Barden Inlet is the southernmost of the
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a 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 ...
water
inlet
An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In marine geogra ...
s. Located just northwest of
Cape Lookout in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, the inlet connects
Onslow Bay
Onslow Bay is an indentation of the North Carolina coast, between Cape Fear in the south and Cape Lookout in the north. Thirteen barrier islands form the shore of the bay. It is part of the open Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the sec ...
of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
with
Core Sound
The Core Sound is a sound (geography) in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It lies between the large Pamlico Sound to the northeast and the smaller B ...
. It separates the
Shackleford Banks
Shackleford Banks is a barrier island system on the coast of Carteret County, North Carolina. It contains a herd of feral horses, scallop, crabs and various sea animals, including summer nesting by loggerhead turtles. It is a tourist and beach camp ...
from the
Core Banks
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 ...
.
Barden Inlet was opened by the
1933 Outer Banks Hurricane
The 1933 Outer Banks hurricane lashed portions of the North Carolina and Virginia coasts less than a month after 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane, another hurricane hit the general area. The twelfth tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the 19 ...
, separating the Shackleford Banks from South Core Banks.
Barrier Island Ecology of Cape Lookout National Seashore, NPS Scientific Monograph No.9, Chapter 3
/ref> The new channel gave Harkers Island
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 e ...
fishermen a new, direct access route to offshore fishing grounds. It was named Barden Inlet after US Congressman Graham Barden
Graham Arthur Barden (September 25, 1896 – January 29, 1967) was a US Representative from North Carolina between 1935 and 1961 for the Democratic Party.
Born in Sampson County, North Carolina in 1896, he moved to Burgaw, North Carolina at the ...
, who sponsored legislation to require that the use dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
equipment to maintain the new channel.[Prioli, Carmine and Martin, Edwin (1998). ''Hope for a Good Season: The Ca'e Bankers of Harkers Island''. John F. Blair Publisher, July, 1998.]
References
Bodies of water of Carteret County, North Carolina
Inlets of North Carolina
Outer Banks
{{CarteretCountyNC-geo-stub