Aycock Brown on the Outer Banks (History & Guide)

Long before the Outer Banks became a premier vacation destination lined with rental palaces, boutique hotels, and upscale eateries, it was something entirely different―wild, remote, windswept, and largely unknown. Picture miles of open dunes, a few hardy family-run motels, and barely a phone in sight beyond the pay phones outside small stores. A few thousand visitors came each year. Most of America had barely heard of the place. So how did the Banks transform from an isolated stretch of sand into a world-class getaway that now welcomes more than 5 million visitors annually? The answer begins with one remarkable, nearly forgotten man. Aycock Brown―slight in build, enormous in heart―was the visionary who almost single-handedly introduced the Outer Banks to the world. From his work during the World War II U-boat attacks just offshore to the vivid images he captured through the 1980s, Brown shaped the national imagination of what the Banks could be.