Topsail Island

North Topsail Beach is a town in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,005 at the 2020 census. It is located on Topsail Island. North Topsail Beach is part of the Jacksonville, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Surf City Pier is a fishing pier located in Surf City, North Carolina, United States, at 112 S Shore Drive. At 937 feet (286 m) in length, it is the only remaining Pier in Surf City. Previously, the pier contained an 40 feet (12 m) octagon at the end and two fish cleaning stations are located on its decks. The pier is one of the local attractions for both visitors and residents.

Holly Ridge is a town in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. The 2010 population was 1,268. The 2020 census population was 4,171. It is part of the Jacksonville, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is considered the gateway to Topsail Island. Population Boom: In 1940, the town had 28 residents. Just three years later in 1943, the town had ballooned to 1,000 residents due to the establishing of the Camp Davis Army post. Industry: The town's largest employer is J&J Snack Foods. Industrial growth is strengthening with the growth of the Camp Davis Industrial Park which resides on the same land that Camp Davis had occupied. The industrial park's largest tenants are Gulfstream Steel and Onslow Bay Boatworks. Atlantic Seafood is planning a 63,000 square foot facility with construction slated to begin in 2021. Plans for developing an additional 60 acres (referred to Camp Davis Industrial Park Phase 2) is underway with hopes to have shovel ready lots available for purchase in 2023.

Surf City is a town in Onslow and Pender counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,867 at the 2020 census. It is located on Topsail Island. The Pender County portion of Surf City is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Onslow County portion is part of the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is an American nonprofit environmental organization in Surf City, North Carolina, devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of sick and injured sea turtles. It began from the Topsail Turtle Project, a volunteer initiative that works to preserve and protect sea turtle nests, nesting females, and hatchlings along Topsail Island's coastline. Karen Beasley, a local woman who started the Turtle Project in her teens, died in 1991. She asked her mother to use her life insurance proceeds to start a rehabilitation center for injured sea turtles. It opened in 1997 and moved to a newer and larger site in 2013. It is the only sea turtle rehabilitation center in the state. The center works to conserve and protect all species of marine turtles, both in the water and on the beach. It rescues, treats, and releases around 100 sea turtles each year, for a total of over 2,000 total turtles. They have also kept over 2,500 sea turtle nests safe so that young can safely hatch. The hospital provides year-round care for injured or stranded sea turtles, using advanced diagnostics and treatments such as medical-grade honey, physical therapy, and a therapy pool to aid recovery. Turtles receive environmental enrichment and naturalistic feeding to build strength and prepare for release. Research on the treatment of sick and injured sea turtles at the center has been published in academic journals. Some turtles are permanent residents at the center due to medical issues that prevent them from surviving in the wild.

Sloop Point Plantation is a historic house located at Sloop Point, Pender County, North Carolina. It was built in 1729 according to dendrochronological dating and is possibly the oldest surviving framed building in the state of North Carolina. The house was built as a home for John Baptista Ashe and his wife Elizabeth Swann Ashe.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Sloop Point is an unincorporated community and village in Pender County, North Carolina, United States. It was an incorporated village, incorporated on July 1, 1996, and subsequently disincorporated on July 22, 1998, making it one of the shortest lived municipalities in the state's history, lasting just over two years.The community is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Observation Tower No. 2, also known as Queen's Grant Tower, is a historic building located at Topsail Island, Pender County, North Carolina. It was built in 1946 by Kellex Corporation, and is a reinforced concrete structure. The interior stairs have been removed. It was one of seven observation towers built to house carefully calibrated monitoring equipment for "Operation Bumblebee."It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Stone Bay is a satellite facility of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Based on the south side of Camp Lejeune, it is home to Weapons Training Battalion, which functions as the primary facility for weapons qualifications on Camp Lejeune, having several shooting ranges: three rifle ranges, two pistol ranges, and one long sniper range and the headquarters of United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, with the MARSOC compound on Stone Bay opening in 2010. The parent command responsible for the ranges is Weapons Training Battalion (WTBN). WTBN is broken down into two companies, Range Company and Headquarters Company. Headquarters Company contains the Marksmanship Training Unit, which is responsible for training Marines to become Combat Marksmanship Coaches and Combat Marksmanship Trainers in support of range operations. Three of the ranges (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie respectively) are standard USMC ranges up to 500 yards for rifle qualification. An excess of 25,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune conduct their annual rifle qualifications at Stone Bay. Two pistol ranges are standard USMC known distances. One range is the known and unknown distance sniper course. 1,000 meters is the longest known distance shot on this range. Stone Bay's rifle ranges have also been utilized for the purpose of testing new annual rifle training qualifications for the Marine Corps at several points in its history, most recently during the transition from the Annual Rifle Training (ART) course of fire to the Annual Rifle Qualification (ARQ). The new ARQ course of fire has an intent of replicating combat conditions where participating Marines "Close distance" with a human-sized target starting at the 500 yard line, advancing to the 300, 200, 100, and 25 yard lines over the course of fire conducting numerous shooting drills. In August and September of 2020, a total of 205 Marines from the ranks of Private to Captain completed two trial runs of the ARQ course of fire at Stone Bay utilizing the M16 rifle, M4 carbine, and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. The Marine Corps has since adopted ARQ as its standard annual qualifying course of fire for service rifles.

Topsail Beach is a town in Pender County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Topsail Beach had a population of 461. It is part of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Control Tower is a historic building located at Topsail Island, Pender County, North Carolina. It was built in 1946 by Kellex Corporation, and is a reinforced concrete frame measuring 16 feet by 16 feet and 30 feet high. The building was purchased for civilian purposes in 1957 and a flat roof replaced a formerly open platform on the top level. It was erected to serve as commend headquarters for "Operation Bumblebee." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Assembly Building is a historic building located at Topsail Island, Pender County, North Carolina. It was built in 1946 by Kellex Corporation, and is a 1 1/2-story, reinforced concrete and concrete block building. It measures 75 feet by 82 feet and has a low-pitched, gable-front roof. The building was abandoned by the military in 1948 and subsequently used for commercial and recreational purposes. It was erected for the purpose of fabricating and storing missiles used in "Operation Bumblebee." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.