Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States. It is found where several rivers, such as the Chowan and Roanoke, meet the sea. The sound is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a sandy strip of land where the town of Kitty Hawk is located. This area is part of the bigger Outer Banks region.

Roanoke Island sits at the southeastern corner of Albemarle Sound, connecting it to another large body of water called Pamlico Sound. The water in Albemarle Sound is often not salty like the ocean because rivers pour fresh water into it, making much of it brackish or even fresh.

Parts of Albemarle Sound have their own special names. For example, the area between mainland Dare County and Roanoke Island is known as Croatan Sound. The water near the eastern shore of Roanoke Island is called Roanoke Sound. The stretch of water from close to the Virginia border down to southern Currituck County is known as the Currituck Sound.

Albemarle Sound is also part of a waterway that runs along the Atlantic coast, called the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Long ago, early English settlers from Virginia lived along the sound and created some of the first permanent European settlements in what is now North Carolina. Today, many communities near the sound are considered part of the Inner Banks region.

History

The Pamlico people and their ancestors lived in the area for thousands of years. During the Late Woodland period, they traveled the sound in dugout canoes to catch fish, often setting up seasonal fishing camps.

In 1586, the first European explorers sailed up the fifty-five-mile length of the Albemarle Sound. Soon after, settlers from Virginia arrived, establishing farms and trading posts. The sound became an important route for ships carrying goods like spices and sugars from the West Indies in exchange for local products such as tobacco, herring, and lumber.

Fishing has always been important here. In the past, fishermen used very large nets to catch fish like shad, striped bass, and herring. Today, water pollution has greatly reduced the fish population in the area.