Sites

At Collins Park in Manteo, NC, centered in the roundabout on Bideford and Sir Walter Raleigh Streets, you will find a life-size bronze statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge standing with courage and conviction and holding a long oar of a rescue boat in his right hand. His statue is accented with a bronze commemorative plaque […]

-National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom- The first Union military victory of the Civil War concluded August 29, 1861 with a naval bombardment and amphibious assault of Confederate forces at Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark, the former being near the location of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum today. Prized for their strategic military value

The Outer Banks has the distinction of being home to one of the most highly awarded rescue crews in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard, the all-Black surfmen of Pea Island Lifesaving Station who earned Gold Lifesaving Medals posthumously for valiance protecting mariners in peril along our coast. From 1880 until his death in

Richard Etheridge (1842-1900) and his family were buried on property that he purchased in the vicinity of the former Freedman’s Colony, and today you can visit his gravesite and public memorial adjacent to the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Inside the Aquarium, you can enjoy a gallery of original portraits painted by local artist James

Island Farm At this living history heritage farm on Roanoke Island, the life of Christiana ‘Chrissy’ Bowser is honored. Born a free black in 1820, she was the cook on the farm from 1845 until her death in 1914. Today, a reconstructed cookhouse is on site, and costumed interpreters use the cookhouse to demonstrate historic