Drum Inlet

Drum Inlet initially opened at mile 19 in about 1899, but closed naturally by 1919.

It reopened during the 1933 Outer Banks Hurricane, but closed by 1971 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged and blasted a new inlet, called New Drum Inlet, at mile 22.

The purpose of New Drum Inlet was to allow commercial fishing vessels to access ocean from several small coastal communities; however, the inlet shoaled before any commercial vessels used it.

[1] In August 1999 Hurricane Dennis reopened the original Drum Inlet, at mile 19, which become New Old Drum Inlet, but it has again closed around 2008.

[2] Similarly small section of Core Bank between New Drum Inlet and Ophelia Inlet, which existed in years 2005 to 2008, was referred to as New Core Island.