Operation Bumblebee
Operation Bumblebee was the Navy's top secret guided missile testing program that operated on Topsail Island from 1946-1948. Exhibits include model and original rockets from the project, a Talos rocket located outside of the building, and in the Museum, a media station which features an original film chronicling the development and testing of the rockets. Visitors will be fascinated to learn that Topsail Island served as a proving ground for some of the US's first missile efforts, and that the principle of the ram jet engine (the mainstay of today's supersonic flight) was developed and proved on Topsail Island as a result of the Bumblebee Project.

Camp Davis
Camp Davis at Holly Ridge served as an important antiaircraft training center during World War II. Displays include many pictures and artifacts from World War II depicting the life and activities of the soldiers of Camp Davis. Visitors will learn that during this era, the town Of Holly Ridge swelled from 28 to 110,000 people, and that Camp Davis played a major role in WWII technology including the development of the early guided missile program on Topsail Island.

WASP
Also serving at Camp Davis was The Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), a small group of heroic women who towed aerial targets while loive ammunition was being fired at them. This small but intriguing exhibit depicts the important role these women played in the antiaircraft training program at Camp Davis.

Pirates
From 1630 to 1720 plundered merchant ships traveling up and down the Atlantic. This exhibit features 10 notorious pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard. It is said that Blackbeard launched some of his attacks from the shallow inlets of Topsail Island, and tha Topsail Island was named by merchant captains who learned to the spot the highest masts, or Tops'ls, of the pirate ships in order to outrun the pirates.

Natural History/Native American
Through artifacts from early Indian life and also prehistoric time, visitors have a chance to understand how Topsail Island evolved into what it is today. Exhibits include shells, arrowheads and a dugout canoe of early 1700 vintage.

Children’s Exhibits
Children will be attracted to many of the exhibits including the pirate and Osprey Aircraft exhibits, a local seashell collection, and beach geology displays which are kid-friendly and interactive.

Osprey Aircraft Exhibit
This exciting new exhibit documents the development, design and utiliation of the V-22 Osprey Aircraft, the world's first production tilt-rotor aircraft. The V-22 is being tested at the New River Air Station and can often be seen flying over the skies of Topsail. In this exhibit, visitors are treated to magnificent photographs of the Osprey as well as an audio-visual history of the aircraft.