Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum

More than 5,000 ships have sunk in the waters off the Outer Banks since recordkeeping began in 1526 — which is why the name stuck. The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, in Hatteras Village, collects what the sea gave back: artifacts recovered from area shipwrecks, telling the story of the Diamond Shoals, the Civil War, and the German U-boat campaign that turned these waters into Torpedo Alley during World War II. The wreck count is the whole argument for coming.