KURE BEACH, NC—A lot can happen in half a century. For that matter, a lot can happen in a year. At the end of calendar year 2021, Fort Fisher State Historic Site achieved its goal of more than one million visitors annually, a first for Fort Fisher or any historic site within the NC Division of State Historic Sites. When the turnstiles stopped at year’s end, total onsite visitation for calendar year 2021 reached 1,052,270.
Fort Fisher became North Carolina’s first designated historic site in 1961, with a visitors’ center built near the Confederate fort’s surviving earthworks. At the time, annual capacity was estimated at 25,000 guests. The impact of the site’s 21st century popularity has never been lost on Fort Fisher Site Manager Jim Steele, who has been at the helm of Fort Fisher for more than a decade now.
“Ten years ago in 2011, Fort Fisher had just over 600,00 visitors. The astonishing growth since then supports and drives home the importance of building a new, modern interpretive center to meet demand and better serve all the citizens of NC,” Steele said. He and other state officials, along with the site’s non-profit support group, the Friends of Fort Fisher, are supporting plans for a new 100-year building that is substantially larger and better than the current facility, along with recreated earthworks and gun emplacements.
Located at 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd S, Kure Beach, N.C. 28449, Fort Fisher is part of the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR), the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational, and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary D. Reid Wilson, NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries, and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation's first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office, and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov