History & the Origins of our Town Names
Where did all of our unusual town names come from? Here's a brief history of their origins.
Currituck County
Currituck was established in 1668. It was one of the first areas settled in the US. Currituck got its name from an Algonquin Indian term meaning “The Land of the Wild Goose”. The Currituck Outer Banks offer an abundance of waters, marshes, wildlife and woods.
Simple--This is just a combination of CARolina and VA for Virginia.
Duck
The village of Duck gets its name from the abundance of ducks and other migratory birds that can be found here.
Kitty Hawk
Called Chickahauk by native Indians, some believe "Kitty Hawk" is the closest English pronunciation of the Indian phrase meaning "goose hunting grounds."
Others say that the local term for the ever-present dragonflies --"skeeter hawk" was further twisted by the island brogue to sound like "kitty hawk".
In any case, the name was established enough by the mid-1700's to be used on land deeds
Kill Devil Hills
The name Kill Devil Hills appeared on a map in 1808. There are different variations as to how the area got its name. Some legends have said that the rum consumed by Bankers was so bad it would kill the Devil. Other stories speak of a brand of rum called Kill Devil Rum that often washed ashore from shipwrecks during the colonial period. One story even stated that the waters around this area were so bad to navigate that it would kill the devil to try.
Nags Head
A favorite story of local is that Nags Head got its name from pirates who would walk the beaches with a lantern around an old nags head in an attempt to lure ships onto the rocky coastline.
Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo
The entire northern end of Hatteras Island was once know as Chicomacomico, a name derived from a Croatan Native American word meaning” place of sinking down sand”. In 1874, the US postal service changed the name to Rodanthe. By the early 1900’s three distinct villages were established, North Rodanthe, South Rodanthe and Clark. These villages eventually became Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo.
Avon
The town of Avon was known as Kinnakeet until the US Postal Service changed the name in 1883. Buxton was originally known as The Cape and later renamed in honor of a judge, Ralph P. Buxton. Frisco was previously called Trent or Trent Woods, and was probably changed because, at the time, there was a town with a similar name. Hatteras kept its original name. “Village” is commonly added to avoid confusing it with Cape Hatteras or Hatteras Inlet.
