The Village of Ocracoke

The Fishing Village of Ocracoke

Picturesque, idyllic, Ocracoke is a classic fishing village surrounding Silver Lake, a beautiful harbor with docks lining the shore. Accessible by ferry only, there is nothing else like Ocracoke on the Outer Banks.

It is a small village—the population is somewhere between 900 and 1000, but it is steeped in history. Blackbeard met his end here and the Ocracoke Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouses still in use in the United States.

Ocracoke is perfect for a day trip or an extended vacation. Either way, park the car and walk or ride a bike. The town is that small.

How Ocracoke Got Its Name

The village name is derived from an American Indian word, although it is unclear what the original pronunciation was or its meaning.

When John White, the leader of the failed Lost Colony expedition, marked the island on a map, he designated the inlet to the south of the island as “Wokokon.” Over the years different spellings appeared on maps, finally settling on Ocracoke sometime in the 19th century.

Navigating Ocracoke

Most visitors arriving on Ocracoke will be taking the ferry from Hatteras. The terminal is on the north end of the island about 14 miles from the village. It is a free ferry. In the summer there can be a wait to board a ferry so be patient. Ocracoke residents and commercial traffic have priority.

The drive into town passes through Cape Hatteras National Seashore. There are sections of the road that are very close to the Atlantic Ocean.

The village business district is very compact and can be easily navigated on foot, bike or golf cart. The streets of the town are quite narrow and traffic at a crawl. Our advice is to park your car—there’s almost always parking at the Ferry Terminal in town. The Ferry Terminal docks are for the larger ferries that connect with Cedar Island and Swan Quarter.

NC12 is called Irvin Garrish Highway in Ocracoke.

Hurricane Dorian

It’s recent history, but it should be noted.

Striking in early September of 2018, Hurricane Dorian was the most destructive storm to ever strike Ocracoke. The flooding from the storm damaged or destroyed 40% of the buildings in the town.

It was a perfect combination of events that caused the flooding—a huge powerful storm and winds aligning to push a storm surge through the channel leading to Silver Lake. Once in Silver Lake the only place for the water to go was into the village.

Ocracoke has done a remarkable job of recovering, but evidence of the storm’s effects can be seen in how many buildings are being raised.

Tot get a sense of how high the flood waters were, check out the Village Craftsman on Howard Street where they have marked the high water points of storms over the years.