Featured Stories
Islanders discuss funding for ferries, tolls at community meeting
By Connie Leinbach
Tolling the Hatteras ferry could be a boon for Ocracoke.
That’s one point the Ocracoke Access Alliance made at a community meeting March...
On change, growth and development on Ocracoke
The Ocracoke Civic & Business Association at 6 p.m. tonight (March 17) will discuss the recent Ocracoke Access Alliance trip to Washington, D.C., and...
Researchers to return to Ocracoke to seek more dialog on access issues
N.C. State University professor Dr. K.C. Busch and her team are seeking further dialogue with the Ocracoke community about NC Highway 12 and access...
Hyde County EMS to evaluate ultralight plane for two months
By Connie Leinbach
Hyde County Emergency Services will soon be airborne in a first-in-the-nation trial program using an ultralight aircraft.
The Blackfly, an electric Vertical Takeoff...
The prospect of a Hatteras ferry toll looms
Editor's note: Background information about the ferry tolling process is at the end of this story.
By Connie Leinbach
If the North Carolina Legislature is bent...
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
April 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.
