The Dark Mysteries of Croatan High

Remember the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the first English settlement in the New World, which mysteriously vanished, leaving only the cryptic word "Croatoan" carved into a tree?

Not so mysterious after all -- Croatan was the name of a tribe down the river.  Obviously when the settlers' supplies ran out, they set out to live with the Native Americans.

But since the 19th century, the words Croatan and Croatoan have been used to evoke mysterious dangers, time portals, alien abductions, dark magic from before time began."

So I was surprised to find this photo of a wrestler from Croatan.  Was he imbued with dark magic?

There are no cities in the U.S. named Croatan, but there's a high school in Newport, North Carolina, serving the coastal communities of western Cartaret County.

Near Ocracoke Island, where my friend Tarik lived, along with about a thousand ghosts.

Most of the county is occupied by the Croatan National Forest.  The biggest town is Cape Carteret, population 1200, a fishing village on Bogue Sound.

Other than fishing, swimming, and boating, the only major attraction is the mysterious Octagon House in nearby Swansboro (on Masonic Avenue -- shudder), built in 1855, and full of arcane symbolism.

The high school looks out onto Bogue Sound.  You can see across to the long, narrow Emerald Isle (mostly less than 500 feet across).






I found a lot of photos of Croatan swimmers, which makes sense, given the location.

















And surfers.  Or guys heading toward the beach with surf boards.
















But I didn't expect a male model named Lucas to be going to Croatan.












Or weight training.














It's as if they don't know about the dark mysteries surrounding their school's name.

Or don't care.

See also: Alan's Gift From Beyond the Grave