Wrightsville Beach is located just east of Wilmington and includes two islands — its namesake four-mile stretch of beach and the interior Harbor Island — as well as a few pockets of commercial areas on the mainland. A beloved summer idyll for generations, Wrightsville Beach is famous for its water sports, including surfing, paddleboarding, and sailing. In its earliest days, when the island could only be reached by boat, the town’s first permanent structure was the Carolina Yacht Club, established in 1853 and still in operation today. In 1909, local Burke Haywood Bridgers became an early surf proselytizer, promoting riding the waves to his neighbors and helping to organize the town’s early surf culture. More than 100 years later, Wrightsville Beach is now known as one of the state’s best surf spots. The year-round population in Wrightsville Beach has less than 2,500 residents but can swell in the summer to almost 50,000 people.