Lesser-Known Historic Places Across the OBX

By Outer Banks Visitors Bureau on Jul. 11, 2023

The Outer Banks carries a rich past, stretching from the first English settlement in what would become America to the Wright Brother’s development of powered flight, along with the conflicts that unfolded offshore across different eras. The area is also home to 3 national parks, each meaningful in its own way. For your next visit to the OBX of North Carolina, consider adding these less-familiar historic places to your itinerary.

The Monument to a Century of Flight

Built and dedicated for the First Flight Centennial in 2003, this monument presents the human journey of flight across a single century, from being bound to the earth to reaching into the unknowns of space. Its fourteen stainless steel pylons, shaped like wings, rise from 10 to 20 feet and form an orbit measuring 120 feet, a reference to the distance of the Wright Brothers' first historic flight.

Black granite panels mark one hundred of aviation’s most important milestones during its first century. Visitors interested in aviation history should also make time for the Wright Brother's National Memorial, as well as the marker showing where Wilbur Wright began putting together their first experimental glider on September 17, 1900, an effort that helped lead to human flight. The marker is on Moore Shore Road 0.1 miles from W. Kitty Hawk Road, on the right when traveling south.

Outer Banks History Center

At the Outer Banks History Center, visitors can dig into local trivia, research family roots, or look through historic images. This regional archives and research library is administered by the North Carolina State Archives (Department of Cultural Resources).

Its collections include books and magazines, thousands of photographs, postcards and maps, personal papers and organizational archives, oral histories and other recordings, and additional materials. The center sits across from the Manteo waterfront inside the Roanoke Island Festival Park complex. It is open to the public. Most services are free including gallery admission. The Reading Room is open most weekdays, with the exception of state holidays. The gallery is open 7 days a week, with seasonal changes to its hours.

Pea Island Cook House

Pea Island Lifesaving Station was the first station manned by an all black crew. From 1880 until the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1947, the crew put themselves in danger to rescue people and cargo along the Outer Banks. Today, the restored cookhouse helps preserve the station’s story and honors the courageous men who served there through memorabilia, artifacts, relics, and photographs showing life in the Lifesaving Service.

The Freedmen’s Colony of Roanoke Island

1862-1867 - The Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony is recognized as a historic National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site. In 2001, a marker was placed to identify the location of a permanent colony on Roanoke Island between 1862 and 1867. Of the colony’s 3,000 residents, most had been slaves three years before in northeastern North Carolina. A wooded path north of Fort Raleigh brings visitors to a commemorative park on Croatan Sound.

Civil War Trail

Sections of the Dare County Civil War Trail weave through the Outer Banks by way of Roanoke Island and Hatteras Island, offering a meaningful way to explore an important period in the history of The Outer Banks.

Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station Historic Site

Established in 1874, the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station came before the modern U.S. Coast Guard, which it joined in 1915. The site showcases striking architecture and offers summer programs and events designed for families.

Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center

Found in the village of Frisco, this museum features a nationally recognized collection of Native American artifacts, exhibits, and natural history displays. Its galleries, filled with native art, share information about Native Americans across the United States, along with artifacts connected to the earliest inhabitants of Hatteras Island.

Designated as a North Carolina Environmental Education Center and a Historic Albemarle Tour site, the museum also offers a newly opened bird observation room and several acres of nature trails through a lush maritime forest. The trails include exhibits and accommodations for visually impaired persons (VIPS).

Croatan Archaeological Society

Through its mission, the Croatan Archaeological Society helps educate local residents and the broader public about Hatteras Island's hidden history and the story revealed through archaeological research. The CAS displays artifacts at the new Lost Colony Museum and Gifts, which is orchestrated by the CAS and located at 46618 N.C. Highway 12. Buxton. Updates on the museum’s progress and events are shared through the Croatoan Archeological Society’s Facebook page.