[gentle orchestral fanfare]
♪
[resonant strings
lead building orchestration]
♪
(male narrator)
Welcome to "Our State,"
a production of UNC-TV
in association
with "Our State" magazine--
for over 70 years,
bringing the wonders
of North Carolina
to readers across the state.
On this edition,
an Outer Banks treasure
is restored
to its former glory
at the Whalehead Club,
a mountain of stone
is being whittled down
in Mt. Airy,
and a geologic curiosity
at the heart
of a popular state park.
♪
[gentle piano melody]
(male announcer)
From Manteo to Murphy
and all the small towns
and big cities in-between,
BB&T believes opportunity lives
everywhere in North Carolina.
It's a belief we've held
for more than 130 years
and guides us
as we support our communities
from the mountains
to the coast.
We love calling
North Carolina home,
and we're proud to provide
major funding for "Our State."
Quality public television
is made possible
through the financial
contributions
of viewers like you,
who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.
♪
[gentle piano introduction]
♪
[strings rise]
♪
(male narrator)
For eons untold,
man has searched the sky...
for something to hunt...
♪
taking to the waters
around Carolina
coastal marshlands
in search
of two things, really...
♪
the birds themselves,
of course,
plus the company of others
who enjoy both the sport
and the satisfaction
of bagging that perfect duck
on that perfect day.
[meandering clarinet leads]
♪
[piano plays ragtime theme]
In the early part
of the 20th century,
it was common practice
for wealthy
Northeastern businessmen,
accompanied occasionally
by their ladies,
to put aside their work
and travel
to an exotic locale,
like our state's Outer Banks,
where they could relax
and commiserate
with one another
while embracing the bounty
of their success.
The destination they found
was well worth the journey--
the distant splendor
of the waterfowl
hunting grounds
around Currituck Sound.
♪
The Outer Banks was
so wealthy with birds
that they were shot
and transported back north
by the boatload.
Occasionally, one of these
Northeastern businessmen
became so smitten
with the rich,
natural beauty of the Banks
that he decided to stay on.
One such man was
Edward Collings Knight Jr.,
lately of Newport,
Rhode Island,
by way of Philadelphia.
Knight was a widower
and had recently taken up
with a younger spitfire
of a French Canadian
widow woman,
Marie Louise LeBel Bonat,
who proved to be
his perfect match.
And together,
they proved a perfect match
for a spit of land
within sight
of the famed
Currituck Light.
In 1922, the Knights
began construction
on a 21,000-square-foot,
electrified, 15-bedroom,
art-nouveau-inspired
residence
they simply called
"Corolla Island"
after the nearby village
that had arisen
to serve the hunt trade.
(woman)
They named it Corolla Island
for a couple of reasons.
One, they didn't want
people to think they were
building a hunt club;
this was not a club.
And the other reason
was they...
literally created an island
around the building.
They brought the spoil up
and built the land
up a little bit
so that the house wouldn't
be right at sea level.
They dredged the sound
and, uh, put in
a couple of canals;
they put in a boat basin
so they could build
the boat house.
And believe it or not,
they put in
a 6,000-square-foot basement,
which was very unusual--
and still is today--
to have a basement
on the Outer Banks.
(narrator)
While digging around
in the sand,
workers discovered
two near-fossilized halves
of a huge whale head,
evidence of the many
such creatures
taken from the region during
the 19th century--
thus the name
"Whalehead Club."
In some ways,
the Knights' substantial home
and hunting retreat
was indeed an extravaganza--
said to have cost
$385,000 back then.
[harp leads
flowing score]
It was steel-framed
and constructed
on pilings pounded
deep in the earth,
and the walls were
18 inches thick.
Certainly no hurricane
or nor'easter
was about
to huff and puff
and blow this house down.
There are 18 dormers,
each with a striking view
of the Atlantic
or the sound,
and five chimneys.
(Baden)
The Knights also had
the first elevator
on the Outer Banks.
It was used
as a dumbwaiter.
(narrator)
Guests of the Knights
could place their baggage
on the elevator
and have it whisked up
to their floor,
where a servant would
deliver it to their bedrooms.
(Baden)
There were four
guest bedrooms,
known for their colors:
the lilac, green,
blue, and pink rooms--
all separate rooms,
all with their own bathrooms,
which was very unusual
for this part
of Currituck County.
The Knights had, uh,
separate rooms, which, uh,
was not all that uncommon
among the elite of that time.
They had them
because they could.
Mrs. Knight believed
in the medicinal powers
of salt water,
and so her bathroom did have
hot and cold
salt and fresh water.
♪
(narrator)
All of the third floor
and half of the second
was servants' quarters.
It's easy to picture them
climbing this narrow stairs
to their room
after a hard workday,
meeting the needs
of their sportsmen guests
and taking care
of the house and property.
[seagulls squawking]
♪
(Baden)
The boathouse, uh,
served, of course,
a very important role.
Some of the local people
that the Knights hired
were hired as marsh guards
or as guides.
And so the guides would
go to the boathouse
early in the morning...
perhaps, uh, take the boat
out and scope out
where the birds are--
are congregating,
deposit the decoys,
and then come back...
and be prepared
to take the Knights
and their guests
to the many
different blinds
on the Corolla Island
property in the sound.
♪
(narrator)
Knight had an eye
and a passion for
residential architecture.
He chose an elegant
Edwardian style
for their new
North Carolina residence,
with hints
of the French-Canadian homes
that Marie Louise
had admired as a child.
The combination proved
to be simple and graceful.
The home's long,
straight lines were softened
by lovely art nouveau curves
here and there
and enlivened
by splashes of color.
(Baden)
During the restoration
we were told
that the exterior
originally
was painted yellow.
We were all shocked by that.
We forget that art nouveau
loved color.
(narrator)
Marie Louise
loved art nouveau
and couldn't imagine
creating a home
in any other style.
(Baden)
Her home in Middletown,
Rhode Island,
was filled with
art nouveau architecture
that she had purchased,
and so they brought the
art nouveau elements down here
and literally built the house
around the art nouveau.
♪
(narrator)
The dining room shows the care
that went into designing
and decorating the home.
(Baden)
In the early 1900s,
we know Mrs. Knight attended
an art nouveau expo in Paris,
and Tiffany,
Louis Comfort Tiffany,
was there.
So we think perhaps
she literally
purchased the room--
the walls,
the lighting, uh--
everything but the furniture
that exists here now.
(narrator)
Dancing organic forms
sweep across a doorway
set off by Tiffany
sconces on the wall.
It's almost as if
the decor itself
seems to take flight.
A view of the sound
through the dining room's
slender,
Tiffany-inspired windows
almost makes you believe
that you're sailing on a ship.
The striking art nouveau
Steinway & Sons grand piano
in the library is
definitely a one-of-a-kind.
(Baden)
The piano was purchased
by Mrs. Knight.
She actually
called Steinway and said,
"I want a piano built,
"but I want
to create the design.
I want it to have
art nouveau elements."
You can see, uh,
beautiful carved blinds,
and it has,
untraditionally, six legs.
(narrator)
The library, of course,
was the center of conviviality
at Corolla Island.
(Baden)
After being outside
in the frigid
Outer Banks wind,
they would enjoy, perhaps,
a glass of brandy
and a roaring fire
and a nice game of cards.
♪
In 1934,
the Knights arrived
in the fall
but left abruptly.
We believe that Mr. Knight
had taken ill.
So they went back
to their residence
in, uh, Rhode Island
and never returned.
♪
(narrator)
After a succession
of diverse owners and uses,
the home that would
forever be known locally
as the Whalehead Club,
with its 2,000 acres
of sea oats and sand dunes,
was left to the elements
and began a long period
of neglect.
♪
And finally,
some 60 years later,
somebody began to care.
(Baden)
It was just in terrible shape,
and Currituck County
officials,
in 1992,
had the foresight
and the vision to purchase
39 acres of land
and the very badly
deteriorated
Whalehead Club itself
for the sake of preservation.
(narrator)
A group of volunteers
formed the Whalehead
Preservation Trust in 1989
to oversee a multimillion
dollar renovation
of the house and property.
♪
(Baden)
Right now we are
in the furnishing stage
of restoration
so that we can
refurnish the house
the way it was
during the Knight era.
♪
(narrator)
When the light
slants a certain way,
perhaps glowing
through the clouds
of an evening storm
building over the Banks,
it's not difficult
to imagine Edward
or Marie Louise watching
the gathering darkness
from their
dining room window,
not knowing that
their future together
in their dream home
would soon be cut short
by his advancing age--
not knowing that
their house would live on.
It would be good
to be able to tell them
that their beloved
Corolla Island will continue
to stand foursquare
against the elements...
as long as someone cares...
even half as much
as they did.
♪
[birds chirping]
[hammered dulcimer
playing gently]
♪
(male narrator)
In Gaston County,
just south of Charlotte,
sits a geological oddity
known as Crowders Mountain...
now centerpiece
to the state park
that bears its name.
♪
Once an area mostly valued
for its mineral deposits
and once
almost mined to death,
the 5,000-acre park is now
much more highly valued
by thousands of visitors
for its wide variety
of hiking, rock climbing,
fishing, camping,
or picnicking.
♪
(woman)
We have a wide variety
of activities that people
can do out here.
We have over 12 miles
of hiking trail right now.
Currently we have the lake,
and people can come down here
and rent canoes from the park,
and they can also fish.
(narrator)
On a sunny afternoon,
a group of visitors
gets a taste of the wildflower
diversity of the park
with a guided stroll
around the lake.
(Anderson)
So this one's
called "sourgrass,"
and it's a real common
early spring wildflower.
As you can probably guess,
the way it got its name,
sourgrass,
is that if you pick
the leaves,
and you were to taste
of 'em, it's very sour.
♪
There are two things
right here,
and both of these
are almost past
their real prime
of blooming.
There's a little
purple violet,
and that's just your
common blue violet.
♪
This is a vetch;
it's called specifically
"Carolina vetch,"
and it's a member
of the pea family,
and you can know that
by looking at the shape
of the flowers.
♪
(narrator)
The twin peaks
of Crowders Mountain
and King's peak are
described by geologists
as erosional remnants
left behind
when their tough,
quartzite cores
kept them from being
weathered away.
They are all that's left
of an ancient mountain range
called
the Kings Mountain Belt.
(Anderson)
Basically, the two peaks
that we have here in our park
are known as "monadnocks,"
and those are mountains
which are formed by erosion.
♪
Well, really,
wildflowers can be found
at any elevation, um.
The lake supports a variety
of those that need
a real moist habitat,
and then, as you go
on up the mountain
and as it starts to get drier,
you'll find different species.
There's a few of these
little, yellow flowers here
right in this area
and they look
like strawberries.
You probably have those
growing in your yard,
but they're actually
not strawberries.
These are called
"five-fingers,"
and the way you know that
and the way
you differentiate between
this little, yellow flower
and the strawberry plant
is that it has five leaves.
♪
You may have heard
the old saying,
"Leaves of three,
let it be."
It's poison ivy--
some people
are allergic to it;
some people aren't.
If you are,
you'll know it.
If you are familiar
with your parts of a plant,
most plants have
real small sepals
and real large petals.
But on a dogwood,
your flowers are inside,
and your white--
things that look like petals
are actually sepals.
♪
Does anybody
know this one?
♪
Would you like
to smell?
I thought
it smelled minty.
Yeah, slightly.
(Anderson)
That's called "Lyreleaf sage,"
and it's a member
of the mint family.
It has a square stem
with the four sides
and the purple flowers.
(woman)
What's this
green foliage?
(Anderson)
Those are all leaves
from those white violets.
♪
(narrator)
Ambitious plans are underway
to complete a trail system
that will link this park
with King's Mountain Park
to the south.
♪
But you don't have to wait
for that to drop by...
Just give us
a call,
and we'll let you
know when the
next program is.
(narrator)
...and enjoy
the scenic pleasures here
for the taking today.
♪
[easy jazz guitar strumming]
♪
(narrator)
The little town of Mount Airy
might be home to one
or two famous sons,
such as Eng and Chang,
the original
Siamese twins,
and, of course,
Andy Griffith.
But it is perhaps
more widely represented
by another local celebrity--
the world's premier
white granite.
Mount Airy is the home
of North Carolina
Granite Corporation.
(man)
North Carolina Granite
has been in continuous
operation since 1889.
It was started by a company
called "Thomas
Woodruff & Sons,"
out of Greensboro,
North Carolina,
who had a contract
to build something
connected with the railroad
from Greensboro
to Mount Airy.
They needed a source
of raw rock product
for projects
on the railroad.
They heard about a 40-acre
exposed rock in this area,
and came up,
visited, looked at it,
and they actually
purchased the land
and started
extracting stone
to be used
on the railroad.
♪
It is, uh,
considered to be
the world's largest
open-face granite quarry.
There may be
larger quarries--
gold mines,
coal mines--
but as far
as granite quarries,
this is considered to be
the world's largest,
open-face granite quarry.
[machinery hissing]
(narrator)
The process
of extracting the stone
is a testament
to the power of water--
with a big boost from
the latest technology.
(Goad)
We use a machine
called a water jet
that actually cuts
a slot in the stone
about 2 1/2 inches wide
up to 21 feet deep.
Once that process is done,
we drop
a diamond wire
down in those slots
that we have cut,
attach that
to a diamond wire saw
that rotates that wire
plus slowly pulls it
along the bottom,
which frees that mass
from the mother mass.
(narrator)
The brute force of explosives
is still used.
But even that is much
more sophisticated
than a few sticks
of dynamite.
(Goad)
Once we've got
that loaf sitting there
free from the quarry,
we bring in our drills,
we drill vertically
inch-and-a-quarter holes, uh,
roughly in the size
of the blocks that we want,
which are basically
ten foot by five foot.
We use Primacord,
which is an
explosive material;
we hang it down
in those holes,
fill the holes
full of water.
The water helps magnify
the force of the explosive.
[radio chatter]
(man)
It's a nonelectric fire.
Cuts it off.
Fits the primer.
Goes in this.
It hooks on that.
This is what's called
a "lead line."
Got little ol' connector
that ties 'em together.
[high-pitched siren wailing]
(Goad)
We set that explosive
charge off...
boom!
...and it frees those blocks
or creates a small crack
which separates them
from the loaf
that's sitting there.
Then we'll
drill holes by hand,
use steel wedges
to break those loose
into the final blocks
that we need
that are roughly
10 foot by 5 foot by 5 foot.
[stones clattering]
(narrator)
It's hard to imagine
this work being done
in the days of mule
or horse power.
♪
Nowadays,
computers have taken over
some of the backbreaking work.
♪
These giant,
electronically-controlled saws
are programmed to do
their repetitive work
largely unattended
for hours at a time.
♪
Despite all
the computerized machinery,
there are still some things
that are just better
done by hand.
And it's the hand
of a skilled craftsman
that is needed to give
final shape and finish
to the
custom-designed pieces
of whatever sculpture
or fountain
or monument
a customer has ordered.
[tool buzzing]
(Goad)
We call it "the big shed"
just because
it's a big building.
Uh, within that building
we use hand-held products
to fabricate
mostly custom products
to go on buildings.
The people who work in here
are skilled individuals
who've learned
their trade, uh,
over the years
of working here,
and they have
a lot of experience.
sssss
tnk, tnk
Our curbing division
fabricates roadway
and bridge curbing, uh,
a lot of it goes
to the New England states,
because they use
quite a bit of salt
on the roads there.
A concrete curb
is...deteriorated
in about two to three years
due to the salt.
But the granite is
impervious to the salt,
so that's the reason
that they choose
to use granite
on their projects
in the New England states.
[crashing]
We have a small
crushing operation here.
If we didn't
have this crusher,
we basically
would eventually be
under a mountain of waste
and have no way
of getting rid of it.
♪
(narrator)
Wherever
you may have traveled,
you are very likely
to have seen the products
of this quarry
on public display...
♪
downtown Raleigh...
♪
the Memorial Bridge
in Washington, D.C...
♪
and one
of the most famous--
the Wright Brothers Memorial
at Kill Devil Hills.
♪
♪
(Goad)
The quarry deposit itself
is approximately 59 acres,
8,000 feet deep,
7 miles long,
and a mile wide.
(narrator)
Despite the many millions
of tons of granite that
have been extracted so far,
the company can
take comfort in the fact
that they won't be running
out of rock any time soon.
♪
[gentle piano interlude]
[surf pounding]
[seagulls calling]
(Ray Matthews)
My favorite thing
is just to go out
and see what I can find
and just try to discover
a new image
that I've never
quite done that way before.
[waves crashing distantly]
The whole idea of just jumping
in the 4-wheel drive
and heading out to the beach
appeals to me a lot.
I do that, uh,
whenever the light's interesting
or the weather's changed.
Something
different's happening.
I don't do a lot fishing
with a rod and reel.
I always say I'm fishing
with my camera
'cause it's just like
a fisherman.
You kinda know what might be
there to be caught,
but then you don't really know
till you get there and try it.
So I just kinda go out
and fish for what's there.
Got a big change
in the weather last night,
and, uh...
you know, we've got
about a 25-30 mile an hour
northeast wind.
This is when
the shooting's good, usually.
You get interesting weather,
and that's what makes
for interesting pictures.
The early-morning light--
the late-afternoon light--
it's usually the best
'cause it's not so contrasty,
and it's a warmer,
mellower light.
Lighthouses are always here
and always---heh--
a subject
for every photographer
that comes
to the Outer Banks,
but I try to find it
in a different light
or a different weather
and do something new
with 'em.
Living right at the ocean
all these years,
[chuckling]
the mountains have a lot
of fascination for me.
Uh, Boone
and Blowing Rock--
all up in that area,
so, yeah, I love
to shoot the landscape
wherever I happen to be.
[gentle piano introduction]
♪
[strings rise]
♪
♪
[meandering
clarinet leads]
[piano playing ragtime theme]
♪
Captioning editor
Lauren Gardner
Caption Perfect, Inc.
CaptionPerfect.com
(announcer)
To subscribe
to "Our State" magazine,
visit the Web site
www.ourstate.com or call...
[gentle piano melody]
From small towns
to bustling cities,
from the Outer Banks
to the Blue Ridge Mountains
and all the places in-between,
BB&T believes opportunity lives
everywhere in North Carolina.
And for more than 130 years,
we've helped people
discover it.
We're proud
of our North Carolina roots,
and we're proud to provide
major funding for "Our State."
♪
Quality public television
is made possible
through the financial
contributions
of viewers like you,
who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.