Blackbeard at Ocracoke and Beaufort: Story and Facts

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Blackbeard at Ocracoke and Beaufort, and the Queen Anne's Revenge is a North Carolina story with a documented core at Ocracoke Inlet, Beaufort Inlet and Bath, Carteret County. The sources are named below.

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Oct 27Checked, 2026

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Blackbeard at Ocracoke and Beaufort, and The Queen Anne's Revenge

People say the pirate Blackbeard ran his big ship aground near Beaufort in 1718, took a pardon in Bath, then spent his last months around Ocracoke, where he was finally caught in a hand-to-hand battle. His ship's wreck was found in 1996 and its pieces are still being saved.

What The Record Shows

The National Park Service page "Blackbeard (Edward Teach)" (Cape Hatteras National Seashore, updated September 27, 2021) says he seized the French slave ship La Concorde and renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge, beached it near present-day Beaufort in June 1718, took the loyalty oath at Bath, and spent roughly five months at Ocracoke Island, anchoring in what is now Teach's Hole Channel. It says Lt. Robert Maynard's Royal Navy force reached Ocracoke on November 22, 1718, and Blackbeard was killed in hand-to-hand fighting. NCpedia's "Blackbeard the Pirate" by Robert E. Lee (1986) agrees on the Bath pardon and the Ocracoke battle. The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources post "Lab Conserving Treasures Recovered From Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Celebrates 10 Years" (May 30, 2014) says Intersal, Inc. found the site on November 21, 1996, that the ship ran aground in Beaufort Inlet in June 1718, and that the cannon count and the beads and shackles tied to the slave trade helped confirm the wreck's identity. The same post names the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort as the official repository. A DNCR press release of March 26, 2026 says the Greenville conservation lab was established in 2003 and has been renamed the Office of State Archaeology Conservation Lab. Birth year and birthplace are not settled: DNCR (June 9, 2011) says he was likely born around 1680 and gives several possible birthplaces. Stories that Blackbeard's ghost walks Ocracoke looking for his head are, according to the DNCR post "North Carolina's Most Haunted" (October 30, 2018), legend. None of the sources we read document buried treasure.

Sources: Blackbeard (Edward Teach) – Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service), updated September 27, 2021; Lab Conserving Treasures Recovered From Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Celebrates 10 Years (NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, May 30, 2014); Blackbeard the Pirate, by Robert E. Lee, 1986 (NCpedia, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography).

A Note

The Queen Anne's Revenge was a French slave ship, La Concorde, before it was captured in 1717. The wreck is a protected state site, so no dive or location advice is given. Ghost lines are given only as the state's blog reports them.

Its home: North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort. Official page.

On this site: Outer Banks, Coast Events.

Looked for and Not Found

The state press releases we read do not all give the same detail: the 2026 lab press release does not give the June 1718 grounding or the 1996 discovery; the 2014 DNCR post does.
A visitor page for the QAR lab itself that describes current public hours: only the annual open house (April 11, 2026, free) is stated; the lab is not described as open daily. The lab is in Greenville (Pitt County), outside the Coast.
Any official page that documents buried Blackbeard treasure: none found in the NPS, NCpedia or DNCR pages read.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the story of Blackbeard at Ocracoke and Beaufort, and the Queen Anne's Revenge true?

Is this a legend?

It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Blackbeard (Edward Teach) – Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service), updated September 27, 2021; Lab Conserving Treasures Recovered From Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Celebrates 10 Years (NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, May 30, 2014); Blackbeard the Pirate, by Robert E. Lee, 1986 (NCpedia, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography).

Sources

Read on October 27, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “Blackbeard at Ocracoke and Beaufort, and The Queen Anne’s Revenge”, itsnorthcarolina.com/legends/blackbeard-ocracoke-beaufort-queen-annes-revenge/ (updated 2026-10-27). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.