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Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is a cool place to learn about ships and the ocean! It's a maritime museum located in Hatteras Village, which is a small town on Hatteras Island in North Carolina. This museum teaches you all about the amazing history of ships and the many shipwrecks that happened off the coast of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It first opened its doors in 2002.

GraveyardoftheAtlanticMuseum
Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Hatteras, North Carolina, June 2007

What is the Graveyard of the Atlantic?

The name "Graveyard of the Atlantic" sounds a bit spooky, right? It's a special name for the coastal area around the Outer Banks. This area has seen hundreds of ships sink over many years. Ships sank for different reasons, like during wars, because of piracy (when pirates attacked them!), or due to really bad weather and storms.

Exploring the Museum's Cool Exhibits

The museum got a big makeover recently! It started in late 2022 and finished in 2024. Now, it has even more exciting things to see and do.

Some of the awesome things you can find there include:

  • A Monomoy surf boat, which is a special type of boat used for rescues.
  • A huge Fresnel lens that used to be in the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This lens helped make the lighthouse beam super bright!
  • Fun, interactive displays that show you all about the shipwrecks off the coast. You can learn how these ships ended up at the bottom of the ocean.

The museum's exhibits cover a very long time in history. You can learn about the area from before people from Europe arrived, all the way up to today. It's like taking a journey through time!

Part of a Bigger Museum Family

The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is one of three museums that are part of the North Carolina Maritime Museum System. All these museums are managed by the Division of History Museums. This division is part of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Visiting the Museum

It's free to get into the museum, which is great! It's open from Monday to Friday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Just remember, it's closed on State holidays.

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