National Park Service
The National Park Service is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior; the NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment. As of 2018, the NPS employs 27,000 employees who oversee 419 units, of which 61 are designated national parks. National parks and national monuments in the United States were individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior; the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior.
They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933; the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasn't until that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, made use of this power. Deputy Director Horace M. Albright had suggested to President Roosevelt that the historic sites from the American Civil War should be managed by the National Park Service, rather than the War Department.
President Roosevelt issued two Executive orders to make it happen. These two executive orders not only transferred to the National Park Service all the War Department historic sites, but the national monuments managed by the Department of Agriculture and the parks in and around the capital, run by an independent office. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service and went to work on bringing park facilities up to the standards that the public expected; the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, a ten-year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery and unique natural features to making parks accessible to the public.
Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States' national parks, which have grown in number over the years to 60. Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no state government to manage it, so the federal government assumed direct control. Yosemite National Park began as a state park. Yosemite was returned to federal ownership. At first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the civilian staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the federal government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, the National Park Service, to manage all national parks and some national monuments.
Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. The agency was given authority over other protected areas, many with varying designations as Congress created them; the National Park System includes. The title or designation of a unit need not include the term park; the System as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to metaphorically as "crown jewels". The system encompasses 84.4 million acres, of which more than 4.3 million acres remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres, it is over 16 percent of the entire system; the smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, at 0.02 acre. In addition to administering its units and other properties, the National Park Service provides technical and financial assistance to several "affiliated areas" authorized by Congress.
The largest affiliated area is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres. The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than 0.01 acres. Although all units of the Nat
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a United States national seashore which preserves the portion of the Outer Banks of North Carolina from Bodie Island to Ocracoke Island, stretching over 70 miles, is managed by the National Park Service. Included within this section of barrier islands along N. C. 12, but outside the national seashore boundaries, are Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and several communities, such as Rodanthe and Ocracoke. Cape Hatteras is a combination of natural and cultural resources, provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities. Once dubbed the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" for its treacherous currents and storms, Cape Hatteras has a wealth of history relating to shipwrecks and the US Lifesaving Service; the islands provide a variety of habitats and are a valuable wintering area for migrating waterfowl. The park's fishing and surfing are considered the best on the East Coast. There are each located on a barrier island; the visitor centers offer information about the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, ranger programs, a bookstore.
The Bodie Island Visitor Center is located in the north, adjacent to the Bodie Island Lighthouse, open for tours seasonally. The Hatteras Island Visitor Center and Museum of the Sea is located in the Cape Hatteras Light keeper's quarters, in Buxton, North Carolina. Exhibits include the history, maritime heritage and natural history of the Outer Banks and the lighthouse. Ocracoke Island Visitor Center is located in Ocracoke, North Carolina near the Ocracoke Lighthouse.¨¨ Cape Hatteras National Seashore was authorized by Congress on August 17, 1937. The funds to purchase much of the land for Cape Hatteras National Seashore were donated by multi-millionaire philanthropist Paul Mellon. On June 29, 1940, the name of the park was changed by the U. S. Congress to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area; the name change was done to accommodate hunting interests, which at that time was a unique allowance for a National Park Service managed entity. The park was established as the first national seashore on January 12, 1953, dedicated on April 24, 1958, is co-managed with two other Outer Banks parks, Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island.
It is headquartered at Fort Raleigh. In October 2007, Defenders of Wildlife, along with the National Audubon Society, sued the National Park Service at Cape Hatteras National Seashore for not properly protecting shorebird and sea turtle species that nest on the beaches of the Park; the Park Service was found not to be in compliance with an executive order requiring the establishment of policies and procedures regarding off-road vehicle use on the National Seashore, failing to implement management plans to adequately protect the shorebirds and sea turtles nesting in the park. The Defenders of Wildlife have claimed that the use of ORVs on park lands has degraded the habitat used by the nesting birds, many of which are federally protected species. Many of the beaches and beach access points were placed off limits to ORV use during the months when the birds are nesting; this became a contentious issue among some residents and users of Hatteras Island as ORV access is considered by some to be an important part of regional culture and economics, despite a 2008 study that found that only 3-4% of annual visitors to the National Seashore are ORV users.
In January 2012, the National Park Service instituted its new, final, ORV management plan. Twenty-eight of the seashore's 67 miles are set aside as year-round ORV routes, with only 26 miles designated as year-round vehicle-free areas for pedestrians and wildlife; the remaining 13 miles of seashore are seasonally open to ORVs. For instance, during the first week of July 2012, while less than 20 miles of the beaches are accessible by ORVs, an additional 31.6 miles were open to pedestrians, meaning 78% of the Seashore was open to visitors in some form. The plan proposes new parking facilities, ORV ramps, water shuttles to increase visitor access to beaches. Cape Hatteras Light Bodie Island Light Ocracoke Light Ocracoke Island Hatteras Weather Bureau Station "Cape Hatteras National Seashore". National Park Service "Little Kinnakeet Lifesaving Station: Home to Unsung Heroes". Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan. National Park Service at the Wayback Machine "Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum". "Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance".
"Saving Hatteras Surf Fishing". KeepAmericaFishing™. At the Wayback Machine "Guide to records from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. At Archive.today United States Code
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh spelled Ralegh, was an English landed gentleman, poet, politician, courtier and explorer. He was cousin to younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he is well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era. Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part in the suppression of rebellion in Ireland participating in the Siege of Smerwick, he became a landlord of property confiscated from the native Irish. He rose in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. Raleigh was instrumental in the English colonisation of North America and was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London.
After his release, they retired to his estate at Dorset. In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of "El Dorado". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, not favourably disposed towards him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, he was arrested and executed in 1618. Little is known about Raleigh's birth but he is believed to have been born on 22 January 1552, he grew up in the parish of East Budleigh in South Devon. He was the youngest of the five sons of Walter Raleigh of Fardel Manor in the parish of Cornwood, in South Devon.
His family is assumed to have been a junior branch of the de Raleigh family, 11th century lords of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton in North Devon, although the two branches are known to have borne dissimilar coats of arms, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry. His mother was Katherine Champernowne, his father's 3rd wife, the 4th daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne, lord of the manor of Modbury, Devon, by his wife Catherine Carew, a daughter of Sir Edmund Carew of Mohuns Ottery in the parish of Luppitt and widow of Otes Gilbert of Greenway in the parish of Brixham and of Compton Castle in the parish of Marldon, both in Devon. Katherine Champernowne's paternal aunt was Kat Ashley, governess of Queen Elizabeth I, who introduced the young men at court; the coat of arms of Otes Gilbert and Katherine Champernowne survives in a stained glass window in Churston Ferrers Church, near Greenway. Sir Walter's half-brothers John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert, Adrian Gilbert, his full brother Carew Raleigh were prominent during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.
Raleigh's family was Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near escapes during the reign of Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England. In the most notable of these, his father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution; as a result, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism during his childhood, proved himself quick to express it after Protestant Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. In matters of religion, Elizabeth was more moderate than her half sister Mary. In 1569, Raleigh left for France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars. In 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, but he left a year without a degree. Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court. In 1575, he was registered at the Middle Temple. At his trial in 1603, he stated, his life is uncertain between 1569 and 1575, but in his History of the World he claimed to have been an eyewitness at the Battle of Moncontour in France. In 1575 or 1576, Raleigh returned to England.
Between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions. He was present at the Siege of Smerwick, where he led the party that beheaded some 600 Spanish and Italian soldiers. Raleigh received 40,000 acres upon the seizure and distribution of land following the attainders arising from the rebellion, including the coastal walled town of Youghal and, further up the Blackwater River, the village of Lismore; this made him one of the principal landowners in Munster, but he had limited success inducing English tenants to settle on his estates. Raleigh made the town of Youghal his occasional home during his 17 years as an Irish landlord being domiciled at Killua Castle, County Westmeath, he was mayor there from 1588 to 1589. His town mansion of Myrtle Grove is assumed to be the setting for the story that his servant doused him with a bucket of water after seeing clouds of smoke coming from Raleigh's pipe, in the belief that he had been set alight, but this story is told of other places associated with Raleigh: the Virginia Ash Inn in Henstridge near Sherborne, Sherborne Castle, South Wraxall Manor in Wiltshire, home of Raleigh's friend Sir Walter Long.
Amongst Raleigh's acquai
North Carolina Highway 12
North Carolina Highway 12 is a 148.0-mile-long primary state highway in the U. S. state of North Carolina, linking the islands of the northern Outer Banks. Most sections of NC 12 are two lanes wide, there are two North Carolina Ferry System routes which maintain continuity of the route as it traverses the Outer Banks region. NC 12 is part of a National Scenic Byway; the first NC 12 appeared on the 1924 North Carolina Official Map and at its height ran from NC 30 in Pollocksville to NC 48 near Murfreesboro. Over time it was replaced by both US 258 and NC 58 and ceased to exist in 1958; the current NC 12 first appeared on the 1964 state highway map running from US 158 in Nags Head to Ocracoke. In 1976 NC 12 was extended to US 70 on the mainland and in 1987 was extended north to Corolla. North Carolina Highway 12 begins at US 70 at the unincorporated community of Sea Level. From there NC 12 travels Northeast along Cedar Island Road to Cedar Island. Once the road enters Cedar Island it turns northwest running along the Cedar Bay all the way to the Cedar Island-Ocracoke ferry.
After arriving at Ocracoke the road runs along the western side of Silver Lake in the eastern side of the town. After leaving Ocracoke NC 12 enters the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. NC 12 runs along the middle of the island all the way until it reaches the Cape Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry in Point Beach. After arriving at Hatteras Village, NC 12 turns left onto Coast Guard Road; the road follows Coast Guard Road along the northern part of the town before turning back into NC 12. It runs along a narrow strip of land in the middle of the island before going through Frisco. After passing through Frisco the road goes north of the Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve before going through Buxton and passing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Continuing northward it passes through the communities of Avon, Salvo and Rodanthe, it crosses the New Inlet bridge and a few miles north the Herbert C. Bonner bridge over Oregon Inlet, separating Pea Island from Bodie Island. Nearby is visitor center. NC 12 continues north, where it intersects US 64 and US 158 south of the town of Nags Head.
NC 12 runs through Nags Head along the Virginia Dare Trail just east of US 158. The road continues north through Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores. NC 12 continues along the west bank through the town. NC 12 ends just north of Corolla and south of the Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. Ferries along the route of NC 12 are operated by the North Carolina Ferry System of the North Carolina Department of Transportation; the highway is the easternmost primary route in the state. The Outer Banks Scenic Byway begins at the intersection of Merrimon Road; the Outer Banks Scenic Byway follows US 70 East to NC 12 on Cedar Island. The byway continues onto NC 12 North near Atlantic; the byway crosses the Ocracoke-Cedar Island Ferry north. It follows NC 12 north the rest of the way to the intersection of US 64 and NC 12 in Nags Head where it has its northern terminus; the Outer Banks Scenic Byway spans 131 miles and takes about 6 hours to drive. NC 12 first appeared on the 1924 State highway map running from Kinston to NC 40 south of Halifax.
NC 12 went from Kinston northwest to Snow Hill where it met up with NC 102. From there the road went north to Farmville where it met up with NC 91. From there it continued north to Scotland Neck passing through Tarboro. In Scotland Neck NC 12 ended at NC 40 south of Halifax. By 1933, NC 12 was rerouted to Rich Square and extended south to US 17/NC 30. By 1935, NC 12 was truncated to Kinston with US 258 getting the routing north of Kinston. In 1958 the last portion of NC 12 south of Kinston was renumbered as NC 58The current NC 12 shows up on the 1964 map running from Ocracoke to Whalebone. In 1976 NC 12 was extended onto the mainland to connect with US 70 In 1987, NC 12 was extended north of Nags Head along the Virginia Dare Trail NC 12 was extended further to Corolla, its present northern terminus, a year later.. A condition of the extension imposed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation is the road extends no further than Corolla. Hatteras Island was cut in two on September 18, 2003 by Hurricane Isabel which opened a new inlet 3,000 feet wide and 30 feet deep through the community of Hatteras Village on the southern end of Hatteras Island.
This new inlet was temporarily named the Isabel Inlet after the hurricane. Road access along NC 12 was temporarily severed until the island was repaired and restored by sand pumped ashore by the Army Corps of Engineers. In 2007, Subtropical Storm Andrea caused high winds to push waves over dunes and onto the highway on Hatteras Island, leaving water a foot deep and sand 2 to 3 feet deep in some places. NC 12 was severed in two places by Hurricane Irene in late August 2011; the road was breached by two small inlets, about 200 feet across apiece, in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, north of Rodanthe. As a result, the only way to access Hatteras Island was by ferry. On October 10, 2011, a temporary bridge opened over the largest breach; the bridge, 662 feet long, was replaced in 2017 by an adjacent, more permanent structure. Meanwhile, the inlet has closed; as Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast in October 2012, it has left portions of NC 12 inundated with salt water and sand. That forced the closure of the road, leaving the remaining people on the Outer Banks isolated from mainland North Carolina
Buxton, North Carolina
Buxton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place on Hatteras Island near Cape Hatteras. It is located in Dare County in the U. S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,273. Located at the widest part of Hatteras Island, it is the largest community on Hatteras Island both in terms of area and population, is home to the island's schools and other major public buildings and offices. North Carolina Highway 12 links the community to other Outer Banks communities such as Avon and Hatteras. Buxton is most famous for being the location of Cape Hatteras Light; the residents of Buxton are governed by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Buxton is part of District 4, along with Avon, Hatteras, Rodanthe and Salvo. In addition to Cape Hatteras Light, the SS Lancing shipwreck was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Watersports are common on both the Atlantic Ocean side of the community. Proximity to the convergence of the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream result in the largest surf available on the East Coast.
On the protected soundside of the island, watersports such as windsurfing, kayaking and swimming are all available and accessible. Residents are served by the new Cape Hatteras Elementary School, opened in 2001 and Cape Hatteras Secondary School of Coastal Studies, a combination middle school and high school newly rebuilt in 2007 on the NC 12 site of the original Cape Hatteras Elementary and Cape Hatteras Secondary Schools, in Buxton. Both schools are part of the Dare County Schools district. On May 21, 1942, the body of a British seaman, unidentifiable but presumed to be from the HMT Bedfordshire, sunk by a German U-boat, washed ashore; the month prior, a British sailor from the sunken merchant ship San Delfino had been buried in Buxton. The Bedfordshire seaman was interred in an adjacent plot, resulting in a British Cemetery, formally known as Cape Hatteras Coast Guard Burial Ground
George R. Stewart
George Rippey Stewart was an American historian, novelist, a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. His 1959 book, Pickett's Charge, a detailed history of the final attack at Gettysburg, was called "essential for an understanding of the Battle of Gettysburg", his 1949 post-apocalyptic novel Earth Abides won the first International Fantasy Award in 1951. Born in Sewickley, George Rippey Stewart, Jr. was the son of engineer George Rippey Stewart Sr. who designed gasworks and electric railways and became a citrus "rancher" in Southern California, Ella Wilson Stewart. The younger Stewart earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1917, an MA from the University of California and his Ph. D. in English literature from Columbia University in 1922. He accepted a position in the English department at Berkeley in 1923. After his father died, he dropped the "Jr." from his name. Stewart was a founding member of the American Name Society in 1956-57, he once served as an expert witness in a murder trial as a specialist in family names.
His best-known academic work is Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. He wrote three other books on names: A Concise Dictionary of American Place-Names, Names on the Globe, American Given Names, his scholarly works on the poetic meter of ballads, beginning with his 1922 Ph. D. dissertation at Columbia, remain important in their field. As an author, Stewart's output was at once diverse and important. Ordeal by Hunger, Pickett's Charge, other works are examinations of American history, but are unusual in their probing of the interaction of human beings with their physical and social environments, his greatest achievement as a novelist, Earth Abides, takes somewhat the same perspective, but in the context of a collapse of civilization, in which everything taken for granted about civilization and the situation of human beings in their environment can no longer be assumed. This radically altered circumstance permits Stewart to raise and examine issues if tackled by other novelists.
East of Giants is historical fiction. Man, An Autobiography is one of the few works of speculative anthropology, in which he attempts to deduce how key developments in prehistorical civilization must have unfolded, offers a wealth of original and interesting insights into the character of early civilization. Good Lives provides a series of biographical sketches with the end in view of determining what it is that makes for a good life, an undertaking having much in common with, Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Not So Rich as You Think was a prescient early essay in environmentalism. Storm takes an immense storm as its protagonist, an extraordinary departure in itself, again teases out the consequences for human beings of this large-scale environmental disruption. Other works, such as Names on the Land and American Ways of Life offer other unique insights and perspectives not found anywhere else. Taken together, this enlightening body of work provides a breadth and depth of perspective found elsewhere only in authors like Toynbee, the Durants, Carroll Quigley, but in a far more palatable and accessible form.
Achievements of this stature should have earned Stewart a lasting reputation as one of America's greatest writers and men of letters. However, the significance of his output was overlooked during his lifetime, is now forgotten, he is today known for his only science fiction novel Earth Abides, a post-apocalyptic novel, for which he won the inaugural International Fantasy Award for fiction in 1951. It was dramatized on radio's Escape and served as an inspiration for Stephen King's The Stand, as King has stated; the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls it "one of the finest of all Post-Holocaust/Ruined Earth novels". His 1941 novel Storm, featuring as its protagonist a Pacific storm called "Maria," prompted the National Weather Service to use personal names to designate storms and inspired Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to write the song "They Call the Wind Maria" for their 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon. Storm was dramatized as A Storm Called Maria on the November 2, 1959 episode of ABC's Walt Disney Presents.
Co-produced by Ken Nelson Productions, it blended newsreel footage of several different storms to represent the mega-storm in the novel and traced the storm from its origins in Japan to the coast of California. The cast included non-actors, among them the dam superintendent George Kritsky, the telephone lineman Walt Bowen, the highway superintendent Leo Quinn. Another novel, an historical work, Ordeal by Hunger evoked environmental catastrophes; the Technique of English Verse Bret Harte: Argonaut and Exile English Composition, A Laboratory Course, Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party. ISBN 978-0-395-61159-3 John Phoenix East of Giants Doctor's Oral Take your Bible in one hand. ISBN 978-1-890771-74-4 Names on the Land: an historical account of place-naming in the United States. ISBN 978-1-59017-273-5 Man, An Autobiography Fire Earth Abides. ISBN 978-0-345-48713-1 The Year
Nags Head, North Carolina
Nags Head is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It is sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge; the population was 2,757 at the 2010 census. Early maps of the area show Nags Head as a promontory of land characterized by high sand dunes visible from miles at sea; the origin of the town's name is obscure but it is to have been named after any one of the Nag's Heads on the English coast. A folkloric explanation claims that mules or horses would have lights hung on their heads by nefarious wreckers in order to trick ships into running aground and loot the ships of their valuables; the town's emblem depicts one such equine accomplice from the tale. Around 1830, Nags Head so remains today. Jockey's Ridge is the last vestige of the sand dunes seen by the first explorers, as the area is now developed; the town incorporated in 1961. Nags Head is located at 35°55′55″N 75°36′54″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 6.6 square miles, of which 6.6 square miles is land and 0.1 square miles, or 1.15%, is water.
As of the census of 2010, there were 2,757 people, 1,223 households, 741 families residing in the town. The population density was 413.2 people per square mile. There were 4,884 housing units at an average density of 634.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 94.6% White, 1.6% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 1.4% from other races, 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population. There were 1,223 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.4% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.65. In the town, the population was spread out with 19.2% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $53,095, the median income for a family was $61,302. Males had a median income of $33,289 versus $30,139 for females; the per capita income for the town was $30,157. About 4.4% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.9% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over. Located in Nags Head is the largest sand dune on the East Coast, Jockey's Ridge; the sand dune has migrated over the years from the energy of coastal winds and has buried a miniature golf course along the way. Jockey's Ridge has been popular with hang-gliders since the advent of the sport, as well as kite flyers; the park's visitor center includes an informative museum with exhibits on sand and local fauna. The diversity of wildlife may change with seasonal migrations and includes bird species, mice, occasional deer and rabbits.
One of the most exciting features of the Ridge is its capriciousness. Annual visitors find that ephemeral pools can spring up, the sand can shift, making for a fresh experience every time. From the top of the Ridge, the ocean as well as the sound can be seen. Jockey's Ridge has a sound beach on the Roanoke Sound side; the Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve is 1,092 acres and lies North of Jockey's Ridge and east of Roanoke Sound. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974; as in any other beach town, the ocean and shoreline are the major attractions, providing beaches for swimming, a variety of water sports. A series of historic cottages overlook the beach in sections. There are three piers popular for fishing: Nags Head Pier, Jennette's Pier, Outer Banks Pier; the town features miniature golf courses and small amusement centers with go-karts and bumper cars for family entertainment. Other attractions include various National Register of Historic Places in or near Nags Head, such as the following: Official website Webcams: Nags Head - East and Nags Head - West from outerbanks.net
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