Portsmouth

Tucked onto Portsmouth Island along North Carolina's Core Banks, Portsmouth is an abandoned village with roots stretching back to 1753, when the North Carolina Colonial Assembly established it as a fishing and shipping community. Ocracoke Inlet separates the island from the village of Ocracoke to the north, and the tidal nature of the island shapes everything about the landscape and the experience of visiting. The settlement functioned for more than two centuries before its last residents departed in 1971.

Today the site falls within Cape Lookout National Seashore, preserving what remains of the village amid a remote coastal setting. Visitors will find a quiet, wind-swept place where historic structures and open terrain speak to a long-gone way of life. Because the island is accessible only by water, reaching Portsmouth requires advance planning — typically a ferry or private boat from the mainland or Ocracoke — and there are no services once you arrive. The isolation is real, and weather on the barrier island can shift quickly, so timing and preparation matter.