Tides & Towns
Outer Banks · NC

Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills

The central Outer Banks, from the Wright brothers' dunes to Roanoke Island.

Nags Head population
3,168 (2020 census)
First flight
December 17, 1903
Jockey's Ridge
Tallest active sand dune on the East Coast
Tides
Two highs, two lows a day

Then

  1. 1585

    Ralph Lane leads about 108 English colonists to Roanoke Island, just across the sound. They give up and sail home with Francis Drake in 1586.

  2. 1587

    John White brings about 115 colonists. On August 18, his granddaughter Virginia Dare is born, the first child born to English parents in the Americas.

  3. 1590

    White returns to find the settlement abandoned and “CROATOAN” carved into the palisade. What happened to the colonists is still unknown.

  4. 1830s

    Nags Head becomes known as a summer resort. In 1855, Dr. W. G. Pool sells lots from his oceanfront land, and more cottages go up.

  5. 1903

    On December 17, at Kill Devil Hills, Wilbur and Orville Wright make four powered flights. The longest covers 852 feet. They chose the spot for its steady winds and its remoteness.

  6. 1932

    The Wright Brothers National Memorial is dedicated on November 19, atop the dunes where the brothers tested their gliders.

  7. 1961

    Nags Head incorporates as a town.

  8. 2011

    Jennette's Pier, badly damaged by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, reopens in May after the North Carolina Aquariums buy and rebuild it.

Now

Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk run together along the beach road, with Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo across the sound. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site marks the area of the 1580s colonies.

Jockey's Ridge State Park holds the tallest active sand dune on the East Coast, a favorite with hang gliders. The Nags Head Beach Cottages Historic District, listed in 1977, preserves a row of old cottages facing the ocean.

The name's origin is uncertain. Local legend says wreckers hung lanterns on horses' heads to lure ships aground, and the town emblem shows such a horse; it may instead come from places called Nag's Head in England.

On the water

From NOAA's predictions for Jennette's Pier, NC over the next 365 days. Heights are in feet above mean lower low water (MLLW).

Pattern
Two highs and two lows a day, close in size
Typical daily range
3.6 ft
Biggest swing
5.6 ft on Dec 25
Smallest swing
1.8 ft on Mar 30
Highest high
4.9 ft, Oct 1 at 8:46 AM
Lowest low
−1.4 ft, Jan 23 at 1:20 AM

Tide stations around Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills

Sources