The Shepard Point Land Company's objective was to take advantage of the natural deep channel of Topsail Inlet, known today as the Beaufort Inlet, which splits Bogue Banks from Shackleford Banks and provides access to Morehead City, Beaufort, North Carolina, the Newport River and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Fully operational rail service began in July 1858 connecting the town to points west, north, and south.

Morehead City was officially incorporated by the North Carolina Senate in 1860, at which time the total number of households consisted of only 300 individual families.

It was not until the 1880s, with the construction of the Atlantic Hotel at the tip of the peninsula and its promotion by the railroad as the "Summer Capital by the Sea," that the area began to experience a resurgence.

The popularity of this particular hotel, with its train depot entrance, grand ballroom, piers, sailing, and ferries to the beaches of Bogue Banks, helped to establish Morehead City as a summer destination.

The traditional downtown area had deteriorated and, as newer stores opened further west, the decay in the old center of town accelerated.

Finally, in the 1980s, a renewal began when the town obtained a Community Development Block Grant to replace an aging infrastructure and improve the appearance of the waterfront area.

[11] Morehead City also is home to the Research and Compliance Branch North Carolina Marine Fisheries Division, a governmental organization.

There are many opportunities for recreational fishing when in Morehead City because of its pristine estuaries and close proximity to the Continental Shelf and Gulf Stream.

[13] Morehead City and surrounding areas are a popular scuba diving destination, particularly for the many shipwrecks that have led the waters off North Carolina to be nicknamed the "Graveyard of the Atlantic".

It occupies a peninsula bordered to the south by Bogue Sound and to the north and east by the tidal Newport River.

[4] Morehead City has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with long, hot summers and short, cool winters.

[20] Into the early 1950s, the Atlantic and East Carolina Railway ran a daily passenger train to Goldsboro' s Union Station.

[23] The North Carolina Department of Transportation as of 2007 was studying the resumption of intercity passenger train service from Raleigh through Goldsboro to Morehead City.