In the 1980s, The Nature Conservancy began work on the fast-growing Outer Banks by protecting Nags Head Woods, one of the last intact maritime forests on the East Coast that was in danger of becoming a housing development. In the late nineteenth century the woods was home to about forty families and remnants of their time there can be seen during a walk in the preserve to this day. Based on oral histories, this book documents the social and cultural history of a community that worked the land and waters of this unique place. Originally published in 1987, this reissue edition contains a foreword by David S. Cecelski and an afterword by the authors.

Foreword by: David S. Cecelski