Cape Fear is a prominent
headlandHeadlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are...
jutting into the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
Ocean from Bald Head Island on the coast of
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
in the southeastern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is largely formed of barrier beaches and the silty outwash of the
Cape Fear RiverThe Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by the and conducted by the , , and the...
as it drains the southeast coast of North Carolina through an
estuaryAn estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of...
south of
WilmingtonWilmington is a city in and the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 75,838 at the 2000 Census. A July 1, 2008 United States Census Bureau estimate places the population at 100,192...
. Cape Fear is formed by the intersection of two sweeping arcs of shifting, low-lying beach, the result of longshore currents which also form the treacherous, shifting
Frying Pan ShoalsThe Frying Pan Shoals are a long, shifting area of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, United States. The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration of the area; the area is littered with shipwrecks...
, part of the
ship graveyardA ship graveyard or ship cemetery is a location where the hulls of scrapped ships are left to decay and disintegrate, or left in reserve...
of the Atlantic.
DuneIn physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by aeolian processes. Dunes are subject to different forms and sizes based on their interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dune are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune, and a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the...
s dominated by sea oats occur from the upper beach driftline back to the stable secondary dunes, where they mix with other grasses such as
Saltmeadow CordgrassSaltmeadow Cordgrass , also known as Salt Hay Grass, is a species of cordgrass native to the Atlantic coast of the Americas from Newfoundland, Canada south along the United States east coast to the Caribbean and northeast Mexico...
and panic grass, as well as seaside goldenrod,
spurgeEuphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of about 2160 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom. Members of the family and genus are sometimes referred to as Spurges. The genus is primarily found in the tropical and...
, and other herbs to form a stable salt-tolerant
grasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
.
The Cape Fear estuary drains the largest watershed in North Carolina, containing 27% of the state's population.
Giovanni da Verrazzano, the Italian explorer sailing for France, made landfall at Cape Fear on his voyage to the New World in the spring of 1524 or 1525.
The name (variously "Cape Fair" and "Cape Fare", a sept of the Scots' Ross Clan) comes from the 1585 expedition of Sir
Richard GrenvilleSir Richard Grenville was an Elizabethan sailor, explorer, and mercenary. He was the grandfather of Sir Richard Grenville, of English Civil War notoriety....
. Sailing to
Roanoke IslandRoanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States.About eight miles long and two miles wide, Roanoke Island is the lost colony and it lied between the mainland and the barrier islands, with Albemarle Sound on its north, Roanoke Sound at the northern end,...
, his ship became embayed behind the cape. Some of the crew were afraid they would wreck, giving rise to the name Cape Fear. It is the fifth oldest surviving English place-name in the U.S.
It was the landing place of General Sir Henry Clinton during the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
on May 3, 1775.