Outer Banks History Center

Tucked away on Ice Plant Island at Roanoke Island Festival Park in downtown Manteo is the Outer Banks History Center, a regional archives and research library administered by the North Carolina Office of Archives and Records. The Center's collection holds books, manuscripts, periodicals, microfilm, photographs, maps, and organizational and personal papers that all relate to the colorful history of the Outer Banks and surrounding region.

The core of the Center's collection was donated to the State of North Carolina in 1986 by author and historian, David Stick, who assembled a massive research library while working on such books at The Outer Banks of North Carolina, Graveyard of the Atlantic, Bald Head Island, and The Ash Wednesday Storm.

The Outer Banks History Center serves students, genealogists, writers, historians, researchers and anyone interested in learning more about this history and culture of the area. The library is closed-stack, which means the collection is not available for browsing. The materials are housed in a climate-controlled vault, and retrieved for use by the Center's staff. Out of town patrons are encouraged to call the Center prior to their visit.

The Center also maintains a gallery with exhibits rotating on an annual basis. Some past exhibits have highlighted Outer Banks Civil War history, the Lost Colony drama, selections from its extensive map collection, and local area photographs. You can visit the Center's website and search its holdings with their online catalog.



For more information: Outer Banks History Center