Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the nation’s first national seashore, was established in 1937 to preserve significant segments of unspoiled barrier islands along North Carolina’s stretch of the Atlantic Coast.

Established in 1937 and covering some 70 miles of unspoiled barrier islands along North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore—the nation’s first national seashore—occupies a unique place in Native American, colonial, and maritime history, connecting events of great historical importance, from the first English settlement to the German U-boat attacks of World War II.