workers or shopkeepers, is drawn from 

 Dare County. 



"A bridge would be good for all of us," 

 says Norris Austin, the Corolla postmaster 

 and a Currituck native. "It's a golden op- 

 portunity to really make employment for 

 the native people. 



"Once development has come, I don't 

 see why rural and coastal North Carolina 

 can't jump on the bandwagon," he says. 



Others aren't so excited. 



Some folks are weary of servicing the 

 rich out-of-staters who live on the beach. 

 They've been catering to the beach folks, 

 acting as maids, cooks, guides and grounds- 

 keepers, since the days when the hunt 

 clubs were masters of the banks. 



They're dubious of further growth that 

 could turn isolated Currituck County into 

 the hodgepodge of commercial and resi- 

 dential development seen along the Dare 

 County beaches. 



Riggs says that won't happen. 



"Commercial holdings are probably five 

 percent or less along the beach," says the 

 developer. "We have taken the position to 

 work together for quality development. 



"We're selling ocean, sand, beach, 

 hunting, fishing, surfing and sun. We 

 want to maintain a healthy environment." 



But some folks don't buy his sales pitch. 



"I liked Corolla like it was," says 

 Shirley Austin, a Currituck banks native. 

 "I realize that it couldn't stay that way, 

 and I really thought the development 

 would not go this fast. 



"As long as it stayed residential, I didn't 



Norris Austin 



mind too badly. I don't want to see hotels 

 and motels and all the businesses." 



Across the sound in Waterlily and Pop- 

 lar Branch, mainlanders are worried too. 

 They question the effect the bridge and 

 further development will have on the 

 sound, the waterfowl and the fish that 



have meant their livelihood. 



For now, Currituck remains divided. 

 Some like it, others don't. But most seem 

 caught— caught between the promise of 

 opportunity and the tug of a heritage 

 founded on ducks, decoys and a shallow 

 sound called Currituck. • 



