Featured Stories
Occupancy Tax Board awards grants to island nonprofits
Approved by the Hyde County Board of Commissioners in May, the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board has granted 15 Ocracoke nonprofits $826,935 for fiscal year...
Martin Hanson: Juneteenth is my Fourth of July
By Martin Henson, Beacon Media
Juneteenth is my Fourth of July. It comes with all my favorite things: barbecues, commemorations, elders standing up on stages...
The Castle gets new owners, new look
By Jeanne Brook
Haven’t you always wanted to own a castle?
The Castle Inn at Silver Lake went up for sale last year. Built in the...
New community garden aims to provide good food and sanctuary
Text and photos by Jeanne Brook
Between the Ocracoke United Methodist Church and the family graveyards on Howard Street lay a tangle of brush, vines...
North Carolina must invest in Ocracoke’s lifelines
Ocracoke Island recently received something important: the full attention of North Carolina’s transportation leadership.
A visit on May 5 by Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson and...
General Island Information
The Ocracoke lighthouse was 200 years old in 2023. Photo: C. Leinbach
Island Images
A Snowy Owl over the Ocracoke dunes. Photo: P. Vankevich
Snowy South Point Road. Photo: P. Vankevich
Northern lights seen on Ocracoke Nov. 12, 2025. Photo by Ocracoke Harbor Inn
An Ocracoke canal. Photo: C. Leinbach
The Ocracoke ponies. Photo: P. Vankevich
Ocracoke summer surf. Photo: C. Leinbach
The Island Inn Commons in bloom. Photo: C. Leinbach
Sunset cruise on the Pamlico Sound. Photo: C. Leinbach
June 2026 print issue
The Ocracoke Observer website won first place in the 2020-2021 NCPA contest Online Division, plus four other awards. It has won more than 60 awards, many in first place, since joining the N.C. Press Association in 2015 and entering the contest starting in 2016.
