Discover Historic Corolla Park

With its wide open green spaces and scenic views, Historic Corolla Park is the heart of Corolla in Northeastern North Carolina. It's a great place to take in a seasonal event or simply take a walk, and is home to three unique landmarks—The Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Whalehead in Historic Corolla ,the Currituck Maritime Museum and the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. Outdoor activities such as fishing, crabbing and kayaking the Currituck Sound are welcomed, as are bicycles, kites and leashed pets.

Whalehead in Historic Corolla is a 1920s era Art Nouveau architectural masterpiece and the centerpiece of what has now come to be called Historic Corolla Park. Whalehead's intriguing past is steeped in the 1920s lifestyle of its patriarch and matriarch, Edward Collins Knight Jr. and his wife, Marie Louise Lebel Bonat Knight. The Knights shared a passion for waterfowl hunting, so when Mrs. Knight was not allowed membership into the all-male hunt clubs, her husband had the majestic 21,000-square-foot mansion by the sea constructed for his bride. Tours and exhibits are offered daily.

Currituck County Tourism - Whalehead and Currituck Beach Light at Historic Corolla Park

Tranquil beaches, luxurious accommodations and exhilarating recreational activities make The Northern Outer Banks a perfect place to escape. Located at the top of North Carolina's barrier islands, The Northern Outer Banks divides the Atlantic Ocean from the Currituck Sound.

Currituck County Tourism - 4x4 beach homes with a view of wild Spanish Mustangs

Visitors are welcomed by a friendly southern community where they always feel at home. The Northern Outer Banks is a premiere coastal destination. It's more than the ocean, more than a vacation and more than you imagined! 

Currituck County Tourism - 4x4 beach driving

Wild Horse Museum and Store

Corolla Village is home to the Corolla Wild Horse Museum and Corolla Wild Horse Fund, a non-profit organization that raises funds to protect Currituck's wild Spanish mustangs. The museum offers fun and educational activities for children during the summer months. There is no admission fee and only nominal fees for children's programs.

Discover a land of wild wonder on the shores of The Northern Outer Banks, NC. With unique attractions like the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the legendary wild horses of Corolla, unspoiled beaches and mild coastal temperatures, there's never been a better time to plan your escape.

Call 877-287-7488 today to request your free visitor's guide.

Currituck County Tourism - Wild Spanish Mustangs

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse

This red-brick lighthouse towers above the northern Outer Banks landscape of Historic Corolla Park. Visitors can climb the winding staircase, 220 steps in all, to the top of the lighthouse for a panoramic view of Currituck Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and The Northern Outer Banks. Inside the lighthouse, at the base and on the first two landings, there are museum-quality lighthouse exhibits. On the way up or down, stop to learn about the history of coastal lighthouses, the Fresnel lens, shipwrecks and the lighthouse keepers.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is known as a first order lighthouse, which means it has the largest of seven Fresnel lens sizes. With a 20-second flash cycle (on for 3 seconds, off for 17 seconds), the light can be seen for 18 nautical miles. The distinctive sequence enables the lighthouse not only to warn mariners but also to help identify their locations. Like the other lighthouses on North Carolina's Outer Banks, this one still serves as an aid to navigation. The beacon comes on automatically every evening at dusk and ceases at dawn.

To distinguish the Currituck Beach Lighthouse from other regional lighthouses, its exterior was left unpainted and gives today's visitor a sense of the multitude of bricks used to form the structure.

Currituck County Tourism long dock near Currituck Beach Lighthouse

 

 

Moyock
Hours
*Off-season hours may vary*
Call 252-435-2947 for current hours.
  • Monday9:00am-5:00pm
  • Tuesday9:00am-5:00pm
  • Wednesday9:00am-5:00pm
  • Thursday9:00am-5:00pm
  • Friday9:00am-5:00pm
The Cotton Gin

For those traveling to the Outer Banks, The Cotton Gin is a beloved landmark with its large windmill and picturesque gardens. The Cotton Gin has stood in the same location since 1929, starting as a working cotton gin and growing to a gift store with 4 locations. Visitors are treated to a unique shopping experience in our main store in Jarvisburg, as well as our beach stores in Corolla, Duck, and Nags Head. Explore room after room filled with décor for your home and coastal fashions for both men and women. Discover the brands you really want, like, Vera Bradley, Vineyard Vines, La Mer Luex, Simply Southern, Lindsay Phillips, Scout, Pandora, Kameleon, Brighton, Spartina, Tommy Bahama, Southern Tide and Salt Life and Old Guys Rule - all under one roof!

 

Don’t forget the gourmet market, or shop our beautiful linens for your bedroom and bath. We also feature coastal books and fine art, or just a whimsical fun gift to bring home to family and friends. Stop by soon and don’t forget to try our estate grown wines in our stores or visit our vineyard and winery, Sanctuary Vineyards, located adjacent to the original Cotton Gin in Jarvisburg.

 

Most know The Cotton Gin as a must-stop shop for fine gifts, beachwear, souvenirs and so much more, but this retailer has a long-standing history within the Outer Banks. A local landmark that holds almost a century of memories, The Cotton Gin started from humble beginnings and continues to adapt to the times and tourists. Tommy Wright’s family has been in the Outer Banks for nearly 200 years. His great-great grandfather, Jacob Francis Wright, shipwrecked in Duck back in the early 1800s. Calling these barrier islands his new home, Wright and his family acclimated to their new environment.

 

Adaptation is a common theme for the Wright family. Tommy and his wife Candace, who continue to steer The Cotton Gin, have seen not only their business change with the times, but the Outer Banks as a vacation destination as well. A farm market in Jarvisburg eventually transformed and flourished into several retail locations dotting the Outer Banks.

 

“As the area changed and tourism took off in the 1960s, the family saw people coming for vacations, so they began to grow vegetables and things developed from there,” says Tommy Wright. The Wright family expanded upon the farm market and began to remodel a working cotton gin, later transforming the gin into The Cotton Gin general store in the late 1960s. While the additions to the farm store drew visitors, it was their encounters with the Wright family that kept people coming back year after year, which is something that remains true today.

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Brindley Beach Vacations