modern facades of condominiums, 

 stubbornly claiming its beachfront 

 berth. 



Best's worries, and his pining for 

 days past, are not uncommon among 

 folks who have watched North 

 Carolina's coast develop through 

 tourism. Their fear is that the beauty 

 that attracts people to the beach will 

 eventually be destroyed through 

 unbridled growth. 



"People come because of open 

 space, fishing, swimming," says Miller. 

 "In time, those things degrade and you 

 put in swimming pools, amusement 

 parks, all of which could be any- 

 where." 



It wasn't long ago that many 

 tourists heading south passed by the 

 more rural, inaccessible North Carolina 

 beaches for South Carolina and the 

 sandy white beaches of south Florida. 

 But no more. 



The Tar Heel coast earned high 

 marks in a national survey of 650 

 beaches that ranked North Carolina 

 third behind Hawaii and Florida on the 

 strength of its open, unpolluted and 

 relatively undeveloped shoreline. The 

 Outer Banks cinched the honor for the 

 state, says author Stephen Leatherman, 

 director of the Laboratory for Coastal 

 Research at the University of Mary- 

 land. 



Such an endorsement can only 

 accelerate the catapulting rise of 

 tourism as the state's top industry, 

 observers say. The up-and-coming 

 industry is expected to eclipse tobacco 

 and textiles by the year 2000. 



Bill McCaskill, owner of Whale- 

 bone Tackle in Nags Head, says he's 

 watched his own business boom 

 through tourism. It was a matter of 

 being in the right place at the right time 

 — his store fronts the Nags Head- 

 Manteo Causeway at one of only two 

 routes onto the Outer Banks. 



But McCaskill has mixed emotions 

 about the growth. He's frustrated at the 

 traffic and declining water quality and 

 waterfowl hunting. 



"Money's good but I liked it better 



before," he says. "I'm not going to 

 complain about making more money. 

 But I liked it better (before) for the 

 hunting and fishing. There weren't as 

 many people around. 



"I wish it were back 30 years again 

 But you don't turn back the clock." 



MOTOR TO THE 



PAGODA CASINO 



ATLANTIC BEACH 



M ORE 14 CAD CITY 



BATHING • MIDWAY' DANCING FREE 



THE ATLANTIC CITY OF TUC SOUTH 



Early marketing efforts: Atlantic Beach touted the Pagoda Casino to tourists after 

 the bridge from Morehead City was completed in 1928. 



Many coastal residents are like 

 McCaskill. They benefit directly or 

 indirectly from the tourism dollars that 

 support jobs and local businesses and 

 bolster the tax base. 



"A lot of natives don't look at it as 

 an intrusion because they now have a 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 3 



