Atlantic Beach is a town in Carteret County,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is one of the five communities located on

Bogue Banks Bogue Banks form a 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 ...

. The population was 1,364 at the 2020 census.

History

The idea of Atlantic Beach was first envisioned in the 1870s by Appleton Oaksmith. However, construction did not begin until 1887. In 1928, a bridge was built, connecting Atlantic Beach to

Morehead City Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hi ...

Fort Macon A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

and

Queen Anne's Revenge ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname Blackbeard. The date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, and there is no record of its action ...

are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

homeports several cutters in Atlantic Beach.

Geography

Atlantic Beach is located on the eastern portion of Bogue Banks, a

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

on the Atlantic coast. The town is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by

Bogue Sound Bogue Sound is a lagoon in the state of North Carolina separating the Bogue Banks, a barrier island, from the mainland. The sound is part of North Carolina's "Crystal Coast", a tourism marketing term that is also used interchangeably with the ...

, which separates it from the mainland. To the east is Fort Macon State Park, occupying the eastern end of Bogue Banks and overlooking Beaufort Inlet, while to the west is the town of Pine Knoll Shores. Atlantic Beach is connected to the mainland by the Atlantic Beach Causeway to

North Carolina Highway 58 North Carolina Highway 58 (NC 58) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina that traverses the state's Coastal Plain. The route links many of the Crystal Coast communities along its eastern segment. Its southern t ...

leads west from Atlantic Beach, running the length of Bogue Banks to Emerald Isle. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town of Atlantic Beach has a total area of , of which is land and , or 12.87%, is water.

Climate

Atlantic Beach has a

subtropical climate The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...

, like much of the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

, characterized by short, relatively mild winters and long, hot, and humid summers. Daytime summer temperatures average around and in winter, daytime temperatures average around . Summers in Atlantic Beach are cooler than a lot of cities within the southeastern region of the United States, primarily because of its close location to the ocean, and winters similarly see less extreme temperatures. The highest recorded temperature was in 1952, and the lowest recorded temperature was in 1985. Rainfall is abundant throughout the year, with the wettest month being August, with an average total of .

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,364 people, 934 households, and 447 families residing in the town.

2008

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2008, there were 1,815 people, 971 households, and 498 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 4,728 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.03%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.62%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.22% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.00% from other races, and 0.39% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.67% of the population. There were 971 households, out of which 11.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.7% were non-families. 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.82 and the average family size was 2.33. In the town, the population was spread out, with 9.8% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 38.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,313, and the median income for a family was $52,411. Males had a median income of $32,045 versus $24,706 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $31,339. 7.3% of the population and 5.3% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 9.8% are under the age of 18 and 1.5% are 65 or older. Atlantic Beach is a popular destination for tourists and fishermen during the fall, spring and summer. Much of its economy is driven by restaurants, hotels and other attractions such as Fort Macon State Park.

References

External links

Town of Atlantic Beach official website

Atlantic Beach NC Attractions and Restaurants

Online directory for Atlantic Beach NC

Restaurant Guide for Atlantic Beach NC

Atlantic Beach, NC on InsiderInfo.us

Atlantic Beach, NC on BeachCarolina.com
{{authority control Towns in North Carolina Towns in Carteret County, North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Bogue Banks Landforms of Carteret County, North Carolina Populated coastal places in North Carolina