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Bald Head Island is a barrier island that lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the Cape Fear River four miles from Southport in southeastern North Carolina. There is also Middle Island and Bluff Island which when joined to Bald Head Island form what has been in the past known as Smith Island. The northern-most subtropical island on the Atlantic, Bald Head Island has a maritime forest, over 10,000 acres of salt marsh and estuaries, and ten miles of ocean beaches. Access is by passenger ferry from the Indigo Plantation Marina or by private boat. There are no private vehicles allowed on the Island. Transporation is by Golf Cart or bicycle. Bald Head Island welcomes guests arriving by passenger ferry or private yacht. Transportation is by golf cart and there are no high-rises except for "Old Baldy", North Carolina's oldest lighthouse, circa 1817. In addition to 14 miles of unspoiled beaches, and 2000 acres of dunes, Bald Head Island boasts a lush maritime forest and 10,000 acres of salt marshes and tidal creeks. The island treasures and protects its natural resources through the efforts of the Bald Head Island Conservancy Group. Community volunteers work with UNC-Wilmington marine biologist to sustain the indigenous loggerhead turtles. History
In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, when pirates ruled the waters off the coast of North Carolina with greed and terror, the Village was a favorite refuge and base for the notorious buccaneers. In all, the waters surrounding Cape Fear were a hideaway for hundreds of pirates, the most famous of which were Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, and Stede Bonnet, the gentlemen pirate.
Bonnet, the so-called "Gentlemen Pirate" from Barbados, was an educated retired military officer who turned to piracy in 1717 as a second career in order to escape what one historian tactfully referred to as "the discomforts he found in a married state." During his short stint as a pirate, Bonnet terrorized the Carolina and Virginia coasts aboard his sailing sloop Revenge with 10 guns and 70 men. For a brief time, Bonnet even linked up with Blackbeard, a pirate who never carried the title "gentlemen." In 1718 Blackbeard was cornered and killed aboard his sloop "Adventure" , by two warships sent by the governor of Virginia. Just three weeks later, Bonnet was captured at Bonnet's Creek in Southport by Colonel William Rhett of South Carolina and hanged near Charlestown. Their deaths marked a dramatic end to the Golden Age of Piracy in North Carolina.
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