Spotlight on the OBX: Kitty Hawk

Posted on June 30, 2011

Outer Banks - Welcome to Kitty Hawk

Here’s the newest installment to our “Spotlight on the OBX” video series. Today we’re going to focus on the town of Kitty Hawk.

The town of Kitty Hawk is located on the northern beaches of the Outer Banks and is home to both Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty and Seaside Vacations. Established in the early 18th century, Kitty Hawk is rich in history and culture.

Kitty Hawk is the first town you bump into as you cross the Wright Memorial Bridge and arrive on the OBX. It is sandwiched between Southern Shores to the north and Kill Devil Hills to the south.

The Town consists of a thriving Village that has been around for generations, a newer beach community of residential cottages, and a maritime forest called Kitty Hawk Woods.

Kitty Hawk accounts for approximately 5 miles of the northern Outer Banks coast. The beaches are beautiful and full of memories for so many people…visitors and locals alike.

Having grown up here, I may be slightly biased when I say that there are no other beaches quite like the ones on the Outer Banks. There is something about the feeling of a Kitty Hawk beach that, for me, lets you escape for a short while and appreciate the natural beauty that’s around you.

On the other side of the by-pass (aka “highway in OBX lingo), in the heart of Kitty Hawk, also referred to as the Village, you’ll find families that have lived here for generations. It is amazing how much history the OBX offers! There’s a small town feeling that you’ll notice as neighbors wave while passing each other on the road, by car or bike. The Village is home to most of the year-round residents of Kitty Hawk.

This side of the Kitty Hawk bumps up to the Sound and all of the fun the Sound has to offer…fishing, boating, skiing, etc. Oceanfront is great, but there’s something very special about soundfront homes too. The view from the Sound is fantastic, and there’s no better way to spend a sunny day than cruising on the calm waters of the OBX Sound.

Whether you’re looking for oceanfront or sound side properties, Kitty Hawk has it all. We love it here….and know you will too!

I’ll zip it so you can enjoy a quick tour…

What the Heck is Kill Devil Hills?

Posted on December 14, 2010

Kill Devil Hills

My guess is that just about everyone that comes across the name Kill Devil Hills for the first time does a double take to make sure they read/heard it correctly, and then follows up with something to the effect of “What the heck is Kill Devil Hills?”

No doubt, it is a crazy name…pretty cool in a swashbuckling, pirate kind of way, but crazy none-the-less. So where did this oddity begin?

The Virginia Pilot recently ran a great article trying to get to the bottom of this mystery. It doesn’t seem like there is a great answer, but there is some darn good history.

First of all, let’s get one point straight. The Wright Brothers took off from Kill Devil Hills…not Kitty Hawk. They alerted the world to their success from a telegraph in Kitty Hawk, but the actual flight was in Kill Devil Hills.

One notch in the cool belt for KDH. But I digress.

As for the name. According to a local Outer Banks historian, “Killdevil Hills” first appeared on a map in 1808, and a printed map in 1814 adjusted the name to “Kill Devil Hills.”

Great, we have some inclination of when it appeared, but what the heck does it mean? This is where things get a bit blurry.

The Town of Kill Devil Hills endorses the theory that the name comes from rum-carrying ships that ran aground along the dangerous coastline, i.e. the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The town’s official explanation states that rum from the shipwrecks was taken by locals and hidden in the dunes, and its potency was “strong enough to “kill the devil.” Probably the most believable…especially considering the locals I know. :)

Some other theories are:

A local OBX’er made a deal with the devil and eventually wound up in a deep pit on top of one of the tall dunes.
A bird know as the killdeer once thrived in the area and the nickname “Killdeer Hills” eventually morphed into Kill Devil Hills. That one is not that fun. Where’s the pizzazz? Where’s the swashbuckling?
A theory that sailors use to say that the area was so tough to navigate around that “it was enough to kill the devil.”

I’m sticking with the rum theory. It makes me feel like a pirate when I drive through town.

Another interesting KDH fact…Is it Kill Devil Hill or Kill Devil Hills? You’re all right. It’s both. Kill Devil Hills is the town name, and the largest dune is referred to as Kill Devil Hill.

Some quick KDH stats: Kill Devil Hills is located in Dare County, the town today includes more than 6,000 full-time residents, shops, hotels, restaurants and the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a tourist attraction and monument in the scrubby hills where the first flight occurred.

Outer Banks Named in List of America’s Best Little Beach Towns

Posted on July 19, 2010

Outer Banks Sunrise

Travel & Leisure recently released their list of America’s Best Little Beach Towns, and the Outer Banks made the list!

Here’s what they had to say about the OBX:

Duck, NC

How could a place named Duck not be charming? Seven miles north of Kitty Hawk, this Outer Banks town offers beaches that are fairly uncrowded—and why? With no public beaches, you have to be staying here to access either the sand or water sports.