Located in the mainland of Eastern North Carolina, Hyde County is a fascinating blend of beautiful wetlands–with an incredible assortment of wildlife–and rich, sweeping farmlands, which have played the principal role in yielding the economic prosperity for the county. Lake Mattamuskeet, the center and heart of Hyde County, has enjoyed a long and interesting history, one that has included early American Indian tribes, national business interests, New Deal government projects, and many generations of hunters and fishermen.
Through an impressive collection of photographs, this volume will take you on a visual tour through the history of Lake Mattamuskeet, New Holland, and Hyde County over the past 100 years. Because the farmland around the lake was so rich, early businessmen, even back into the colonial days, had the ambition of draining the lake to provide more rich-soil acreage and thus, create a profitable real estate venture. In this book, you will see first-hand all the intensive labor, both mental and physical, that went into the lake: from the first plans for drainage, the huge floating dipper dredges excavating the canals, the creation of the world’s largest pumping plant (now Mattamuskeet Lodge), a company’s city planning of New Holland, the introduction of the railroad, the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in making the lake a waterfowl refuge, and throughout, the farming that has sustained Hyde County over the years.