Swan Quarter is a charming, little farming and fishing village and the home of the Church that was moved by the Hand of God!
Hyde County, spread over the Inner and Outer Banks, is known as "the land of many waters", and is the home of North Carolina's largest natural lake, Mattamuskeet. Our famous Ocracoke Island, once home to the pirate Blackbeard, and now a tourist mecca, is accessible by ferry from our village of Swan Quarter. A 28-car ferry connects Swan Quarter in Hyde County on the mainland with Ocracoke Island, crossing Pamlico Sound in two and a half hours.
Recent News and Announcements
Lake Mattamuskeet [HD] by Pete Bell (videos) 3:45 A Clay Johnson production for NC Weekend.
I spent an afternoon and a morning shooting at the lake with my XDCAM pdw-330. The temps were around 25ºf and the winds were whipping... as you can see from some of the shots. I had some knee high muck boots that allowed me to wade in past some of the reedy lake shores to get a better look. Sadly the shots of the Hawk and Snowy Egrets didn't make the edit. Maybe I'll make a directors cut.
Superintendent Mike Murray announced today that Cape Hatteras National Seashore has adopted two Shackleford Banks ponies from the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc. in Beaufort, NC. The two fillies, named Sacajawea and Jitterbug, will be delivered to Ocracoke Pony Pens on Sunday, December 13. The ponies will be temporarily displayed for the visiting public to view in a special enclosure near the observation platform from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Sacajawea and Jitterbug, both approximately 2 years old, were removed from Cape Lookout National Seashore in September and received veterinary and farrier care prior to the ferry trip to their new home on Ocracoke Island. The addition of these two ponies will assist park managers in meeting one of the Seashore’s primary pony management objectives of reintroducing the genetic strain common to Outer Banks horses. This strain is typically identified by the brown body and white face markings commonly seen in other Outer Banks horses. Maintaining the genetic diversity and herd size is important to herd survival. Thousands of park visitors cherish the Ocracoke ponies and contribute to the Adopt-A-Pony fund annually. “The NPS and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses have a mutual goal of preserving Outer Banks horses for the people of the United States. We are appreciative of the good work of Ms. Carolyn Mason and the Foundation which has enabled us to introduce two new fillies to the Ocracoke herd” stated Superintendent Mike Murray.
Harbor Technologies LLC of Goldsboro, NC, a provider of innovative and cost-effective composite solutions to the marine and infrastructure markets, is producing 400 composite pilings as part of the second phase of the Swan Quarter Watershed Project. Over the last two decades, the Natural Resources and Conservation Service has funded construction of a 12-mile dike to protect the Swan Quarter watershed, a North Carolina community surrounded on three sides by salt water. The project was stalled until $5.3 million in federal stimulus funds became available this year. In July, Harbor Technologies, LLC will produce and ship 400 pilings to the Swan Quarter watershed. The project, through Hyde County North Carolina, is a $1.3 million contract for Harbor Tech to provide pilings for a storm retaining wall to protect the watershed in the event of a hurricane or other high water event. The project is designed and funded by the Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) and the US Department of Agriculture.