Interesting Outer Banks Facts You Might Not Already Know

Published by Outer Banks Visitors Bureau on Jan. 01, 2024.

History is always close by on the Outer Banks. Before a trip to the OBX of North Carolina, these notable facts offer a look at the people, places, wildlife, and landmarks that help define the islands.

Northern Beaches

• On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright completed the first successful flights in motor-driven, heavier-than-air machines, marking the beginning of human flight. Those flights happened on the sloped sands now called Big Kill Devil Hill, just south of Kitty Hawk.
• According to the Nature Conservancy organization, Nags Head Woods Preserve is considered one of the best remaining examples of a mid-Atlantic maritime forest. The preserve includes 640 acres of protected wetland, dune and hardwood forest and is a national natural landmark.
• In Nags Head, Jockey's Ridge State Park contains the highest sand dune on the East Coast, with peaks at more than 90 feet.
• Dare County spans 800 square miles, including 391 square miles of land and 409 square miles of water.
• According to the International Gamefish Association, the Outer Banks and the Virgin Islands are the most likely places to catch Atlantic Blue Marlin weighing more than 1,000 pounds.
• The OBX welcomes 5 different types of sea turtles that come for mating, nesting, and resting.
• The Mountain-to-Sea Trail covers 1,175 miles across the state of North Carolian, running from the Great Smoky Mountains to the top of Jockey's Ridge.
• The Outer Banks Scenic Byway is one of three national scenic byways in North Carolina, recognized for its cultural contributions to our state heritage and identity alongside the unencumbered natural beauty and pristine setting.

Roanoke Island & Dare Mainland

• Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was born on August 18, 1587, at Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare and the Fort Raleigh colonists later became known as The Lost Colony, and their disappearance remains unresolved. The Elizabeth II ship on Roanoke Island replicates one of the seven vessels used during the Roanoke voyages.
• The Lost Colony, staged at the Waterside Theater on Roanoke Island, is the oldest-running outdoor symphonic drama in the country. In downtown Manteo, streets were renamed for members of the Lost Colony, both real and fictional.
• Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge spans 237 square miles (615 sq km) and is one of the more exceptional settings for wildlife viewing in the Outer Banks and the country. The refuge supports a program to return the endangered Red Wolf to the wild, and it is also the northernmost habitat for the American Alligator. It may be unexpected, but the highest concentration of Black Bears in the country and the largest of that species are found in the refuge.
• Roanoke Island is the home of an eleventh generation family. Island Farm is a living history site that interprets their everyday life on Roanoke Island in the mid-1800s. Islanders relied on surrounding waters and worked the land to feed their families, living in independent and enterprising ways.
• Near the middle of Roanoke Island grows The Mothervine – the oldest cultivated grapevine in the U.S. Grapevines are gnarled and barky rather than showy, and this muscadine vine has grown here since around 1584. It stands in a front yard, where an extensive trellis system holds its thick, heavy trunk and roughly a quarter-acre spread of vines and leaves. The Mothervine’s grapes are not used for wine; they become alcohol-free juice rich in antioxidants, offering a sip connected to the nation’s earliest roots.
• The OBX has shaped countless stories told through television, film, radio, books & more, including Nights in Rodanthe, Netflix's Outer Banks, and The Peanut Butter Falcon.

Hatteras Island

• Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which covers more than 28,000 acres along the Outer Banks, was the first to be established by our government. It was created to protect the shoreline so future generations could enjoy it.
• Richard Etheridge became America's first black lifesaving station keeper when he was appointed to the Pea Island post in 1880. A former soldier and surfman, he remained keeper until his death in 1900. His story connects with the African American Experience of Northeast North Carolina.
• Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands at 208-feet and is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.
• The Graveyard of the Atlantic includes estimates approaching 3,000 shipwrecks along the islands, dating back to the earliest English settlements in America.
• The War Between the States brought multiple battles to the Outer Banks. At Hatteras Inlet (August, 1861), Chicamacomico (October 1861), and Roanoke Island (February 1862), the Federals earned their first victories of the war and gained control of the Outer Banks. Many residents were not deeply tied to the Southern cause, and many swore allegiance to the United States.
• More than 400 species of birds have been identified at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the north end of Hatteras Island.
• In 1902, Reginald Fessenden made the first application of a successful, commercially adaptable technique of radio communications in North America and perhaps the entire world. His work with the wireless telegraph and telephone took place between a Roanoke Island station and a section station in Buxton. After departing North Carolina, Fessenden created the first commercial Trans-Atlantic two-way radio-telegraph service in 1905, which was two years before the world renowned Marconi. In 1906, Fessenden's station in Massachusetts also broadcasted the world's first radio program for entertainment.
• In 1874, the U.S. Lifesaving Service began building a chain of seven lifesaving stations along the Outer Banks at the most dangerous points for ocean-going vessels. The U.S. Lifesaving Service came before the U.S. Coast Guard. Working with the lighthouses positioned along the Outer Banks, the lifesaving stations helped save and rescue many vessels traveling through the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
• Opened on January 1, 1902, the U.S. Weather Bureau Station Hatteras Welcome Center played an important role in the nation’s growing meteorological network until it was decommissioned in 1946. Today, the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau operates it in partnership with the National Park Service as both a historic site and an information center. Hatteras is the only known wireless station in the United States to have received the first distress call from the Titanic.

Neighboring Areas

• On November 22, 1718, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the pirate, was killed by Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy in Ocracoke Inlet.
• Ocracoke Lighthouse is the oldest and shortest lighthouse in North Carolina. It is also the second oldest operational lighthouse in the United States.
• The wild Spanish Mustangs may be Corolla’s oldest residents and are unique to Currituck county. They can be seen on the 4x4 beaches in northern Corolla.