Oak Island is a

seaside town A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

located in the southeastern corner of

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. Part of Brunswick County, the major portion of the town is on

Oak Island Oak Island is a privately owned island in Lunenburg County on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. The tree-covered island is one of several islands in Mahone Bay, and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The nearest community is th ...

which it shares with

Caswell Beach Caswell Beach is a small seaside town located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in Southeastern North Carolina, United States. Occupying the eastern part of Oak Island (North Carolina), Oak Island in Brunswick County, Nort ...

. Founded in 1999 as the result of the consolidation of two existing towns, Oak Island's main industry is

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Per the 2020 census, the town has a permanent population of 8,396 while its summer population is near 50,000. It along with the town of Caswell Beach is part of the Wilmington, NC, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Oak Island, on which much of the town sits, has been inhabited since the early 19th century when

Fort Caswell 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 ...

was constructed on its east end in 1838. The island developed slowly, but by the late 1930s it began attracting people from nearby

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

with

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...

popular in the areas along 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 ...

(ICW). In 1954,

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and Sou ...

struck, leaving only five buildings standing on the west end of the island The island recovered quickly however, and the towns of

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and Yaupon Beach were incorporated. Along with this increasing level of development came strident demands for a reliable crossing of the ICW to provide access to the island. When the ICW was completed in the late 1930s, a swingbridge initially provided this service. Destroyed by a barge strike in 1971, construction of the high rise Barbee Bridge began almost immediately; it opened for traffic in 1975 (interim service included a ferry and pontoon bridge). A second high rise structure, the Swain's Cut Bridge, was built over the ICW to the island in 2010. In 1999,

and Yaupon Beach, decided to consolidate into the Town of Oak Island, and while

considered the matter, it opted to stay independent. Immediately after the new town got up and running, it began to either incorporate or obtain Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) on properties located to its north on the mainland.

Geography

Oak Island is located in southeastern Brunswick County. 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 (7.02%) is water. It is bordered to the south by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, to the east by

, to the north across the ICW in part by the town of St. James, and to the west by the town of Holden Beach across the Lockwood Folly Inlet. Additions to the town in the 20 years since it was formed in 1999, located on the mainland, consist of the following: •Property on both sides of Long Beach Rd. (NC 133) to include the Cape Fear Regional Jetport, and South Harbour Village with its nine-hole golf course and marina. • Land mostly west of Middleton Blvd. (NC 906) either planned for or under development, the largest of which was the ill-fated Seawatch complex (1738 of the planned 4171 lots are in Oak Island). • Parcels north of Southport-Supply Rd. (NC 211), the most prominent being Midway Commons Shopping Center.

Climate

Summers in the town are hot and humid with an average temperature of , although the beach front is cooled much of the time by sea breezes (the prevailing winds are from the southwest). Ocean water temperatures range from the 50s in winter to the mid 80s in summer. Winters are moderate with an average temperature in the 50s (°F), albeit with brief cold periods. Rain occurs throughout the year with average annual rainfall approximately , 45% of this falling between June and September.Average Weather in Oak Island
/ref> Tropical storms are a continuing source of concern with Hurricane Hazel being the most devastating. In the 1996−1999 period, four major hurricanes (Bertha, Fran, Bonnie, and Floyd) made landfall with

Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful and large tropical cyclone which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth list of named tropical cyclones, named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1 ...

having significant effect on the town. More recently, in October 2016, the eye of

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was a powerful tropical cyclone which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan ...

passed almost directly over the town inflicting extensive damage to the dune system, and in September 2018,

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third hurri ...

caused severe flooding and wind damage in addition to washing away large amounts of beach sand. In the early morning hours of August 4, 2020,

Hurricane Isaias Hurricane Isaias () was a destructive tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage across the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States while also spawning the strongest tropical cyclone-spawned tornado since Hurricane Rita in 2005. Th ...

hit Oak Island as a Category 1 hurricane; the storm surge was around 9 feet, increased by a corresponding high tide. The fishing pier and its hotel, many businesses, and hundreds of homes were damaged, and in many places sand from shoreside dunes was pushed inland for three blocks. An estimated 75−100 vehicles were damaged; floating cars were a common sight at the height of the storm. Power was finally cut off as a safety precaution. In the succeeding weeks, a mandatory evacuation order and damage to rental properties prevented tourism, which is a major source of income for many residents.

Government

The town government operates under a Council-Manager type system where various officials have authority to make decisions on services, revenues and expenditures in accordance with a state issued charter. The council is Oak Island's governing body and consists of five Commissioners and the Mayor. It sets the Town's policy, enacts ordinances and adopts the annual budget. The actual operation of the town's government is accomplished by the Town Manager who is hired by the council. Town Hall is collocated in the center of the island with the Oak Island Police Department, while units of the Oak Island Fire Department and Brunswick County EMS are deployed in various areas of the Town to respond to emergencies

Attractions

Primarily a family beach type locale, the island also provides many other types of recreational activity. The

Oak Island Golf Club The Oak Island Golf Club (OIGC) is a golf club located in Caswell Beach, North Carolina on the south side of Oak Island (North Carolina), Oak Island looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lower Cape Fear (region), Cape Fear region in Bru ...

course and its related practice facilities are open to the public and an outdoor swimming pool is available for its members' use during the summer. Two public fishing piers jut out into the Atlantic Ocean while motor/sail boats moored to piers dot the ICW as well as the Davis Canal and Montgomery Slough. South Harbour Village has a nine-hole public golf course and a marina on the ICW with 1,000 linear feet of alongside dockage. All these waterways also attract a large number of kayakers. The Oak Island Recreation Center located mid-island provides both indoor and outdoor exercise facilities and rents out sports equipment and amenities like balloon tire, beach wheelchairs. Popular sporting events include the "Run Oak Island" Marathon held in February which also features a half-marathon along with a 5K and one mile run. And then in April, the Southport/Oak Island Chamber of Commerce sponsors the ''Oak Island Lighthouse Run'' which includes a half marathon, 10K, 5K and a one-mile fun run. As for other activities, the town puts on an ocean front fireworks display as part of its Fourth of July festivities, and a parade down Oak Island Drive just before Christmas, while the Oak Island Library hosts a wide variety of events to include "

Socrates Cafe Socrates Café are gatherings around the world where people from different backgrounds get together and exchange philosophical perspectives based on their experiences, using the version of the Socratic Method developed by founder Christopher Phill ...

" and "Meet the Author" programs.

Major highways

* * *

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,396 people, 3,662 households, and 2,395 families residing in the town.

2017

As of 2017, the Census Bureau estimated 7,789 people lived in the town, roughly a 14% increase from 2010. The town's racial makeup was 97%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 2%

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 and 0.2% from two or more races. There were 3,605 households with the average size 2.05 persons. As for household income, the Census Bureau's 2017 estimate was $57,670, with 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 ...

being $38,176. About 8.6% 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 ...

. That same year, the town's estimated population by age is as shown in the chart below. The ratio of women to men is 52.3% to 47.7%.

In popular culture

The fourth novel of North Carolina novelist Wiley Cash, ''When Ghosts Come Home'', is a murder mystery set in Oak Island.

References

External links

Town of Oak Island official website

Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce

Oak Island Area Guide
* {{authority control Towns in Brunswick County, North Carolina Towns in North Carolina Beaches of North Carolina Populated places established in 1999 Cape Fear (region) Landforms of Brunswick County, North Carolina 1999 establishments in North Carolina Populated coastal places in North Carolina