Most of Cape Carteret was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.
History grade
What drives Cape Carteret’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cape Carteret is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cape Carteret’s overall grade.
North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cape Carteret’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (19% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1959.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Cape Carteret’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cape Carteret yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cape Carteret is a town in Carteret County, on the southern coast of North Carolina, United States. It was incorporated in 1959 and had a population of 2,224 as of the 2020 census.
Cape Carteret was established in 1959. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,917 to 2,224 (+16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cape Carteret. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Swansboro sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cape Carteret.
People over time
Cape Carteret, census by census
Grew from 52 people in 1960 to 2,224 in 2020, more than tenfold.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cape Carteret’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Cape Carteret
Nobody well known was born in Cape Carteret itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1959, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1960 counted 52 people here.
How does Cape Carteret rank for history?
Cape Carteret is among the newest of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Cape Carteret?
0.7% of Cape Carteret’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1993.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
