One road, North Carolina Highway 130, crosses the Intracoastal Waterway to connect Holden Beach with the mainland.

[5] Before the American Revolution, early settlers seeking land near Lockwood's Folly River applied for patents and received warrants for surveys of selected tracts.

Upon payment of fifty shillings for each 100 acres (400,000 m2), the warrantee could receive a permanent grant for Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs.

During the Civil War Holden Beach and Lockwood's Folley Inlet became the resting place of several shipwrecks: the Confederate blockade runners CSS Elizabeth and CSS Bendigo and the Union blockade ship USS Iron Age.

Its wreck is marked with an orange navigation warning buoy and is located between Holden Beach and Oak Island.

While the vessel's wreck is roughly 200 feet (61 m) long, only the base of the engine's exhaust funnel and a small portion of superstructure are visible above water.

The ship is easily reached during low tide by swimming, but the wreck is extensively covered in abandoned fishing hooks and gear that may present potential hazards.

Luther S. Holden, John's son, operated the old hotel that his father had built, started development of the property nearby and became a permanent resident in 1946.

Today the chapel serves the many hundreds who live on and around Holden Beach and the numbers of visitors who vacation on the island during the summer months.

The town commissioners are Woody Tyner, Brain Murdock, Mike Sullivan, Rick Smith, and Pat Kwiatkowski.