Hyde County – 315 years old: ‘Some of the best people that you will ever fi nd anywhere

Hyde County – 315 years old: ‘Some of the best people that you will ever find anywhere’

by Danielle Puleo danielle.puleo@thecoastlandtimes.com

Hyde County, a coastal county along the eastern edge of North Carolina, is a hidden gem. With its endless farm lands, abundant fishing areas and diverse creatures, Hyde is a wildlife lover’s dream. Not to mention, the community comprises a tight-knit group of neighbors-turned-friends with gracious hearts and open arms.

Hyde County was established in 1705 under the name Wickham Precinct, which was later changed to Hyde Precinct in 1712 in honor of Edward Hyde, the governor and lord proprietor of North Carolina at the time.

Although Hyde has experienced per haps more boundary shifts than any other county in the state, it has maintained its small town feel and natural beauty.

Merita Lewis-Spencer, the longtime Register of Deeds for Hyde County, has lived in the area her whole life. She reminisced on the days when Hyde was a prosperous place, one with restaurants, grocery stores, tractor companies and a population of 10,000 to 13,000 people.

In the 1930s through the 1950s, business was good. The Mattamuskeet Lodge was a popular hunting lodge, drawing in people from around the country. Spencer said the lodge would host functions for the community.

Fishing, hunting and farming had always been a huge part of the culture of Hyde. “For a lot of our men and women, the main source of their income is being commercial fisherman and farmers,” Spencer explained.

Logging was also a big business in Hyde and gave residents good job opportunities. After forest fires engulfed logging business buildings and some of the landscape itself, people had to go elsewhere for work, Spencer noted. This was not the only reason people were driven away from

Ranger interpreting exhibits, Ocracoke Visitor Center, 1963.

COURTESY CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE

the area.

“Then people started to leave,” she start ed, “because people were going to war and left the area.”

Spencer said in present-day, the population is about 5,400. The county has maintained its funeral home and bank, but most of the restaurants and stores have closed up and moved on.

Despite the hardships the county has had to face with losing a significant number of residents, it has managed to preserve what people have always come to the area for.

Lake Mattamuskeet draws tundra swans, geese and ducks. Bass run rampant below the lake’s surface and bears can be found beyond the brush. Not to mention, Ocracoke Island serves as a breathtaking site for visitors around the world.

“People used to come to go to Ocracoke to be married on the island . . . I thought that was wonderful because you know that surely they had beautiful places in their own states, but they enjoyed coming to the Outer Banks and that’s why they chose to go to Ocracoke,” Spencer said.

Ocracoke still draws high numbers of tourists each year, even after being hit heavily by storms and hurricanes. The Hyde community never ceases to come together to help their neighbors in need.

“One of the most important things is the people here . . . they are some of the best people that you will ever find anywhere,” Spencer said. Due to the small population, Spencer has seen the residents of Hyde County come together her whole life.

From grocery store owners to county workers to the farmers and fisherman that speckle the docks and farms that span the green fields of Hyde, everyone takes care of everyone.

“Farmland stays in the same family for generations,” Spencer said. She added, “As a whole, the county government works together . . . we have good, loyal county employees.” Spencer said, if anything, it’s

the people of Hyde County that make all the difference.

Although tourism would perhaps get the county back to the same bustling place it once was, Spencer shared that the residents are content with the laid-back lifestyle and are comfortable with their small, close communities.

“Some days at lunch, I go down to the boat ramp and I see different people down there coming in and out from their boats; I see wildlife down there and it’s just a beautiful place to go and relax . . . and that’s how the whole county is.” A place to get away, take a break from the hustle and bustle of the big cities and draw in the picturesque

landscape Hyde offers.

Small, secluded, but nonetheless breathtaking, Hyde County is one for the books. It may not be the same as its neighbors, but the county reminds everyone that the beauty of life lies right beneath our feet, and the people are what make a place all the more special.