In the nineteenth century, the U.S. Lifesaving Service established stations every six to eight miles along the beaches of North Carolina. In Currituck, they were erected at Wash Woods, Penny's Hill, Whale Head, Poyner Hill, and Seagull. A lighthouse was erected near Corolla. Today, the Wash Woods station is a renovated rental home, and all others have been destroyed by the elements.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a population boom came to Currituck County. And although no paved road existed north of the Dare County line, developers knew that it was only a matter of time before vacationers would discover the charms of Currituck's beaches. Carova and Swan Beach were planned in hopes that a paved road would someday connect the northern Outer Banks with the Virginia beaches. At the time, developers left easements for a planned thoroughfare called the Ocean Pearl Highway from the Currituck beaches to Virginia Beach.

But by 1984, when Highway 12 was extended north to Corolla, those plans were shelved after state and federal agencies completed the purchase of much of the remaining land in northern Currituck. Once the Reserve, refuge, State Park, and Nature Conservancy lands were established, the paved road became impossible. Although more homes are constructed along these beaches every year, and the four-wheel drive traffic on the beach increases, development here is constrained by the limits imposed on government and privately-owned land, which should help it retain its pristine state.

While photographing the banker ponies in 2006, Ben Bateman & Judy Brickhouse passed by the Carova Beach Fire & Rescue Station which has a helicopter pad near the station.  On the west side of the pad are 12 small markers with names on them.  It is assumed that these people were volunteers at one time who have since died. A photograph of the pad and small markers are seen below. If anyone knows anything about these 12 people, please drop me a line.  The information seen below was taken from Ancestry's Social Security Death Benefits and may, or may not, be correct.