A Few More North Carolina Tidbits

We didn't have to leave Elizabeth City until noon today, so this morning we went to visit the Albemarle Museum, just across the street from the waterfront pier. It's a huge building, but once inside, we realized that there is a lot of space dedicated to both conference and classrooms. We toured all of the exhibits they had. Here are a few things we learned that may be of interest:

At the height of the feather trade(between 1870-1920), tens of millions of birds were killed. The three groups most affected were white egrets, herons, and small terns. One auction house in London recorded the sale of more than one million heron and egret skins in a 14 year period, from 1897-1911.

In 1896, a group of Boston society women gathered over tea to discuss how to save birds from being slaughtered for the market trade. They agreed not to eat duck, and to boycott clothing, fashion accessories, and other products that use bird feathers. These women went on to spread the legacy of artist and naturalist John James Audubon, creating the Audubon Society in his name.

During WWII, deadly attacks on coastal shipping by German submarines gave the Outer Banks the nickname "Torpedo Junction."

The Coast Guard base at Elizabeth City had grown to be the largest in the continental U.S. It is the main air search and rescue base for the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to Georgia.

Here are a few photos, with some more interesting info.