Editing Wanchese, North Carolina

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Wanchese, North Carolina
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place|CDP]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = 
|named_for                = [[Wanchese (Native American leader)|Wanchese]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ncpedia.org/gazetteer/search/Wanchese/0 |title=North Carolina Gazetteer |access-date= March 27, 2021}}</ref>

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = WancheseHarborEntrance.JPG
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Entrance to Wanchese Harbor
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Dare County North Carolina incorporated and unincorporated areas Wanchese highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 270px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Dare County, North Carolina|Dare County]] and the state of [[North Carolina]].
|pushpin_map             = North Carolina#USA
|pushpin_map_alt         = 
|pushpin_map_caption     = |pushpin_label  = Wanchese
|pushpin_label_position  =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[North Carolina]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in North Carolina|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Dare County, North Carolina|Dare]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 20, 2022}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 12.20
|area_land_km2            = 12.08
|area_water_km2           = 0.11
|area_total_sq_mi         = 4.71
|area_land_sq_mi          = 4.67
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.04

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 1522
|population_density_km2   = 125.97
|population_density_sq_mi = 326.26

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      = 
|elevation_m              = 2
|elevation_ft             = 7
|coordinates              = {{coord|35|50|42|N|75|38|22|W|region:US-NC|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 27981
|area_code                = [[Area code 252|252]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 37-70920<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0996765<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=2008-01-31|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=2007-10-25}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
}}
'''Wanchese''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɒ|n|tʃ|iː|z}} {{respell|WAHN|cheez}}) is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) on [[Roanoke Island]] in [[Dare County, North Carolina|Dare County]], [[North Carolina]], United States. It was named after [[Wanchese (chief)|Wanchese]], the last known ruler of the [[Roanoke (tribe)|Roanoke]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribe encountered by English [[colonists]] in the sixteenth century.  The population was 1,642 at the 2010 census.  Today, Wanchese is the center of commercial fishing and boatbuilding on the [[Outer Banks]].

The residents of Wanchese are governed by the [[Dare County Board of Commissioners]].  Wanchese is part of District 1, along with [[Manteo, North Carolina|Manteo]], [[Roanoke Island]] and [[Manns Harbor, North Carolina|Manns Harbor]].

==Geography==
Wanchese is located at {{coord|35.845046|-75.639544|type:city_region:US|format=dms|display=inline}},<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> and on the southern end of [[Roanoke Island]].

According to the United States, the CDP has a total area of {{convert|5.5|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|4.7|sqmi|km2}}  is land and {{convert|0.8|sqmi|km2}}  (14.26%) is water.

==History==
''Also see: [[Roanoke Island#History|History of Roanoke Island]]''

[[Archeological]] evidence shows that Wanchese was the site of the first fishing village on Roanoke Island. [[Indigenous people]] inhabited the area 1500 years ago, and their various cultures used this site for fishing for 1100 years.  They also collected [[oysters]] and [[shellfish]] from nearby beds in the Sound.<ref name="ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TILLETT SITE">[http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jmack/algonqin/phelps61.htm "ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TILLETT SITE"], Carolina Alongkian Project, 2002, accessed 23 Apr 2010</ref>

What is called the [[Tillett Site]] (after the last owners) had been occupied originally when it was still part of the mainland, during the entire [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic Period]] (8000-1000 BC).  After the sea levels rose and it became an island, the saline conditions of the Sound became established, giving rise to the later indigenous fishing culture, including that of the historic [[Roanoke tribe]].<ref name="ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TILLETT SITE"/>

Three later periods of occupation were identified: 
* Mount Pleasant component, beginning around 400 and ending around 800;
* Colington component, the prehistoric manifestation of the Carolina Algonkian culture, from 800 to 1650; and
* Historic period component, related mostly to the Green family use of the site as a farmstead from c. 1884 to 1910/20. There was also fishing in this area.

During the first two periods, the Tillett site was a seasonal settlement. The Roanoke came to it from the mainland to fish and collect shellfish.  At the time of English exploration, the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking Roanoke tribe used the site for seasonal fishing.  Their main town was on the western shore of Croatan Sound.<ref name="ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TILLETT SITE"/>

After permanent English colonization in the 1650s, the site continued to be used for fishing by the Anglo-Americans. During the 19th century Wanchese had the only light-house on Roanoke Island, called Marshes Light, which has since been reconstructed in Manteo.<ref name="Downing2013">{{cite book|author=Sarah Downing|title=Hidden History of the Outer Banks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wqd2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|date=26 February 2013|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Incorporated|isbn=978-1-61423-947-5|page=22}}</ref> In the 1980s, it was to be redeveloped for a major commercial fishing port and seafood processing facility.<ref name="ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TILLETT SITE"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 2010 = 1642
| 2020 = 1522
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}</ref>
}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Wanchese racial composition<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=1600000US3770920&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=2021-12-21|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| [[White (U.S. Census)|White]] (non-Hispanic)
| 1,342
| 88.17%
|-
!scope="row"| [[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]] (non-Hispanic)
| 14
| 0.92%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
| 2
| 0.13%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
| 4
| 0.26%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
| 63
| 4.14%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
| 97
| 6.37%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 1,522 people, 683 households, and 488 families residing in the CDP.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 1,527 people, 614 households, and 432 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|325.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 690 housing units at an average density of {{convert|147.2|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.10% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.33% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.59% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.13% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.46% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.39% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.83% of the population.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $39,250, and the median income for a family was $43,173. Males had a median income of $28,958 versus $21,591 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $17,492. About 5.1% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
Residents are zoned to [[Dare County Schools]]. Zoned schools include [[Manteo, North Carolina|Manteo]] Elementary School, Manteo Middle School, and [[Manteo High School]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.daretolearn.org/resources/curriculum-and-instruction/register-for-school/attendance-zone-information|title=Attendance Zone Information|publisher=[[Dare County Schools]]|accessdate=2021-04-12}}</ref>

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{commons category|Wanchese, North Carolina}}
{{Dare County, North Carolina}}
{{Outer Banks}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Dare County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Roanoke Island]]