Among the newest of U.S. towns · #282 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Most of Oak Island was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 2000.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1949.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oak Island’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oak Island is among the newest of U.S. towns, #282 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oak Island’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 Oak Island’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1999.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±0.1 points) is firm at this size.
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 Oak Island’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Oak Island, on which much of the town sits, has been inhabited since the early 19th century when Fort Caswell was constructed on its east end in 1838. The island developed slowly, but by the late 1930s it began attracting people from nearby Southport with fox hunting popular in the areas along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). In 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck, leaving only five buildings standing on the west end of the island The island recovered quickly however, and the towns of Long Beach and Yaupon Beach were incorporated. Along with this increasing level of development came strident demands for a reliable crossing of the ICW to provide access to the island. When the ICW was completed in the late 1930s, a swingbridge initially provided this service. Destroyed by a barge strike in 1971, construction of the high rise Barbee Bridge began almost immediately; it opened for traffic in 1975 …
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1999, according to Wikidata. Oak Island’s post office opened in 1949, and the census of 2000 counted 6,571 people here.
How does Oak Island rank for history?
Oak Island is among the newest of U.S. towns, #282 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 Oak Island?
0.1% of Oak Island’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
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