Figure Eight Island was first recorded as part of the Province of North Carolina in 1762, during the reign of George III, as a tract in a royal land grant to James Moore, the brother of Roger Moore of Orton Plantation. Moore was also the son of James Moore, the Royal Governor of the Province of Carolina, and the grandson of Sir Rory O'Moore. In 1775, the island passed from James Moore to American revolutionary Cornelius Harnett and became known as "The Banks". In 1795, Harnett's property was purchased at an auction by James Foy and the island became part of Poplar Grove Plantation and was renamed Foy Island and also popularly called Woods Beach. Foy Island remained a part of the Plantation for the next 160 years.