I am just curious, so how often does it get opened? Daily? Monthly? Never in 2023?

I know there are only a few families left who have key rights, but I am sure bribery could make duplicates.

Is the main value of being a keyholder the ability to drive to the Hampton Roads area much faster? Yeah, horses and all that, too.

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Only families who have lived here and have had a commercial reason ( I believe fishing) to travel through BEFORE it was closed to the public still have permits. No new permits are issued. Regardless, I see idiots driving up to the gate labeled "Authorized Vehicles Only" every day over the dune entrance to the locked gate. My Neighbor from Stone Cold HVAC is many generations local up here and he's the only person I know who has one. You won't get a duplicate from anyone. It's highly regulated and they watch them like hawks. Once you die the permit dies with you. The only exception is during hurricane evacuation.

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There was an old rumor that the fence has a lock and 25 people got a key at the time they installed the fence. The 25 were land owners up that way and as they passed away they gave up the keys as they could not be passed down.

How much truth to that there is I am not sure. I think they were down to a handful these days.

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A zillion years ago I was “blind dated” w a Virginia girl…last name was Shackleford. I remember her talking about the outer banks. I was clueless.

She has a key ;)

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I never knew the fence opened

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

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I found this story about Ernie Bowden in the Washington Post:

“In 1974 the state of Virginia bought what is now False Cape State Park, fencing off Bowden's beloved free and easy Carova from the north. Virginia blocked access by North Carolinians, except for about 18 original families who were allowed a certain number of trips back and forth each year through a locked gate.”

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Wow
Great article!

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Wow
Great article!

Ernie was a character. I don’t know who from Corova has been a commissioner since him. I really think you should run, BF. I just looked at the list of commissioners, and I didn’t see anyone from Corova. Looks like there was only one from Corolla. And two from Shawboro

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

At the border station you can buy VA and NC lotto tickets in the same building.

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Where did the Carova residents get groceries and fuel back in the day?

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Where did the Carova residents get groceries and fuel back in the day?

Whatever stores they got their supplies from are undoubtedly long gone. But they were in Virginia because it was closer than Kitty Hawk, and had a much larger selection. The locking of the gate in 1974 no doubt placed a hardship on the local people even if they did have limited access. The city of Virginia Beach now includes all the land that used to comprise Princess Anne county. As recently as when I was in high school, Virginia Beach was merely a little strip of ocean front in what is the boardwalk commercial district and a small residential area north of it today. Today VB is the largest city in the state.

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

The fence does go out into the ocean to keep the horses from going around.

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

The fence does go out into the ocean to keep the horses from going around.

Thanks, Tim. That makes sense!!

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

The fence does go out into the ocean to keep the horses from going around.

Believe me, the horses can get around that fence. Here’s a pic that I caught last week of one of the herd members riding a Franklin barrel.

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

The fence does go out into the ocean to keep the horses from going around.

Believe me, the horses can get around that fence. Here’s a pic that I caught last week of one of the herd members riding a Franklin barrel.

Hahahahahhahahahha!!!! That just hit me as hilarious!

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Just had my evening swim so I walked up the dune.

I think it's cool how you can swim in VA and NC at the same time! I'm guessing they do not have a fence in the ocean!! Such an interesting place!! I love that area that you live in!

The fence does go out into the ocean to keep the horses from going around.

At low tide they can easily walk over since an incomplete part of the fence is exposed however I have only seen them on the other side once during mating season fighting.

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Today VB is the largest city in the state.

While literally true, this is a misleading statement for anyone not familiar with Virginia political jurisdictions. Virginia is a state of counties. There are only 38 cities in it. Most of the cities are fairly small. While the powers of cities and counties differ somewhat (cities control their own roads while county roads are state responsibility), the differences in powers are mostly historical.

For the record, if it were a county, VB would be the third largest jurisdiction. So your point is apt. It's a big jurisdiction, mostly because of all the military stationed there.

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At the border station you can buy VA and NC lotto tickets in the same building.

Only because the building straddles the state line. You buy your cigarettes in the North Carolina section where the taxes are less. Gas was sold on Virginia land where the taxes used to be lower, but that has evened out a lot recently since VA raised its gas taxes. And The Border Station has always had terrible gas prices.

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Today VB is the largest city in the state.

While literally true, this is a misleading statement for anyone not familiar with Virginia political jurisdictions. Virginia is a state of counties. There are only 38 cities in it. Most of the cities are fairly small. While the powers of cities and counties differ somewhat (cities control their own roads while county roads are state responsibility), the differences in powers are mostly historical.

For the record, if it were a county, VB would be the third largest jurisdiction. So your point is apt. It's a big jurisdiction, mostly because of all the military stationed there.

But it ain’t a county. I mentioned that it used to be Princess Ann County but it ain’t no more. My point is not only apt, but it is true.

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When did they start building vacation houses in Corolla?

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Today VB is the largest city in the state.

While literally true, this is a misleading statement for anyone not familiar with Virginia political jurisdictions. Virginia is a state of counties. There are only 38 cities in it. Most of the cities are fairly small. While the powers of cities and counties differ somewhat (cities control their own roads while county roads are state responsibility), the differences in powers are mostly historical.

For the record, if it were a county, VB would be the third largest jurisdiction. So your point is apt. It's a big jurisdiction, mostly because of all the military stationed there.

No dog in this fight but just to set the record straight - Suffolk is the largest city in Virginia. It is the 11th largest in the nation and at 430 square miles is half the size of the state of Rhode Island. Suffolk is famous for being the only city east of the Mississippi where it is legal to hunt bear within city limits (This last statement may require some more research to verify).

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Today VB is the largest city in the state.

While literally true, this is a misleading statement for anyone not familiar with Virginia political jurisdictions. Virginia is a state of counties. There are only 38 cities in it. Most of the cities are fairly small. While the powers of cities and counties differ somewhat (cities control their own roads while county roads are state responsibility), the differences in powers are mostly historical.

For the record, if it were a county, VB would be the third largest jurisdiction. So your point is apt. It's a big jurisdiction, mostly because of all the military stationed there.

No dog in this fight but just to set the record straight - Suffolk is the largest city in Virginia. It is the 11th largest in the nation and at 430 square miles is half the size of the state of Rhode Island. Suffolk is famous for being the only city east of the Mississippi where it is legal to hunt bear within city limits (This last statement may require some more research to verify).

But Sitka, Alaska is one helluva lot bigger than Suffolk.

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At the border station you can buy VA and NC lotto tickets in the same building.

When you Poo in that building and flush it goes from North Carolina, to Virginia.

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