Buxton is Open for Business

Buxton, N.C., the 1,000-resident community located at Cape Hatteras, has been getting its fair share of national attention this week, and not the good kind. With five houses falling in the sea in this week's nor'easter, Buxton is being pegged as ground zero for climate change.

Images of the collapsing homes have traveled far and wide via social media, of course. Debris from the homes is littering miles of shoreline, yet is being cleaned up by Cape Hatteras National Seashore crews despite the government shutdown.

At this writing, the entire beachfront from the north end of the village of Buxton to near ORV ramp 43 is closed to public entry due to damages to dozens of houses and associated septic systems caused by coastal storm impacts.

This week’s five collapses marked the 16th oceanfront home collapse on Hatteras Island since September 2025 (one in Rodanthe, the rest in Buxton). To get caught up on the Hatteras Island erosion crisis, read the articles on Island Free Press.

Daniel Pullen captured this image of a house collapsing in Buxton. Courtesy of Daniel Pullen

Scientists say erosion in Buxton and nearby Rodanthe has been occurring at a rate of 10 to 15 feet per year for decades, but rising seas have made the problem worse.

Buxton residents say the problem no longer seems gradual.

“I don’t ever recall seeing the amount of erosion that’s happening back there on a daily basis,” says Buxton resident and photographer Daniel Pullen, who has lived in Buxton for all but two of his 47 years. “It's happening in real time now. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. In the past two months, every day on that stretch of beach is different.”

And while that is the reality of that stretch of the Buxton oceanfront, Buxton is a large place. It’s 3.5 miles wide at its widest point and home to 1,000-acre, densely forested Buxton Woods — and the village itself is not under immediate threat. Tucked behind the woods away from the ocean, Buxton is a thriving Hatteras Island village with a lot to offer.

If you don’t know Hatteras Island geography, here’s a refresher. The majority of the 50-mile island is Cape Hatteras National Seashore, with huge stretches of undeveloped land and oceanfront. Interspersed among this natural paradise are seven small, unincorporated villages:

• Rodanthe (another village getting attention for houses falling in the ocean), Waves and Salvo (together known as the Tri-Villages) on the north end of the island
• Avon about mid-way down the island
• Buxton right at Cape Hatteras, the farthest out into the Atlantic Ocean of all the villages, and situated at the widest point of the island
• Frisco and Hatteras are situated around the elbow of Cape Hatteras on the south end of the island, with southeast-facing beaches so more protected in nor'easters

Map courtesy of Dolphin Realty Hatteras

N.C. Highway 12, which runs the length of the island and connects all these villages, also gets a lot of attention for being a perpetual victim of climate change. And, yes, the highway gets washed over with sea water and sand during hurricanes, nor’easters and unusually high tides and swells. It was closed at several places on Hatteras Island earlier in the week, but it’s open now, because NCDOT usually gets the road open very quickly (though Highway 12 on the north end of Ocracoke Island was still closed due to oceawn overwash at this writing).

All this is to say that when Highway 12 is open and despite the nightmare that’s happening to a few of the hundreds of houses on the oceanfront, Hatteras Island and Buxton are open for business. From your TV screen, Buxton might look like an unsafe apocalyptic war zone, but over in the village, life is going on at just about normal. The affected area is just a small stretch of beach.

“The area that is affected is not the entirety of Buxton,” Pullen says. “It’s only about a quarter mile of Buxton oceanfront. Driving into the village still looks the same — you could drive right past the affected area and not even notice.”

When Highway 12 is open, it’s just fall as usual on Hatteras Island.

“When we’re not having extreme weather events and high tides, it’s just normal around here," Pullen says. "The fishing is great and the fall fishermen are here. Families are here.”

Gee Gee Rosell, owner of Buxton Village Books, acknowledges that Highway 12 is a legitimate concern and some visitors were hestitating on coming last week. Luckily, she notes, visitors have more flexibility on stays in the fall and can plan and change plans as needed.

“Those who are here are fascinated by weather dynamics," Rosell says. "It makes for great conversation and a nice atmosphere in store. Everyone is talking about barrier island dynamics, weather systems, the difference between nor’easter and hurricane, what to do about the jetties and the highway — all the components that make us what we are.”

So what can you do in Buxton right now?

Fish – Fall is prime fishing season on Hatteras Island. While the beach around Buxton is currently unsafe due to construction debris, just around the island’s bend in southeast-facing Frisco, the ocean is calm and the fishing is great. The same goes for surf fishing and pier-fishing in Avon and the rest of the island. All the tackle shops are open.

Buxton Woods is a 1,000-acres coastal preserve with an abundance of hiking trails. 

Explore - Buxton Woods offers amazing hiking opportunities, and ocean and sound beaches (besides Buxton Beach) are open. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is not open for climbing due to ongoing repairs, but you can tour the site (though the visitor center and Museum of the Sea are closed due to the government shutdown) and visit the British Cemetery. Down the road in Frisco, the Frisco Native American Museum is open, and in Hatteras the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is open.

Eat / Drink – Restaurants on Hatteras Island are open. In Buxton, a few of our favorites are Orange Blossom Bakery, Pop’s Raw Bar, Diamond Shoals Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar and Rusty’s Surf & Turf, Buxton Munch Co., Cockeyed Clam, Fatty’s Eatery and more. See the full lineup of Buxton and neighboring Frisco restaurants here. 

Shop – Buxton is a hub of the island for scoring groceries at Conner’s Supermarket, seafood Diamond Shoals Seafood Market or Buxton Seafood, and tackle at places like Red Drum Tackle Shop and Dillon’s Corner (which also has a great selection of gifts). Buxton Village Books is the place on Hatteras Island to find books to suit anyone’s reading preference, and Natural Art Surf Shop is a legend for surfwear and gear. Swell Art Gallery is a great place to browse art. See the full list of Buxton and Frisco shops and stores here.

Accommodations, including hotels, motels, vacation rental and campgrounds (except NPS campgrounds) are open. Find accommodations here.

Fall fishing is on! Davie Williams from Rock Hill caught and released this 50” red drum last weekend. Photo from Red Drum Tackle Shop Facebook

Meanwhile, there are some big decisions to be made about the future of Buxton (and Rodanthe and Highway 12). Island locals are wondering why there has not been a state of emergency declared to get the beaches nourished, the jetties repaired or the vulnerable houses relocated or removed. 

"We have nourishment scheduled for July or August," Pullen says. "But by the end of winter that stretch of Buxton is going to be unrecognizable.”

NCDOT gets cleanup crews to Highway 12 as soon as possible to clear the road of sand from ocean overwash. You can check Highway 12 conditions on their dedicated NC 12 Facebook page.

He adds that Highway 12 needs immediate attention as well.

“Highway access needs to be addressed,” Pullen says. “Our kids are missing school. Ambulances are driving through flood zones. How do we fix this? What does that look like?”

From her perspective, Rosell says the islanders are pulling together. “Locals are getting organized and being level-headed,” she says. “They are not placing blame, they are just asking, ‘How do we fix this?’”

Pullen wants people to know that Buxton is open and that residents and visitors are going about their daily lives, but he does not want people to look away from what is happening on the oceanfront. Nearly daily he documents the changes along the Buxton oceanfront. Follow Daniel Pullen on Instagram to stay informed.  

“It’s a weird existence to be here,” he says.