Learn FIVE REASONS WHY Morehead City (MHC) is a FANtastic WATERFRONT Community

Morehead City offers residents a dense suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Morehead City there are a lot of bars and restaurants. Many families, young professionals, and retirees, alike, live in Morehead City and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Morehead City are highly rated, among the best in the State. Though not as old as some of its neighbors, like the more than 300-year-old town of Beaufort just to its east, Morehead City nevertheless has a unique history that’s evident around every waterfront corner. Envisioned by a governor, and eventually inhabited by residents fleeing a hurricane, the town of Morehead City stands out for its deliberate creation, as well as its slow but steady rise to fame as a maritime-oriented vacation destination.

The Morehead City region has been occupied by non-Native Americans since the early 1700s, when settlement of present day Carteret County began in earnest. By the mid-1800s, the neighboring port town of Beaufort was already well established, as was the outlying whaling community of “Diamond City” on the present day Shackleford Banks. It was about this time that John Morehead came up with the idea of creating a major commercial port city at the mouth of the tidal Newport River.

Recognizing that the newly developed North Carolina railroad would assist with the new town’s status as a major port – Morehead bought 600 acres from the prominent Arendells and formed the Shepard Point Land Company in 1857. The terminus of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroads was indeed constructed in Shepard Point in 1857, and soon after Morehead divvied up the 600 acres into 150 lots that were sold at a public auction. The timing was ideal, as just days after the railroad was officially completed, the lots were all sold in anticipation of the new town.

Morehead City was officially incorporated in 1861, with a local Arendell - Bridges Arendell, Jr. - as the mayor, and the port, also known as Pier 1, became one of the largest ports in the region thanks to the natural location where the Newport River ran 18-20 ft. deep. No dredging required. and the ability to transport goods inland on the railroad.

Just as Morehead City was starting to experience rapid growth, the Civil War put a stop to development, as Union forces invaded early on and soon occupied the town. The railroad, however, remained a bit of a lifeline, and in the 1880s the area began to experience a wave of new visitors who would ride the train to access the decadent hotel, ballroom, piers, and ferries along the present day Crystal Coast.

A resurgence of the local population also occurred after a wave of battering hurricanes pummeled through Diamond City, on Shackleford Banks. After these storms – and especially the Great Hurricane of 1899 – many fishermen who lived on the island migrated inland, settling in Morehead City along a stretch of town in between 10th and 15th streets the “Promise Land.” The newly relocated fishermen became the heart of a revitalized commercial fishing industry that is still essential to the town today.

During the mid-20th century, the original heart of Morehead City, what was now called downtown, started to go downhill, as expansion occurred to the west. This could have been the end of the downtown’s story, but in the 1980s, the town, with the help from grants and private investment, started to bring the waterfront and infrastructure back to life. Original structures were remodeled, new parks or businesses were established, and eventually, Morehead City became the popular tourism community it is today.

Here, in 2021, the town of nearly 9,500 residents is a unique mix of traditional commercial fishermen, visitors and tourist-oriented business owners, and local residents. The railroad may be long deemphasized, but the entrepreneurial spirit which first brought Morehead City to fruition is alive and well, thanks to community-wide initiatives to create a charming and beloved vacation destination.

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