The first documented history of present-day Wrightsville Beach began when the Lords Proprietors granted land to Charles Harrison in 1725.

The land grant was for 640 acres (259 ha) located north of the present day Heide Trask Bridge that runs over the Intracoastal Waterway and was the first formal ownership of property near the beach.

In 1883, the Carolina Yacht Club was founded by seven local men who loved to sail and race boats.

The town bears the name of Joshua G. Wright of Wilmington (1842-1890), who developed a local realtor company.

Accessibility to the beach improved in 1887 when Shell Road was completed, running from Wilmington to the edge of the current Intracoastal Waterway.

In 1889, the Ocean View Railroad built a track across Banks Channel to carry visitors to the oceanfront.

Automobiles were banned from Wrightsville Beach until the 1930s, giving the CRPLCo streetcar a virtual monopoly on transportation.

The streetcar operations also carried freight with adapted freight cars, often part of the operations consist mainly of carrying ice in an era before indoor refrigeration was available, allowing the subsequent development of far more snack stands and soda shops along the beach.

In 1913, Lumina enlarged the dance floor and added a movie screen in the surf from which they showed silent films.

After World War II, its popularity slowly declined due to the cancellation of the trolley service to the beach in 1940 and the growing number of other entertainment venues in and around the area.

Lumina changed hands a few times after the war as people tried various ways to make it the hottest spot on the beach.

In 1923 Shell Island was purchased by the Home Realty Company to build a resort for African Americans in the community.

It was built on top of the wreck of the Fanny and Jenny, a Confederate blockade runner that ran aground during its maiden voyage in the Civil War in 1864.

On April 18, 1939, W.R. "Tuck" Savage, who had operated the first electric streetcar in Wilmington, also piloted the city's last one on a return trip to Wrightsville Beach.

The first hurricane hit on August 17, making landfall at Hatteras with widespread destruction at Wrightsville Beach.

Cottages were wiped off the beach, the train trestle was damaged, and the Carolina Yacht Club had to be completely rebuilt.

The storms destroyed the beaches' fishing piers and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

[15] Hurricane Florence made landfall in Wrightsville Beach in 2018 as a Category 1 storm with maximum 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) winds.