Hi David,

I might recommend a Chinaberry. We live 10 miles from the coast in southern NC. Some would consider the Chinaberry as an invasive species but as long as you have a frost each year and you are fastidious with weeding out the volunteers every spring, it is fine. We planted a 2 foot stick. It grew straight up with a "mop" of foliage on the top (very odd looking). At the second year it was a six foot stick with a mop. I topped it and it branched out. At five years, it is 20 feet tall with a 10 inch diameter trunk, providing excellent shade. Other pictures I've seen show it as a multi-trunk tree, but you could choose by trimming the suckers.

http://www.tennesseewholesalenursery.com/chinaberry-tree/

I will look into this one for sure!