In 1795, Harnett's property was purchased at an auction by James Foy, and the island became part of Poplar Grove Plantation.

[9] During the American Civil War, on September 21, 1863, a Confederate States Navy screw steamer called Phantom, which was acting as a blockade runner, was chased into the shallows along the island by the USS Connecticut.

Confederate sharpshooters shot and killed a U.S. Navy landsman who approached Phantom in an attempt to put out the fire.

[11][12] Another Confederate blockade runner, the Anglo-Confederate Trading Company steamer Wild Dayrell,[13] wrecked in Rich Inlet, on the north side of the island, on February 1, 1864.

[17] On April 17, 1877 a lumber schooner from Norfolk, Virginia, the John S. Lee, wrecked at sea near the island after setting sail from the Cape Fear River in Wilmington towards Venezuela.

[20][22][21] During Prohibition in the 1930s, an illegal whiskey still was operated by Rod Rogers, a local fisherman, on the north end of the island.

[23] During World War II, the United States Coast Guard maintained a structure and small water tower on the island, which itself was patrolled via horseback.

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Bell P-39 Airacobra aircraft based at Bluenthenthal Field used the island for strafing practice.

On March 30, 1971, the Camerons sold Figure Eight Island to Young M. Smith, Jr., an attorney and developer from Hickory, North Carolina, for $4 million.

After two open auctions were held at the New Hanover County Courthouse in 1975, Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company emerged as the island's new mortgage holder.

[25] In August 1974, a federal grand jury indicted fifteen people connected to smuggling 14,000 pounds of marijuana from Colombia at Figure Eight.

[30][31] Due to it being a popular vacation destination for wealthy North Carolinians, celebrities, and politicians, the island has been referred to as "The Hamptons of the South.

[35] In October 2020, a house sold on the island for $5.5 million, becoming the highest sale ever recorded in the North Carolina Regional Multiple Listing Service.

The Eagle Point Golf Club, located on the mainland, has connections to Figure Eight, built by several Island residents.

All utilities and telephone lines were knocked out, septic tanks overflowed, the roads were blocked by debris and standing water, all docks were washed out, and one house was destroyed.

Most live in Rich Inlet, generally considered the southernmost nesting area for the critically endangered Great Lakes piping plover.

[49] Savannah Sparrows, Atlantic Plovers, Greater Yellowlegs, and pelicans have been found in Mason Inlet to the south.

[55] The University of North Carolina at Wilmington surveyed the island's bird populations as part of the $50,000 "Mason Inlet Relocation Project" commissioned by New Hanover County.

Various environmental groups, including the North Carolina Coastal Federation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the National Audubon Society, criticized the proposal, deeming it largely unnecessary and potentially harmful to local bird and fish populations.

[53][56] On November 17, 2016, the Figure 8 Island Homeowners Association announced that the proposal to pursue a Terminal Groin did not pass and would not proceed.

[58] Figure Eight is referenced in the 2020 Netflix original series Outer Banks as an affluent neighborhood where the "Kooks" live.