Topsail Island, North Carolina
I just got back from my annual family beach trip to North Carolina, where we go to deep sea fish, surf, tan, drink, and swim. It’s always a blast, and I love it there. Topsail Island has never been a huge tourist spot, so it’s usually just locals and a bunch of families from around North Carolina. The beaches are beautiful, the sand dunes sport hidden sand dollars and conc shells, and the beach houses are always decorated incredibly cute. <3
I went searching online for the history of this island, because I once found something similar to an arrowhead, and there are these strange lookout towers all around the island. I also wondered, where did Topsail Island get it’s name?
Lying on the eastern coastline of North Carolina, perfectly set within thirty minutes in either direction to Jacksonville and Wilmington, it’s been said that Topsail achieved it’s name from a rather unique source, pirates. Blackbeard himself was rumored to roam the island, making his way to Ocracoke. As ships would pass offshore, the tall pirate ship’s masts could be seen in the distance, thus the name of Top-sail, (pronounced Top-sul by most). Of course, this is part of the mysterious legend of the island.
When the high sails could be seen waving in the distance, oncoming ships quickly turned around to flee from a possible confrontation. Not many wanted to come face-to-face with savage pirates, especially if they thought it was Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
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Another significant piece of history for Topsail Island was the Tucscarora Indians. The evidence of prehistoric Indian villages and artifacts date back thousands of years. In the 1700s, they were known to have made hunting trips to Topsail Island. You can still find arrowheads made by the Tucscarora Indians all over the island.
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The U.S. Navy picked Topsail, particularly the Topsail Beach area, as their site for Operation Bumblebee. The Holly Ridge area housed Camp Davis, which literally led to a somewhat short-lived boomtown scenario. During Operation Bumblebee, nearly 200 experimental missiles were launched down the island resulting in the ramjet engine, which eventually allowed aircraft to push past the speed of sound.
Incidentally, Operation Bumblebee got it’s name from just that, the flight of the bumblebee. According to the aerodynamic experts, because of it’s structure, the bumblebee should not be able to fly. Of course, the bumblebee doesn’t know this and flies anyway. Such was the case of the experimental missiles.
There are many observation towers, which were used to track the missiles during flight. These are the small, three story block structures you see found scattered around the island. Some have been refurbished and one has even been added to a home in the Topsail Beach area. That one in particular was kept authentic with little remodeling in order to keep the integrity of the past.
I find all this rather interesting, specially since I’ve spent around 20 weeks throughout the years at this awesome place.
June 29 2008 05:58 pm | Travel and e-life
June 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Pop Pop told me the story about Topsail, the same as the one you found. Its even been on the History Channel a few times when they would have a show about pirates.
I never knew about the indians though much less that you have found an arrowhead.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
I read similar article also named il Island, North Carolina, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me