Bell Island

… a peninsula extending from the E mainland of Currituck County into Coinjock Bay and Currituck Sound. Formerly separated from the mainland and called Willowbies Island on the Ogilby map, 1671, in honor of Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby (1555-1601), thought to have been a subscriber to the Roanoke voyage of 1585. On the Collet map, 1770, and subsequent maps until MacRae, 1833, the name Betts Island is used. It is now 1½ mi. long and ½ mi. wide. See also Bell's Island.