Emerald Isle 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. It is part of the

Crystal Coast 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 (eastern North Carolina), New River. The Cr ...

and is located entirely 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 3,847 at the 2020 census, but as many as 50,000 tourists each week inhabit the area during the summer season, filling up vacant rental properties that do not count toward official census results. Today, the oceanfront is lined with large and small homes, duplexes,

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

s, and one oceanfront hotel. Emerald Isle has a family-oriented atmosphere. Recent beach renourishment projects in North Carolina, including Emerald Isle, have been both praised and questioned.

History

From about 1 AD to

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

, Emerald Isle was home to Native Americans. Later, the area was settled by a small number of whalers and

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

. In the 1920s, Henry Fort, who owned the Emerald Isle beaches and land surrounding them, hoped to open a large summer tourist attraction and ocean resort. Fort worked with developers, but the plans never materialized. After his death, his daughter Anita Maulick inherited Emerald Isle. In 1951, seven people purchased the stretch of island for $350,000 from Anita Maulick. Emerald Isle was sliced into 54 blocks of , each going from ocean to sound. The partners drew from a hat for the ownership of blocks. Because they wanted Emerald Isle to be family-oriented, the owners limited commercial development and

mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabrication, prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or ...

s to five blocks each. In 1960,

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service began, providing wider access to the Bogue Banks beaches of modern-day Emerald Isle.Emerald Isle at insiders.com
/ref> In 1971, the Cameron Langston Bridge was opened to provide access from

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

to the western end of Bogue Banks and Emerald Isle. The bridge, spanning the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

, offers a great view of Bogue Sound and Bogue Banks. The opening of the bridge increased island development. Emerald Isle is a popular vacation spot for families and is also known for excellent fishing and a wealth of marine life. Its beaches are a favorite location for nesting

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...

s, which are protected by federal law.

Geography

Emerald Isle is located in southwestern Carteret County at the western end of

, 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 ...

. To the south is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the north is Bogue Sound separating the island from mainland

. The town extends to the western tip of the island, ending at Bogue Inlet, while to the east the town is bordered by Indian Beach. NC Highway 58 runs through the town, connecting it with the mainland in Cape Carteret. 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 has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.67%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,847 people, 1,769 households, and 1,188 families residing in the town.

2000 census

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 2000, there were 3,488 people, 1,644 households, and 1,088 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 6,017 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.67%

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 ...

, 0.80%

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 ...

, 0.46% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.29% from other races, and 1.12% 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 1.63% of the population. There were 1,644 households, out of which 16.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% 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, 4.0% had a female householder with no male present, and 33.8% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.49. In the town, the population was spread out, with 13.1% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 35.7% from 45 to 64, and 22.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.8 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the town was $84,457, and the median income for a family was $60,257. Males had a median income of $53,365 versus $28,4875 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 $31,316. About 2.1% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Town of Emerald Isle official website

Emerald Isle InsiderInfo.us Area Guide

Emerald Isle Attractions and Restaurants
{{authority control Populated places established in 1951 Towns in Carteret County, North Carolina Towns in North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Bogue Banks Landforms of Carteret County, North Carolina