Carteret County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,686. Its county seat is Beaufort. The county was created in 1722 as Carteret Precinct and gained county status in 1739. It was named for Sir George Carteret, one of the 17th century English Lords Proprietor, or for his descendant and heir John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville.
Harkers Island is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population of Harkers Island was 1,207 at the 2010 census. Harkers Island is unincorporated and receives most public services, including law enforcement and public education, from Carteret County. A membership cooperative provides the island with electric and water services. Major industries on the island include fishing, boat building, tourism, and waterfowl decoy carving.
Cape Lookout National Seashore preserves a 56-mile (90-km) long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina, USA, running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southwest. Three undeveloped barrier islands make up the seashore - North and South Core Banks and Shackleford Banks. The seashore includes two historic villages on Core Banks, Shackleford's wild horses, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, which has a black-and-white diamond pattern. A visitor center for the seashore is located on Harkers Island.
Fort Macon State Park is a North Carolina state park in Carteret County, North Carolina, in the United States. Located on Bogue Banks near Atlantic Beach, the park opened in 1936. Fort Macon State Park is the second most visited state park in North Carolina, with an annual visitation of 1.3 million, despite being one of the smallest state parks in North Carolina with 424 acres (1.72 km2). Fort Macon was built as part of the Third System of US fortifications, and was preceded by Fort Hampton of the Second System.
Portsmouth was a fishing and shipping village located on Portsmouth Island on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, United States. Portsmouth Island is a tidal island connected, under most conditions, to the northern end of the North Core Banks, across Ocracoke Inlet from the village of Ocracoke. The town lies in Carteret County, was established in 1753 by the North Carolina Colonial Assembly, and abandoned in 1971. Its remains are now part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.
Assateague Island is a 37-mile (60 km) long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island is in Maryland while the southern third is in Virginia. The Maryland section contains the majority of Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague State Park. The Virginia section contains Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and a one-mile stretch of land containing the lifeguarded recreational beach and interpretive facilities managed by the National Park Service. It is best known for its herds of feral horses, pristine beaches and the Assateague Lighthouse. The island also contains numerous marshes, bays, and coves, including Toms Cove. Bridge access for cars is possible from both Maryland and Virginia, though no road runs the full north/south length of the island.
Cape Lookout is the southern point of the Core Banks, one of the natural barrier islands on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina. It delimits Onslow Bay to the west from Raleigh Bay to the east. Core Banks and Shackleford Banks have been designated as parts of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.
The Outer Banks are a 200 mi (320 km) string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, and Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. A major tourist destination, the Outer Banks are known for their wide expanse of open beachfront and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The seashore and surrounding ecosystem are important biodiversity zones, including beach grasses and shrubland that help maintain the form of the land.
In North Carolina, the Crystal Coast is an 85-mile stretch of coastline that extends from the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which includes 56 miles of protected beaches, southwestward to the New River. The Crystal Coast is a popular area with tourists and second-home owners in the summer.
The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is a 163-foot-high lighthouse located on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. It flashes every 15 seconds and is visible at least 12 miles out to sea and up to 19 miles. It is one of the very few lighthouses that operate during the day. It became fully automated in 1950. The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is the only such structure in the United States to bear the checkered daymark, intended not only for differentiation between similar light towers, but also to show direction. The center of the black diamonds points in a north-south direction, while the center of the white diamonds points east-west.
Bogue Banks form a 21-mile (34 km) barrier island off the mainland of North Carolina in Carteret County. The island, separated from the mainland by Bogue Sound, runs east to west, with the ocean beaches facing due south. Bogue Banks is the only island on the Carteret County shore that has been developed with housing: numerous communities are located on the island and can be accessed by one of two bridges across Bogue Sound, either from Morehead City to Atlantic Beach, which is the more heavily traveled bridge, or from Cape Carteret to Emerald Isle. The communities of Bogue Banks are the most prominent of the Crystal Coast. NC 58 traverses a majority of the island's length. There are several hotels that dot the island, but most of the land contains private houses, some of which are rented out during the summer, or maritime forest. Stores and other commercial properties are limited to the five main communities.
The Banker horse is a breed of feral horse living on barrier islands in North Carolina's Outer Banks. It is small, hardy, and has a docile temperament. Descended from domesticated Spanish horses and possibly brought to the Americas in the 16th century, the ancestral foundation bloodstock may have become feral after surviving shipwrecks or being abandoned on the islands by one of the exploratory expeditions led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón or Sir Richard Grenville. Populations are found on Ocracoke Island, Shackleford Banks, Currituck Banks, Cedar Island, and in the Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary.
Barden Inlet is the southernmost of the Outer Banks water inlets. Located just northwest of Cape Lookout in the U.S. state of North Carolina, the inlet connects Onslow Bay of the Atlantic Ocean with Core Sound. It separates the Shackleford Banks from the Core Banks.
Drum Inlet and Ophelia Inlet are inlets of the Outer Banks in the U.S. state of North Carolina. They connect the Core Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separate North Core Banks from South Core Banks. The exact inlet locations and names have changed with time, as new inlets open, merge, or close. Conversationally, the inlet or inlets between mile 19 and 23, as measured from Ocracoke Inlet, are typically called Drum Inlet even when, geologically, they have other names.
Bodie Island is a long, narrow barrier peninsula that forms the northernmost portion of the Outer Banks. The land that is most commonly referred to as Bodie Island was at one time a true island, but in 1811 Roanoke Inlet, which had separated it from the Currituck Banks in the north, closed. As a result, the Currituck Banks and Bodie Island are now one contiguous peninsula, joined at the Nags Head area, where the inlet once flowed. Today, either name can be used to refer to peninsula as a whole, but both portions colloquially retain their historical names.
Diamond City was a settlement on the eastern end of Shackleford Banks, in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States.
The Back Sound is a lagoon in eastern North Carolina. Running on an east–west axis, the sound separates Shackleford Banks to the south from the mainland and Harkers Island to the north. At the sound's eastern end lies Cape Lookout and Core Sound, while on the west end lies the Crystal Coast community of Beaufort and Bogue Sound. Barden Inlet at the eastern end, and Beaufort Inlet on the western end connect the sound to Onslow Bay. Much of the islands in the sound are protected as part of the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve, set aside for the protection of Banker horses.
The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina, part of the Outer Banks and Cape Lookout National Seashore. Named after the Coree tribe, they extend from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Lookout, and consist of two low-relief narrow islands, North Core Banks and South Core Banks, and, since September 2011, two smaller islands. New Drum Inlet, Old Drum Inlet and Ophelia Inlet now separate the islands. The Core Banks are now uninhabited. However, Portsmouth, at the north end of the North Core Banks, was once a substantial port, and Cape Lookout Village, about one and half miles south of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, contains the historic Lookout Life-Saving Station, a U.S. Coast Guard Station, and several island homes.
The Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act is a bill that was introduced into the 113th United States Congress, where it passed the United States House of Representatives. The bill would affect wild horses living in North Carolina.
Davis is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 422.
