Antebellum Plans for Reopening Roanoke Inlet

Abstract

Roanoke Inlet closed between 1792 and 1798, thus depriving the northeastern North Carolina port towns of an outlet to the Atlantic. In 1820, Hamilton Fulton, civil engineer to the State of North Carolina, devised a plan for reopening the inlet. During the next twenty-five years, civil engineers in the employment of the State of North Carolina and engineers of the United States Army Topographical Bureau conducted a number of other surveys of the Albemarle Sound region while Congress considered the practicality of the plan. The project was never undertaken. However, the reports of the engineers provide a detailed account of the dramatic geomorphic changes that took place in Croatan Sound after Roanoke Inlet closed. This article presents extracts from these reports alongside details of historic maps that document these changes.