People ask all the time why we named our business “Whalebone.” The short answer is, that’s the area around our properties is called “Whalebone Junction.” But where did that name originate?
In the early 1930’s a local businessman owned a service station located close to Jeanette’s Pier. One day he ran across a whale carcass on Pea Island. He bribed the ferry operators to let him bring the bones back to Nags Head (the horrific smell of that rotting whale corpse likely cost a pretty penny in bribes). He scrubbed the bones and reassembled them to create a roadside attraction and it became an unconventional marketing tool for his service station. The station was renamed, “Whalebone Service Station.” It later burned down and the family isn’t sure what happened to the bones, but in 1972, the Protected Species Act made it illegal to own sea mammal bones.
Today the area near the former location of the service station is known as “Whalebone Junction.” We fell in love with this area and think that you will, too!
For more information, read this super cool article from the North Beach Sun: http://www.northbeachsun.com/whalebone-junction-crossroads-of-the-outer-banks/?rst_v=sid:1077,cid:216,pid:1871
