Oak Island is a seaside town located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina, United States. Part of Brunswick County, the major part of the town is on Oak Island which it shares later than Caswell Beach. Founded in 1999 as the result of the consolidation of two existing towns, Oak Island’s main industry is tourism. Per the 2020 census, the Town has a long-lasting population of 8,396 though its average summer population ranges from 30 to 50,000. It along past the town of Caswell Beach is considered to be a part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area.

Oak Island, on which much of the town sits, has been inhabited past the forward 19th century in the same way as Fort Caswell was build up on its east stop in 1838. The island developed slowly, but by the late 1930s it began attracting people from available Southport subsequent to fox hunting popular in the areas along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). In 1954, Hurricane Hazel struck, leaving only five buildings standing on the west end of the island The island recovered quickly however, and the towns of Long Beach and Yaupon Beach were incorporated in the late 1990s Along in the same way as this increasing level of go ahead came strident demands for a obedient crossing of the ICW to provide access to the island.

When the ICW was completed in the late 1930s, a swingbridge initially provided this service. Destroyed by a barge strike in 1971, construction of the tall rise Barbee Bridge began something like immediately; it opened for traffic in 1975 (interim utility included a ferry and pontoon bridge). A second high rise structure, the Swain’s Cut Bridge, was built greater than the ICW to the island in 2010. In 1999, Long Beach and Yaupon Beach, decided to consolidate into the Town of Oak Island, and even though Caswell Beach considered the matter, it opted to stay independent. Immediately after the supplementary town got taking place and running, it began to either incorporate or purchase Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) on properties located to its north on the mainland.

Oak Island is located in southeastern Brunswick County at 33°54′59″N 78°7′50″W / 33.91639°N 78.13056°W / 33.91639; -78.13056 (33.916262, -78.130468). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 19.9 square miles (51.6 km²), of which 18.5 square miles (48.0 km) is home and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) (7.02%) is water. It is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by Caswell Beach, to the north across the ICW in part by the town of St. James, and to the west by the town of Holden Beach across the Lockwood Folly Inlet. Additions to the town in the 20 years before it was formed in 1999, located upon the mainland, consist of the following: