Kure Beach, North Carolina

Kure Beach is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina about 15 miles south of Wilmington. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,012 at the 2010 census. It is found on Pleasure Island directly south of the Wilmington Beach annex of Carolina Beach and just north of Fort Fisher.The original pronunciation of Kure is based on the name of the founder, Hans Andersen Kure, of Danish extraction. Hans Kure's name is pronounced "CURE-ee." Tourist call this beach how "curry" sounds. Natives, however, still pronounce it "Cure-ee."HistoryA post office called Kure Beach has been in operation since 1942. The town was named for a family of settlers.On the night of July 24/25, 1943, a German U-boat fired at least three shells to attack the "Ethyl-Dow Chemical Company" plant at "Kure's Beach" (post-war: Kure Beach), but instead hit the Cape Fear River. The plant was the only one on the East Coast producing bromine from seawater for use in aviation gasolineDemographicsAs of the census of 2000, there were 1,507 people, 723 households, and 495 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,931.6 people per square mile (746.0/km²). There were 1,560 housing units at an average density of 1,999.6 per square mile (772.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.74% White, 0.07% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.