Inventory of the Ray T. Adams Papers, 1894-1972

Collection Number 4430-z

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by

Connie Cartledge

Date Processed

December 1985

Encoded by

Roslyn Holdzkom

Date Encoded

October 2002

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Adams, Ray T., d. 1957.

Title

Ray T. Adams Papers, 1894-1972

Call Number

4430-z

Extent

About 70 items

Abstract

Ray T. Adams was a meat wholesaler in Washington, D.C., who purchased the Whalehead Club, which occupied a Corolla, N.C., beach mansion owned by Adams, 1939-1957. The collection includes scrapbooks, a guestbook, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other material of Ray T. Adams, relating to the Whalehead Club.

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Provenance

Received from Nicola McKenna of Washington, D.C., in Novmeber 1985.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Ray T. Adams Papers #4430-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Adams, Ray T., d. 1957.

Corolla (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

Hunting and fishing clubs--North Carolina--History.

Photograph albums.

Scrapbooks--North Carolina.

Whalehead Club (Currituck County, N.C.).

Historical Note

Ray T. Adams (d. 1957), a wealthy Washington, D.C., meat wholesaler, purchased the Whalehead Club near Corolla, N.C., in 1939. On 6 August 1942, Adams leased his property for the duration of World War II to the United States Coast Guard. After the war, he tried unsuccessfully to promote the property as a luxury resort area.

Prior to Adams's purchase of the Whalehead Club, the property was owned by Edward C. Knight, Jr., a noted Detroit architect. Knight had been a member of a hunting club, the Light House Club, from whom he purchased the land in 1922. Knight and his wife built a huge and elaborate mansion which served as Adams's hunting lodge and remained standing as of 1972.

Upon Adams's death in 1957, the Whalehead property was sold to Portsmouth contractor George T. McLean, who leased the house in 1959 as a boys' summer school, Corolla Academy. The school closed after only two summers. In 1962, the land was leased and later sold to the Atlantic Research Corporation for use as a solid fuel rocket testing station. Abandoned later in the 1960s, the property was purchased again in 1972 by private investors, Whale's Head Development Corporation, who planned to convert the property into a resort area.

Collection Overview

The collection includes scrapbooks, a guestbook, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other material of Ray T. Adams, relating to the Whalehead Club, in Corolla, N.C.

Organization of Collection

1. Printed Material
2. Volumes
3. Pictures

Detailed Description of the Collection

Items Separated

Separated items include oversize volumes (V-4430/S-1 - S-5), photograph albums (PA-4430/1-2), oversize picture (OP-P-4430/1)