Atlantic Beach Real Estate

The oldest of five towns on Bogue Banks along the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, Atlantic Beach has been a resort destination from its beginnings. In the late 1800s, the area was a popular destination for weekend sails from neighboring Morehead City.

A toll bridge to the island opened in 1928, improving accessibility and sparking the development of a beach resort. While a fire within a year of the bridge's construction destroyed all but one of the buildings in Atlantic Beach, a hotel opened there in 1931, and the area slowly began to grow.

Toll charges on the bridge were dropped after it was sold the state. A drawbridge replaced the original bridge in 1953, which has since been replaced by a four-lane, high-rise bridge. Atlantic Beach is home to about1,765 permanent residents, but during peak tourism season in the summer, the populations reaches about 35,000.

The Hoop Pole Creek Nature Trail runs through a 31-acre maritime forest located on the island, which serves as a habitat for a number of fish, wildlife, and plant species. At one  end of the island is Fort Macon State Park, an important Civil War site.