THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300400
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: Local Briefs
DATELINE: OUTER BANKS LENGTH: 25 lines
Dare County taxpayers own the old Oregon Inlet Coast Guard station.
Dare County Attorney H. Al Cole Jr. received a court order this week giving the county full title to the abandoned former lifesaving station that sits on the northernmost tip of Hatteras Island.
Heirs of the man who deeded the 10-acre plot to the federal government 100 years ago so that officials could build a lifesaving station there had contended that when the Coast Guard abandoned the property in 1992, it should revert to them. They sued Dare County to gain control of the 11,361-square-foot station and the land that sits just southeast of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. The building is valued at $216,800 and the land is listed at $840,000 on Dare County tax records.
Civil Superior Court Judge James E. Ragan III ruled that ``Dare County has title in fee simple absolute to the property.''
Heirs of Jessie B. Etheridge, who sold the land for $200 in 1897, have said they plan to appeal Ragan's decision.
KEYWORDS: RULING