The
town of Topsail Beach is located on the south
end of the island, home to some of America's
first rocket tests. Missiles were assembled
in the "Assembly Building" before
being test fired, now home of the Missiles
and More Museum.
Those
tall white buildings are the missile observation
towers used during the first experiments.
Some have been converted to homes, some are
used for storage, and others are unchanged.
There
are some beach motels, a Post Office, a grocery
store and gas station, some gift shops, a
real nice book store and the town train depot.
Well, ok, the town train depot is over at
the Beach Shop and Grill, and it's pretty
small.
Topsail
Inlet is on the south end and defines the
southern tip of the island. There is a large
dune area and wide beachfront. You can't drive
on this section of the beach, but there are
beach access areas within a short walk to
the inlet.
New
Topsail Inlet is charted, and buoyed, but
deserves caution in any kind of weather. A
row of townhouses face the inlet, and, once
in Banks Channel, there are many boat docks,
ramps and at least one marina.
