says Ballance. But on Ocracoke, where fierce independence 

 and individualism runs as deep as the distrust for govern- 

 ment, residents opposed a 1981 zoning referendum 424 to 

 238. Some say the referendum didn't pass because it was too 

 compHcated and wasn't explained clearly. Others say 

 natives were afraid the ordinance would backfire on them, 

 that they wouldn't be allowed to do what they wanted with 

 their land, that they couldn't keep boats and crab pots in 

 their yards. 



Irvin Scott Garrish, Ballance's uncle, was a county com- 

 missioner at the time the zoning ordinance came up for a 

 vote. He was in favor of the law, but he accepts the fact that 

 residents defeated it. 



Now, another new motel blocks his view of Silver Lake. 

 "I'm selfish. I didn't want that in front of me," he says as he 

 points to the motel. "But I couldn't help it. People were 

 afraid they would lose some of the freedom they have on the 

 island. The freedom to do what they wanted to with their 

 land." 



Ballance and Garrish believe problems of overdevelop- 

 ment are just beginning. Already, the water and electrical 

 utilities feel the added burden. In the summer, it's not un- 

 usual to be without water for two to three hours, and 

 brownouts and blackouts are common, says Garrish. 



Further north, officials in Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills 

 have established temporary moratoriums on new water con- 

 nections as a result of the building boom. 



Ballance says, "We're on the brink of a very unorganized 

 pattern of development that would be detrimental to those 

 utilities but also to the image and atmosphere of the village 

 environment." 



Cottrell says he voted in favor of the zoning ordinance. "I 



believe orderly, controlled growth is preferable to random 

 growth," he says. 



But there is a double standard at work on the island, says 

 Cottrell. "The feeling of the natives is, 'Don't do this with 

 your property, but don't tell me what I can do with mine.' 



Cottrell doesn't think overdevelopment will be a problem 

 on Ocracoke because the amount of land available for 

 purchase is limited. The 775-acre village lies at the southern 

 tip of the island. The remaining land on the 17-mile strip of 

 beach is owned by the National Park Service. 



Ballance disagrees. "Every piece of land is available on 

 this island. If you've got the money, you can buy it." 



Garrish says some natives are selling their land. He's not 

 among them. "I have my land and my daughters have 

 their's. I'm holding a piece for my grandson. If I didn't, it 

 would be almost impossible for him to have land here." 



Natives and newcomers alike agree that land prices in- 

 crease with each day. Mary J. Everhart, a transplant from 

 Illinois, is building an eight-unit motel. She paid $70,000 for 

 less than a quarter of an acre on Silver Lake. Half of that 

 land must be set aside for the septic system. Everhart 

 figures that means she spent $70,000 for an eighth of an 

 acre. 



Ballance isn't sure whether he'll recommend another zon- 

 ing ordinance. He's concerned that random development 

 may destroy what people come to Ocracoke for in the first 

 place. "I'm beginning to get the message that people are 

 taking a second look at the advantages of big construction 

 in a village-type atmosphere like Ocracoke. They're waking 

 up and going, 'Oh, my God, I had no idea it was going to 

 turn out like this.' 



— Nancy Davis 



The ties that bind 



Photo by Gene Furr 



The Ocracoke Lighthouse 



It's said Ocracoke's solitary 

 nature and watery surroundings 

 breed a special people — people who 

 draw strength from the sea and 

 enjoyment from the simple life. 

 They show a fierce independence 

 and a strong community spirit 

 borne from isolation and hardy 

 living. Their roots reach deep into 

 the island's history, holding 

 neighbor to neighbor and genera- 

 tion to generation. The ties that 

 bind — the island, the water, the 

 heritage — make these people 

 Ocracokers and everyone else an 

 outsider. 



Their history began with a brush 

 from Sir Walter Raleigh's 1585 expedi- 

 tion. The expedition's flagship, the 

 Tyger, ran aground in what was 

 believed to be Ocracoke Inlet, then 

 called Wococon Inlet. The island itself 

 also bore the name of Wococon, an In- 



dian word meaning fort. 



The name gradually evolved to its 

 current form — Wococon, Woccocock, 

 Occocock, Oceacock, Ocracoke. 

 Legends say the infamous pirate, 

 Blackbeard, is responsible for its 

 present-day name. Impatient for dawn 

 and his ensuing battle with a British 

 sloop, he cried, "O crow cock!" "O crow 

 cock!" Less glamourous, but more 

 likely, the name changed because of 

 speech variations. 



Even if Blackbeard did not christen 

 Ocracoke with its name, he did fire its 

 history to a dazzling start. Blackbeard, 

 more correctly Edward Drummond, 

 used North Carolina as the base for his 

 pirating operations prior to 1718. His 

 favorite refuge? Ocracoke. 



But Virginia's royal governor, tired 

 of Blackbeard's embargo on 

 Chesapeake trade, sent two sloops to 

 stop him. Finding the pirate at 



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