Place:Oak Island, Brunswick, North Carolina, United States

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NameOak Island
TypeTown
Coordinates33.916°N 78.131°W
Located inBrunswick, North Carolina, United States


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Oak Island is a seaside town located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina, United States. Part of Brunswick County, the major portion of the town is on Oak Island which it shares with Caswell Beach. Founded in 1999 as the result of the consolidation of two existing towns, Oak Island's main industry is tourism. Per the 2010 census, it had a permanent population of 6,783, which in 2019 was estimated to be 8,386. Its average summer population ranges from 30 to 50,000 and the town is considered to be a part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Oak Island, on which much of the town sits, has been inhabited since the early 19th century when Fort Caswell was constructed on its east end in 1838. The island developed slowly, but by the late 1930s it began attracting people from nearby Southport with fox hunting popular in the areas along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). In 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck, leaving only five buildings standing on the west end of the island The island recovered quickly however, and the towns of Long Beach and Yaupon Beach were incorporated in late 1990s Along with this increasing level of development came strident demands for a reliable crossing of the ICW to provide access to the island. When the ICW was completed in the late 1930s, a swingbridge initially provided this service. Destroyed by a barge strike in 1971, construction of the high rise Barbee Bridge began almost immediately; it opened for traffic in 1975 (interim service included a ferry and pontoon bridge). A second high rise structure, the Swain's Cut Bridge, was built over the ICW to the island in 2010. In 1999, Long Beach and Yaupon Beach, decided to consolidate into the Town of Oak Island, and while Caswell Beach considered the matter, it opted to stay independent. Immediately after the new town got up and running, it began to either incorporate or obtain Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) on properties located to its north on the mainland.

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