Dare County

Dare County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo. Dare County is named after Virginia Dare, the first child born in the Americas to English parents, who was born within the county's current borders. Founded in 1870 from parts of Tyrrell, Currituck and Hyde counties, it consists of a large segment of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with Roanoke Island and a peninsula of land attached to the mainland. Most of the county consists of a string of resort communities along the Outer Banks. While lightly populated by year-round residents, the population swells during the summer with vacationers.

Dare County is included in the Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area.

At one time, the now-abandoned town of Buffalo City was the largest community in the county. Because it includes much of Pamlico Sound, Dare County is the largest county in North Carolina by total area, although if one were to consider land area only, it drops down to 68th in size among the state's 100 counties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (75%) is water. It is the largest county in North Carolina by area.

Dare County includes the middle part of the Outer Banks and contains Roanoke Island.

National protected areas

* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (part)
* Cape Hatteras National Seashore (part)
* Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
* Wright Brothers National Memorial

State and local protected areas/sites

* Bodie Island Lighthouse
* Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve Dedicated Nature Preserve
* Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
* Dare game lands, Dare Game Lands (part)
* Hatteras Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary (part)
* Jockey's Ridge State Park
* Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve
* Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve
* Nags Head Woods Preserve Dedicated Nature Preserve
* Oregon Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary
* Pamlico Sound Mechanical Harvesting of Oysters Prohibited Area
* Roanoke Island Festival Park
* Roanoke Island Marshes Dedicated Nature Preserve
* List of North Carolina state parks#State Natural Areas, Run Hill State Natural Area
* List of North Carolina state parks#State Natural Areas, Run Hill State Natural Area Dedicated Nature Preserve
* Sandy Run Park

Major water bodies

* Albemarle Sound
* Alligator River (North Carolina), Alligator River
* Atlantic Ocean
* Broad Creek (North Carolina), Broad Creek
* Croatan Sound
* Currituck Sound
* East lake (North Carolina), East lake
* Intracoastal Waterway
* Long Shoal River (North Carolina), Long Shoal River
* Pamlico Sound
* Roanoke Sound
* Shallowbag Bay (North Carolina), Shallowbag Bay
* South lake (North Carolina), South Lake

Adjacent counties

* Currituck County, North Carolina, Currituck County – north
* Hyde County, North Carolina, Hyde County – southwest
* Tyrrell County, North Carolina, Tyrrell County – west

Major highways

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Major Infrastructure

* Dare County Bombing Range, within Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
* Dare County Regional Airport, a general aviation airport, is located in Dare County.
* First Flight Airport, inside Wright Brothers National Memorial
* North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division#Routes, Hatteras - Ocracoke Ferry (To Hyde County)
* North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division#Emergency Route, Stumpy Point - Rodanthe Ferry, emergency route to the mainland during evacuations.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 36,915 people, 15,529 households, and 10,281 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 33,920 people, 12,690 households, and 8,450 families residing in the county. The population density was 78 people per square mile (30/km²). There were 26,671 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile (27/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.3% Race (United States Census), White, 2.5% Race (United States Census), Black or Race (United States Census), African American, 0.4% Race (United States Census), Native American, 0.6% Race (United States Census), Asian, 0.0% Race (United States Census), Pacific Islander, 2.4% from Race (United States Census), other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. 6.5% of the population were Race (United States Census), Hispanic or Race (United States Census), Latino of any race.

There were 12,690 households, out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were Marriage, married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.4% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,411, and the median income for a family was $49,302. Males had a median income of $31,240 versus $24,318 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,614. About 5.5% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.9% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry

As of 2010, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Dare County were:

Government and politics

Dare County is presently a Republican county, having voted Republican since the 1980 election, though the Republican margins of victory are significantly smaller than most Southern largely-white counties. No Democratic presidential nominee has carried Dare County since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976. Before the 1950s, it was mostly a typical “Solid South” Democratic county, that did not vote Republican between 1900 and 1952, albeit by significantly smaller margins than much of the rest of the Solid South. Dare County is governed by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Dare County is a part of the Albemarle Commission regional council of governments.

Education

Public education is run by Dare County Schools. There are three public high schools/secondary schools with high school components:
* Cape Hatteras Secondary School
* First Flight High School
* Manteo High School

College of The Albemarle is the local community college, with a Dare campus in Manteo.

Dare County Library has branches in Manteo, Kill Devil Hills, and Hatteras.

Lighthouses

Dare County is home to two popular lighthouses: The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Bodie Island Lighthouse. There is also a beacon atop the Wright Brothers Memorial. A third lighthouse was built by the Town of Manteo and dedicated on September 25, 2004. The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse is an exterior recreation of the 1877 screwpile lighthouse of the same name and is located on the Manteo waterfront. It serves as exhibit space for the N.C. Maritime Museum on Roanoke Island.

Communities

File:Dare_County.png, 450px, Clickable map of the county
interactive map

rect 311 22 350 36 Duck, North Carolina, Duck
rect 414 89 492 103 Kill Devil Hills
rect 386 66 446 80 Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Kitty Hawk
rect 94 115 172 127 Manteo
rect 429 140 497 156 Nags Head, North Carolina, Nags Head
rect 338 44 434 56 Southern Shores, North Carolina, Southern Shores
rect 415 442 558 456 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
rect 30 295 241 308 Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
rect 414 275 593 291 Cape Hatteras National Seashore
rect 397 226 588 241 Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

desc bottom-left

Towns

* Duck, North Carolina, Duck
* Kill Devil Hills (largest town)
* Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Kitty Hawk
* Manteo (county seat)
* Nags Head, North Carolina, Nags Head
* Southern Shores, North Carolina, Southern Shores

Townships

* Atlantic Township
* Croatan Township
* East Lake Township
* Hatteras Township
* Kinnekeet Township
* Nags Head Township

Census-designated places

* Avon, North Carolina, Avon
* Buxton, North Carolina, Buxton
* Frisco, North Carolina, Frisco
* Hatteras, North Carolina, Hatteras
* Manns Harbor, North Carolina, Manns Harbor
* Rodanthe, North Carolina, Rodanthe
* Salvo, North Carolina, Salvo
* Wanchese, North Carolina, Wanchese
* Waves, North Carolina, Waves

Unincorporated communities

* Buffalo City (Abandoned)
* Colington Island, Colington
* East Lake, North Carolina, East Lake
* Little Kinnekeet, North Carolina, Little Kinnekeet
* Martin's Point, North Carolina, Martins Point
* Sanderling, North Carolina, Sanderling
* Scarborotown, North Carolina, Scarborotown
* Stumpy Point, North Carolina, Stumpy Point

Ghost Towns

* Burptoe Village (Est: 1892)(Abandoned: 1950) Highest population: 616 (1942)
* Port Frenz (Est: 1862 as Fort Frent)(Abandoned: 1932) Highest population: 602 (1924)(Named as Fort Frent till 1865)

See also

* List of counties in North Carolina
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Dare County, North Carolina
* North Carolina Ferry System
* Hurricane Isabel, worst hurricane to hit Dare county to date causing widespread damage.
* Roanoke Colony, infamous first colony in the Americas.
* List of ghost towns in North Carolina
* North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
* North Carolina State Parks
* National Park Service

References

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Dare County, North Carolina,
Outer Banks
1870 establishments in North Carolina
Populated places established in 1870