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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Pamlico Sound | |
|---|---|
 Pamlico Sound with the southern Outer Banks. Orbital photo courtesy of NASA. | |
 Interactive map of Pamlico Sound | |
| Location | North Carolina, U.S. |
Pamlico Sound (/ˈpæmlɪkoʊ/ PAM-lik-oh) is a large estuarine lagoon in North Carolina. The largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, it extends 80 mi (130 km) long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of similar lagoons that includes Albemarle Sound, Currituck Sound, Croatan Sound, Roanoke Sound, Pamlico Sound, Bogue Sound, Back Sound, and Core Sound[1][2] known collectively as the Albemarle-Pamlico sound system. With over 3,000 sq. mi. (7,800 km2) of open water[3] the combined estuary is second only in size to the 4,479 sq mi (11,600 km2) Chesapeake Bay in the United States.
The Pamlico Sound is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a row of low, sandy barrier islands that include Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Albemarle-Pamlico Sound is one of nineteen great waters recognized by the America's Great Waters Coalition.[4]
Pamlico Sound is connected to the north with Albemarle Sound through passages provided by the Roanoke Sound and Croatan Sound. Core Sound is located at the Pamlico's narrow southern end.[1][2] It is fed by the Neuse and Pamlico rivers (the latter of which is the estuary of the Tar River) from the west, and from the east by Oregon Inlet, Hatteras Inlet, and Ocracoke Inlet, which also provide passage to the Atlantic Ocean.[5] The salinity of the sound averages 20 ppt, compared to an average coastal salinity of 35 ppt in the Atlantic and 3 ppt in the Currituck Sound, which is located north of the Albemarle Sound.[6]
The sound and its ocean inlets are noted for wide expanses of shallow water and occasional shoaling, making the area hazardous for larger vessels. While the deepest hole of the estuary (26 ft; 7.9 m) can be found in the Pamlico Sound,[7] depths generally range from 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m).[8] In addition, the shallow waters are susceptible to wind and barometric pressure-driven tidal fluctuations. This effect is amplified on the tributary rivers, where water levels can change by as much as two feet in three hours when winds are aligned with the rivers' axes and are blowing strongly.[1][2]
In March 1524, Florentine Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano mistook the sound for the Pacific Ocean because of its wide expanse and separation from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks barrier islands.[5] The sound was named for the Pamlico that lived along the sound's mainland banks and who were referred to as the Pamouik by the Raleigh expeditions (circa 1584).[9]
Three locations of Pamlico Sound in the Outer Banks between Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear were once under serious consideration by the United States Atomic Energy Commission as an atomic bomb test site during the late 1940s and early 1950s.[10][11] Portions of Pamlico Sound are used as a bombing and training range for Camp Lejeune.[12]
In 1987, Congress declared the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound an "estuary of national significance."[3] For vacationers to the Outer Banks, the Pamlico Sound is a "watersports playground" providing opportunities for fishing and crabbing, boating, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, parasailing, paddleboarding, and more.[5] In 2012, the economic impact of tourism to the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound area exceeded $1.3 billion.[3]
The sound also supports local commercial fishing, crabbing, shrimping, clamming, and oystering. 90% of North Carolina's commercial fishing catches are attributed to the Pamlico Sound, generating almost $100 million per year.[13]
Along the coastal areas are numerous waterfowl nesting sites, including Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks, and Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge on the mainland.[1][2] Dolphins and sea turtles[14] are abundant,[15] with occasional visits by seals such as harp seal in early January and February. Many other cetaceans including rare species such as fin whales, Cuvier's beaked whales, and orcas are present off Outer Banks and Cape Hatteras. Whales such as Atlantic gray (now extirpated),[16] North Atlantic right (critically endangered), and North Atlantic humpback were historically common. Endangered species such as leatherback turtles,[17] whale sharks, and basking sharks are also known to visit the sound as well.[6]
The sound also sports a variety of fish populations including red drum, speckled trout, flounder, striped bass (known as rockfish by local populations), croaker, spot, pompano, kingfish, and bluefish. In addition, shellfish populations including blue crab, shrimp, oysters, and clams are healthy.[7]
Places adjacent to Pamlico Sound | |
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35°18′46″N 75°56′14″W / 35.31278°N 75.93722°W
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Pamlico Sound ( PAM-lik-oh) is a large estuarine lagoon in North Carolina. The largest lagoon along the North American East Coast, it extends 80 mi (130 km) long and 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) wide. It is part of a large, interconnected network of similar lagoons that includes Albemarle Sound, Currituck Sound, Croatan Sound, Roanoke Sound, Pamlico Sound, Bogue Sound, Back Sound, and Core Sound known collectively as the Albemarle-Pamlico sound system. With over 3,000 sq. mi. (7,800 km2) of open water the combined estuary is second only in size to the 4,479 sq mi (11,600 km2) Chesapeake Bay in the United States. The Pamlico Sound is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a row of low, sandy barrier islands that include Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Albemarle-Pamlico Sound is one of nineteen great waters recognized by the America's Great Waters Coalition.
The Pamlico River is a tidal river that flows into Pamlico Sound, in North Carolina in the United States. It is formed by the confluence of the Tar River and Tranters Creek. The historic Tuscarora tribe, an Iroquoian-language group originally from western New York, had been well established in North Carolina, including along the Pamlico River, before European contact. The encroachment of settlers and their selling Tuscarora into slavery increased tensions between the groups. These led to the Tuscarora War (1711-1715), in which the Tuscarora led by Chief Hancock were defeated. Most Tuscarora migrated to New York, where they were sponsored by the Oneida and by 1722 were admitted to the Iroquois Confederacy as the Sixth Nation. Most of the survivors in North Carolina were removed to a reservation in Bertie County, North Carolina, in 1718. Since European contact, they had lost much population due to lack of immunity to new infectious diseases, followed by the casualties of war. English, Irish, and Scottish settlers moved to the region from Virginia for larger tracts of cheaper land. A cluster of German and Swiss settlers also moved to the region from the southeastern settlement of New Bern, North Carolina. They established such towns as Washington and Bath. The latter was home and operating base for the pirate Blackbeard, who was finally pardoned by Governor Charles Eden. Most settlers engaged in tobacco farming in the Pamlico/Tar River basin, importing numerous enslaved Africans to work on the labor-intensive crop. For years the river corridor remained somewhat of a lawless backwater. The Pamlico River was a key strategic position during the American Civil War. The river is the site of the sunken Union warship, USS Picket. The U.S. Route 17 Bridge, which connects Washington, North Carolina, with nearby Chocowinity, splits the name of the river. That portion heading westward upstream is called the Tar River.
Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located, at the eastern edge of the sound, and part of the greater Outer Banks region. Roanoke Island is situated at the southeastern corner of the sound, where it connects to Pamlico Sound. Much of the water in the Albemarle Sound is brackish or fresh, as opposed to the saltwater of the ocean, as a result of river water pouring into the sound. Some small portions of the Albemarle have been given their own "sound" names to distinguish these bodies of water from other parts of the large estuary. The Croatan Sound, for instance, lies between mainland Dare County and Roanoke Island. The water bordering the eastern shore of the island to the Outer Banks is commonly referred to as Roanoke Sound (this is also a historical name for the entire body of water now known as Albemarle Sound). The long stretch of water from near the Virginia state line south to around the Currituck County southern boundary is known as the Currituck Sound. Albemarle Sound forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Early English colonists, mostly migrants from Virginia, settled along it in the first permanent European settlements in what became North Carolina; these were known as the English Albemarle Settlements. Many inland Tidewater communities along the Albemarle today are classified as part of the Inner Banks region of the state.
Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula is a large peninsula (about 3,200 square miles) on the North Carolina coast, lying between the Albemarle Sound to the north and the Pamlico Sound to the south. The 5 counties of Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell, and Washington all lie wholly or partly on the peninsula. Much of the peninsula is covered with marshland. It is a low-lying area; the majority of the peninsular is less than 4 metres (13 ft) above sea level. The pocosin marshlands of the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula drain into the Alligator River, an important link in the intracoastal waterway. Forty four percent of the peninsula is owned by timber companies, and another twenty one percent of the peninsula is owned by agricultural corporations. This led to a great deal of deforestation on the peninsula in the 1980s, to the extent that only one third of the peninsula's pocosin marshlands continue to exist in their unaltered form. Soybeans, corn, pines, cattle, and hogs were all raised on the peninsula. Many of the larger farms have gone bankrupt, but some pine farms continue to exist on the peninsula.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.
