THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408040258
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 57 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: STUMPY POINT LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
WHEN IT COMES to the erosion of the Stumpy Point shoreline, Dallas McKinley Gray Jr. sounds like a parent.
``It's like watching your children grow up,'' he says. ``It happens every day, but you don't notice it until they're gone.''
Gray has a special kinship with this 200-year-old North Carolina village. Six generations of his family have lived here, weathering storms and floods, good times and bad.
But Gray and other Stumpy Point residents say that unless something is done to stop the gradual eating away of the shoreline, Stumpy Point will be a page in history, with nothing left but memories.
``We're totally at the mercy of the weather,'' Gray said. ``After the last major hurricane (Hurricane Donna in 1960), the Corps of Engineers built a sandbank the length of the community, and that has served to protect us through all these years.
``But at the rate things are going, if we get another major storm, this place could be completely gone, unless we get some help.''
Gray is part of a group of Stumpy Point residents asking federal, state and local officials for help in bolstering the sandbank that has guarded the village for more than 30 years. For them, it is a matter of survival.
``Im 71 years old,'' said Roy Midgett, who lived and worked in Norfolk until returning home to Stumpy Point on his retirement. ``If my grandchildren live to be as old as I am, and something isn't done, this place will be gone.''
Last week, Gray appeared before the Dare County Board of Commisssioners, asking for help to implement a three-pronged plan to restore the shore.
``Ideally, there should be a rock berm running the length of the community,'' Gray said. ``That would cost about $3 million. But with no tourism here, and with fishing as our only income, I don't think the government would think it was worth it.''
As an alternative, Gray asked the commissioners to consider upgrading some 575 feet of rock along N.C. 1100 at the southeast end of the community. Gray said heavier rock should be used to keep the water in check along the road.
The proposal also calls for the addition of 375 feet to the existing wall and the construction of an 1,100-foot berm near the entrance to the community.
Riding along N.C. 1100, the only road in and out of the community, Gray pointed out how near the waters of Stumpy Point Bay are coming to the shores of the town. The bay empties into Pamlico Sound, which is having its own impact on the shoreline day by day.
``I've been back here 14 years,'' said Gray, a teacher at Manteo High School, who returned to his family home after his mother's death. ``We've lost 10 to 12 feet of shoreline in those 14 years.''
Gray is not the first to return home to Stumpy Point.
``Historically, there are a lot of Stumpy Pointers who leave here, only to return,'' he said. ``Stumpy Point has a way of bringing people back to their origins. We've had a lot of people who go into (military) service or some other type of job, and they always come home.''
Unlike the beach communities of Dare County, towns that with the explosion of the tourism industry have seen monumental change in the past 50 years, Stumpy Point has remained virtually unaltered for generations.
``This is like another world,'' Gray said. ``Some people in Dare County believe the county ends at the bridge in Mann's Harbor. Sometimes we feel ignored. But in some ways, that's a blessing.''
The crescent-shaped village of Stumpy Point was first found on John Lawson's 1709 map of the area. It is possible that the Portuguese discovered Stumpy Point, and that John Cabot was in the area during the reign of Henry VII.
It is even possible, wrote the late Nell Wise Wechter in her book, ``Some Whisper of Our Name,'' that the Normans were in the area before 1100.
Before the Civil War, tobacco and corn were cash crops, but after the war, the waters of Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic became the prime source of income. Since then, watermen and nature have been engaged in an uneasy dance, sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully.
In the 1950s, three storms in 10 days hit the community. But the town survived, just as it did after Donna in 1960 and Emily in 1993.
``The biggest asset here is our people,'' Gray said. ``We don't always get along, but when somebody needs help we help them.''
Gray showed a vistor a picture of a sunset on Stumpy Point Bay.
``That's what makes this place worth saving,'' he said. ``Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your whole life? That's why I want to save Stumpy Point.
We don't lock our doors. If our neighbor needs to borrow something, they can feel welcome to come into our home and get it. This is a community that cares about each other. There are good people here.
``There's a wholesomeness here. Our kids like to hunt and fish, and play basketball and baseball. It's not unusual to see an entire family together on a picnic, with several generations there. We're really friendly to outsiders. I ride my bike almost every day, and don't have to be afraid. That's something you don't see in some parts of the world. This is like a whole different world.''
Grace Hooper has lived in Stumpy Point for 59 years. She taught in the Dare County schools for 37.
Hooper recalled a time when if a death occurred in the community, Stumpy Point School would close to allow students to attend the funeral.
``We would close for half a day,'' she said. ``It was important for the students to be able to show that they cared. People don't get along like they used to, but when someone needs help, they help.
``The children here are different from children in a lot of places,'' she said. ``The children here know the difference between right and wrong because their parents teach those values to them the way they learned them. the family is still the nucleus of life in Stumpy Point.''
While commission members voted to take the Stumpy Point proposal under advisement, residents are confident that they'll lend a helping hand.
``I think the commissioners are going to try to do whatever they can to help us,'' Midgett said.
``What we're offering is a temporary solution to the problem,'' Gray said. ``This community represents a piece of history in Dare County. And it represents a part of life that doesn't exist in too many places any more. And, after all, this is home.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Dallas McKinley Gray Jr. of Stumpy Point is leading an effort to
repair a berm that protects the village from erosion by Stumpy Point
Bay.
by CNB