Enjoy an Outer Banks Getaway Package from Barrier Island Station Resorts!

Outer Banks Facts & Figures

The following is a collection of facts and figures about North Carolina's Outer Banks...

The Outer Banks are a series of barrier islands made up entirely of sand - undersea sand bars. These islands are without the keel of rock that anchors most islands. Due to vegetation, the islands have stabilized and are suitable for habitation.

The first English child born in the New World was Virginia Dare on August 18, 1587, at Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare and the colonists of Fort Raleigh would become known as "The Lost Colony", their disappearance still an unsolved mystery.

"The Lost Colony," performed at the Waterside Theater on Roanoke Island, is the oldest, longest-running outdoor symphonic drama in the country.

On December 17, 1903, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, made the first successful flights in motor-driven, heavier-than-air machines, thus ushering in the age of human flight. These historical flights took place on the sloping sands of what is now known as Big Kill Devil Hill, located just south of Kitty Hawk.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which stands at 208-feet, is the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S.

Cape Hatteras is the largest lighthouse ever to be moved due to erosion problems.

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore, encompassing more than 28,000 acres along the Outer Banks, was the first to be established by our government. The purpose was to preserve this beautiful shoreline for the enjoyment of future generations.

The oldest and shortest lighthouse in North Carolina is the Ocracoke Lighthouse. It's the second oldest operational lighthouse in the United States.

Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard the Pirate, lived, pirated, and died on the Outer Banks. Blackbeard was very successful in his chosen occupation being a tall, intimidating man decorated with cutlasses and pistols. During combat, his beard was braided with ribbons and he wore lit cannon fuses in his hair. Edward Teach died in hand-to-hand combat with Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy at Ocracoke Inlet on November 22, 1718.

In 1874, the U.S. Lifesaving Service was begun by building a chain of seven lifesaving stations along the Outer Banks, at the points of greatest danger to ocean going vessels. The U.S. Lifesaving Service was the forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard. The lifesaving stations, working in conjunction with the several lighthouses located along the Outer Banks, helped to save and rescue many vessels as they passed through the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

Richard Etheridge became America's first black lifesaving station keeper with his appointment to the Pea Island post in 1880. He served as keeper until his death in 1900. He was a former soldier and surfman.

The War Between the States brought several battles to the Outer Banks. At Hatteras Inlet (August 1861), at Chicamacomico (October 1861) and on Roanoke Island (February 1862), the Federals won their first victories of the war and established control over the Outer Banks. The inhabitants were not strongly attached to the Southern cause, and many took the oath of allegiance to the United States.

The waters off the shores of the Outer Banks are known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" where over 500 ships have gone down. Some of the most notable include:
The Monitor - Built for the Union forces during the Civil War, the Monitor was one of the first ironclad warships. This ship and its Confederate counterpart, the Virginia, were the predecessors of the submarine. The Monitor and Virginia battled to a draw off the coast of Virginia in 1862. And on New Year's Eve in 1862, the Monitor went down off Cape Hatteras during a storm.
U-85 - The first Nazi submarine destroyed during World War II by Americans was sunk off Bodie Island. Apparently, the Germans had a stranglehold on US supply lines and shipping routes in the early stages of the war. U-85, a Type VIIb, German submarine went down after an attack by the USS Roper on April 14, 1942.

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 experiments and invention of the wireless telegraph and telephone were made between a station located on Roanoke Island and a section station in Buxton. After leaving North Carolina, Fessenden went on to establish the first commercial Trans-Atlantic two-way radio-telegraph service in 1905, two years before the world renowned Marconi. Then, in 1906, Fessenden's station in Massachusetts broadcasted the world's first radio program for entertainment.

Jockey's Ridge State Park, located in Nags Head, is the home of the highest sand dune on the East Coast with peaks at more than 90 feet.

There are small herds of true Spanish Mustangs, wild since the 1500's, roaming the Islands. As the islands became settled, the horses were pressed into service for transportation, pulling fishing nets, and beach patrol with the U.S. Life Saving Service (predecessor of the Coast Guard). The horse herds split north and south of Nags Head as the human population grew. Today, horses can be found in Currituck County (northern beaches) and in Ocracoke (southern beaches) at the Pony Pens. These horses are wild and protected by law. Please obey all local laws pertaining to these animals.

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 Nags Head Woods Preserve is considered one of the best remaining examples of a mid-Atlantic maritime forest, according to the Nature Conservancy organization. The habitat is made up of 640 acres of protected wetland, dune and hardwood forest and is a national natural landmark.

The Outer Banks are part of the "Atlantic flyway". Pea Island is renowned for its year round birding. Mid-November and December are the best months to observe southward migrations. Some of the birds you may see include Peregrines, Glossy and White ibises, American Bitterns, Black and Surf scoters, Northern Gannets, Double-crested Cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, gulls, terns, and more. Sightings of rare birds occur frequently.