North Carolina's Northeast

You're just a click away from North Carolina's Northeast, where it's easy to walk back in time. For instance, visit the site of the first European settlement in America ~ the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. Next door, stroll through the lovely Elizabethan Gardens, a memorial to those brave English colonists. Stand atop the dune where the Wright Brothers National Memorial' aircraft made its famous first flight. Or walk in the surf on the oldest national seashore in the United States, Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Climb upwards in two of our historic lighthouses, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and Currituck Beach Lighthouse at Corolla. While in Corolla, be sure to visit the Whalehead Club, an historic hunt club completed in 1925, the first home on the Outer Banks to have a basement, elevator and swimming pool.

But the history of the region doesn't stop at the shore. Towns such as Edenton and Bath give visitors a close look at pre-Revolutionary America. History abounds in museums, such as Museum of the Albemarle, and historic sites like Historic Murfreesboro or Historic Halifax County. Costumed hosts wait to guide the visitors through the countless historic homes open to the public, including Hope Plantation, Somerset Place Plantation and the Newbold-White House, perhaps the oldest house in our state.

Listen closely and you'll hear the echoes of early explorers, or the haunting laugh of Blackbeard The Pirate, who hid out in this area, particularly around Ocracoke Island, or war cries from soldiers of the Indian, Revolutionary & Civil wars. At Fort Branch, where A Civil War battle re-enactment is held annually, the original cannons have been rescued from the bottom of the river and restored. Learn more about the Civil War and "The Battle Of Plymouth" at Port O' Plymouth Roanoke River Museum.

The northeastern corner of our state is a lacework of rivers, lakes & backwater streams populated by historic villages and towns, connected by picturesque roads beside prehistoric pocosin swamps. Lake Mattamuskeet is home to a myriad of endangered animals and plants, as well as thousands of migrating waterfowl during the winter months. The Dismal Swamp Canal, part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, is the oldest man-made waterway in continuous use in our country.

In this land of natural beauty, nature has been preserved for future generations in five state parks ~ Medoc Mountain, Jockey's Ridge, Merchants Millpond, Pettigrew & Goose Creek. We also have countless wildlife refuges and preserves, as well as the Cashie Wetlands Walk in Windsor and the Scuppernong River Walk in Columbia.

Besides the myriad of attractions and historic sites, a variety of special events and festivals provide a taste of our heritage and culture around the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, and along the Outer Banks.

The Pirate Blackbeard once buried treasure in our region. Today, there is still treasure to be found here. North Carolina's Northeast ~ A GREAT PLACE TO VISIT!