Rocky Point is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in southern Pender County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, United States. It is part of the Wilmington

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. Rocky Point is situated on

North Carolina Highway 210 North Carolina Highway 210 (NC 210) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina that connects settlements in the Atlantic Coastal Plain region. Due to its meandering route NC 210 changes directional orientation twice, changing ...

North Carolina Highway 133 North Carolina Highway 133 (NC 133) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It traverses from Oak Island Drive in Oak Island to NC 210 in Bells Crossroads. The route serves communities such as Southport, Belv ...

and

U.S. Route 117 U.S. Route 117 (US 117) is a north-south United States Highway located completely within the state of North Carolina. A spur route of US 17, the highway runs for from the Port of Wilmington, south of downtown Wilmington, to US&nb ...

, at an elevation of 39 feet (12 m). The ZIP Code for Rocky Point is 28457.

Overview

Rocky Point is located at exit 408 off of Interstate 40. Rocky Point is just a two-stop-light town (three, counting the one off I-40). The community is growing fairly rapidly. Land taxes are low, and the community is served by the Rocky Point Fire Department, Pender EMS and Fire, and the Pender County Sheriff's Office. The community, although very rural, is situated just 15–20 miles from 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 Wrightsville Beach being the nearest public beach. Notably, it is also the home of beloved small town restaurant, Paul's Place Famous Hot Dogs.

History

Rocky Point has been around since

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

, but did not get its name until 1875. Fertile soil has been favored in Rocky Point by farmers for the past 200 years for being so good for growing healthy crops.

Plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

with

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

were fairly common up until the Civil War. The name of Rocky Point is not fully known but it is because of the local

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

quarry or digging to deepen the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Caro ...

and the piles/ hills of rock left over

Schools

* Rocky Point Elementary School * Cape Fear Elementary School * Cape Fear Middle School * Heide Trask High School

School system

Rocky point schools are in the

Pender County schools Pender County Schools is a public school system located in southeastern North Carolina, providing an education for 7,800 students in Pender County. Pender County School District consists of 19 schools located in a diverse array of suburban and ru ...

district with the chairperson of the board of education being Ken Smith.

Past Schools

* Long Creek High School (1924-1993) * PCTS(1929-1969) * Rocky Point school(1925-1943)

Notable people

John Baptista Ashe John Ashe may refer to: * John Ashe (minister) (1671–1735), English dissenting minister * John Ashe (of Freshford) (1597–1658), MP for Westbury * John Ashe (priest) (born 1953), Church of England priest and Archdeacon of Lynn *John Ashe (genera ...

, former U.S. Representative for

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

* William Shepperd Ashe, former U.S. Representative *

Richard Brickhouse Richard Brickhouse (born October 27, 1939 in Rocky Point, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best kno ...

- A

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver who won the inaugural Talladega 500 in 1969

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in North Carolina Census-designated places in Pender County, North Carolina Cape Fear (region)