The state’s newest highway marker was unveiled today and it was heartfelt and perhaps overdue tribute to Carolista Baum—the woman who quite possibly single handily forced North Carolina to create Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head.
The marker is located at the intersection of Carolista Drive and Croatan Highway at the entrance to Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
On August 15, 1974 a bulldozer showed up at Jockey’s Ridge as the first step in a plan to flatten the largest sand dune system on the East Coast and develop the land.
Calolista Baum stood in front of that bulldozer and would no move until the driver left. She continued her fight, creating the group People to Preserve Jockey’s Ridge and beginning a petition drive that eventually captured 50,000 names. She then personally took the petition with all the names and hand-delivered it to the General Assembly.
She was, by all accounts, relentless, yet invariably pleasant, in pursuing her belief that Jockey’s Ridge should be a state park.
In 1975 Jockey’s Ridge became a state park and today it fluctuates between the most visited park in the North Carolina system or the second most visited park.
Carolista did not stop her fight there, however. She was a founding member of Friends of Jockey’s Ridge, the nonprofit organization that supports programs at the park and helps with educational outreach.
She passed away in 1991 at just 50 years of age, but her legacy can still be seen in surprising places.
A remarkably skilled jeweler, quite a number of the people attending the ceremony today were wearing wedding bands and engagement rings she had created. There were a number of other examples of her work as well. She also created the 400th anniversary coin commemorating the 1585 first attempt by England to colonize the New World.
There are surprising stories everywhere on the Outer Banks. From Corolla to Hatteras this sandbar by the sea so special. Discover what it’s all about while staying in a Brindley Beach Vacations home.