Dare County Airport Museum

During the late 1930's and early 1940's, Dare County was served by a small privately-owned airport at Skyco on Roanoke Island. On March 1st, 1940, the Dare County Board of Commissioners appointed a committee to acquire property and begin planning for the construction of a publicly owned airport.

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site protects and preserves known portions of England's first New World settlements from 1584 to 1590.  This site also preserves the cultural heritage of the Native Americans, European Americans, and African Americans who have lived on Roanoke Island. 

 A living look at coastal life in the mid-1800s. Here, an island family experienced the impacts of the Civil War, performed harrowing rescues as members of the US Life-Saving Service, and assisted the Wright Brothers in their dream of achieving powered flight, all while feeding chickens, fishing the sounds, and growing corn for grinding at the windmill. 

Through interactive exhibits, audio-visual programs, and even a virtual airplane ride, visitors may experience a field trip to each refuge with hopes to entice them to visit these special places.  See how the Outer Banks will change as the sea level rises. Sit for a spell in the old Dare Forest Supply Store and experience life through a short multi-sensory film, when Buffalo City was a bustling logging and moonshining town!  

North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island features a shark tank, sea turtles, events, and activities. Gently stroke a stingray or a hermit crab at the touch tanks.   Or you can visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit that houses the largest collection of sharks in the state at the aquarium.  

The Outer Banks History Center is a regional archival research facility in Manteo, N.C. on historic Roanoke Island administered by the Special Collections Section of the State Archives of North Carolina. Its holdings document the history and culture of the North Carolina coast and adjacent areas. 

The Pea Island Lifesaving Station is historically significant and distinctive as it was the only lifesaving station in the US to be manned by an  all-black crew.

Experience a new adventure in an old world at Roanoke Island Festival Park. This 25-acre historic site allows guests of all ages to experience first-hand what life was like for the first English settlers in 1585. 

In 1998 the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum was opened in downtown Manteo on the waterfront.  The Museum is located in the George Washington Creef Boathouse.  

The lighthouse is on the Manteo waterfront, on the east side of Roanoke Island.  The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse is an exterior reconstruction of the square cottage-style screw-pile lighthouse which stood at the southern entrance to Croatan Sound, near Wanchese.  

Fanciful and elaborate gardens were kept to entertain Queen Elizabeth I during her reign. Our garden was created for your enjoyment, and as a living memorial to the time when Sir Walter Raleigh’s lost colonists lived in this very place over 400 years ago.