor does Kill Devil Hills start there), the "Beach Road" south of Whalebone Junction does not run two miles before it merges back into Highway 12, it's more like 4.8 miles.
And the unincorporated areas of Hatteras such as Salvo, Waves, Rodanthe, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras are not ever referred to by locals as "towns", which the author does frequently. They are villages, and even newbies learn that fairly quickly.
If you can find the book used, give it a read and pay attention more to the politics of and maneuvering that was required by local, state and federal officials to NC 12 built in its entirety.
Use a grain or two of salt when Carr talks about local customs, distances, and boundaries, and be prepared to read certain historical revelations two or even three times over the course of the book.
But the tome is flawed on several levels.
First, there is really no information about the author, his reason for writing the book, and more importantly, his ties to the area.
The work is also poorly organized. In one passage I'm being introduced to Highway 12 south of Oregon Inlet in a chapter that takes one along the route from Corolla to the mainland, the next paragraph I'm reliving the same exact story lines the author covered earlier about how the inlet was formed.
Likewise, narratives about how past and recent hurricanes cut inlets through the islands are repeated throughout the book. It's almost maddening as one tries to decide if its deja vu or really new material. Trust me, it's probably deja vu.
Finally, the book is full of errors.
Kitty Hawk does not end at Milepost 2 (nor does Kill Devil Hills start there), the "Beach Road" south of Whalebone Junction does not run two miles before it merges back into Highway 12, it's more like 4.8 miles.
And the unincorporated areas of Hatteras such as Salvo, Waves, Rodanthe, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras are not ever referred to by locals as "towns", which the author does frequently. They are villages, and even newbies learn that fairly quickly.
If you can find the book used, give it a read and pay attention more to the politics of and maneuvering that was required by local, state and federal officials to NC 12 built in its entirety.
Use a grain or two of salt when Carr talks about local customs, distances, and boundaries, and be prepared to read certain historical revelations two or even three times over the course of the book.
March 11, 2023
This is an informative book about the history of the construction of the highway NC12 that runs from one end of the Outer Banks to other. It's a quick enjoyable read especially if you've spent a fair bit of time in this area. Carr elaborates on the challenges of building on sand and in a storm-prone area, yet also highlights the importance of the road for the economic development of the region. (And he leans more pro-development). This book is full of interesting facts-- like how the Outer Banks was seriously considered as a nuclear testing site in Project Nutmeg, and how the Marc Basnight bridge took over 20 years of legal entanglement before it was approved because of its proximity to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.
July 27, 2023
I enjoyed this book and the history of NC 12, but I'm also extremely familiar with the Outer Banks of NC. If you haven't been to the area or aren't interested in transportation history I don't think it would hold the same appeal. That being said, I don't think I've ever read a book in which I'm so intimately familiar with the subject; I could easily imagine all the intersections, landscapes, roads, and bridges described. Additionally, since my family has been vacation in the Outer Banks for 30 years I've seen many of the changes described in the book, especially as related to development of housing and commerce in the towns.
November 11, 2016
An interesting and quick read. Bonus points for putting books by my employer in the Suggestions for Further Reading Section.
January 16, 2019
(no. 2 of 2019)
needs tighter editing. would have liked to read something about the Bypass
needs tighter editing. would have liked to read something about the Bypass
June 24, 2025
If you love travel and local history and connecting the dots, and you've ever been to the Outer Banks (OBX) of NC, this is a great read for you!
November 8, 2017
Provides an interesting history behind the building of NC 12 through the Outer Banks. Having vacationed there since I was little I could easily envision each area the author wrote about. A lot of interesting details about the area, town names, etc. and great insight into how the storms can impact the roadway. I also enjoyed the old pictures throughout the book. At times the writing was very repetitive but overall I enjoyed learning more about the Outer Banks history.
August 10, 2016
Interesting to me, since we have been going to the Outer Banks since 1972. I learned some new things, which is always good!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews