Island Farm
Visit Island Farm, a living history site that tells the story of the everyday Outer Bankers that lived on Roanoke Island in the 1850s. Here, an island family experienced the impacts of the Civil War, performed harrowing rescues as members of the US Life-Saving Service, and assisted the Wright Brothers in their dream of achieving powered flight, all while feeding chickens, fishing the sounds, and growing corn for grinding at the windmill.
Visit the Farm!
On any given day at Island Farm, our staff is telling the real story of the hardscrabble life of Roanoke Islanders who first settled here – after the Lost Colony, and before the Civil War and the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
You’ll find unique programs every day, live demonstrations including blacksmithing, traditional agricultural, food preparation, hearth cooking, weaving and spinning wool, feeding the animals, and so much more! This is hands-on history – don’t miss it
Our Mission, Our Story.
We began our work in 1980. At that time, the duplex Keepers’ Dwelling at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse compound had been abandoned for nearly 45 years. For Outer Banks Conservationists, it was worth saving. Ten years later, the Keepers’ Dwelling was almost completely restored, the entire compound manicured and reclaimed, and the Lighthouse – open to the public. Today, we continue to maintain and operate the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, along with another historic site – Island Farm on Roanoke Island.
We work to protect natural, cultural, and historic resources through preservation and conservation of a sense of place, and through public education, interpretation, and outreach, to instill these values in others for the benefit of future generations.
Our staff, working on the Currituck Banks and on Roanoke Island, operate a lighthouse and farm not as employees – but as your hosts to another time and place. As they go about their chores, cleaning the Fresnel lens that still flashes every 90 seconds, or shearing the sheep that graze several feet from centuries-old oak trees, they keep alive the sense of place so that your family can make their own memories of the Outer Banks.
We are a lean group of conservators, taking a dynamic role in the history of our place.
