Just south of the Pamlico River is a quiet town called Aurora. The population is just under 600, and the homes and business have a true Southern charm. However, to fossil hunters around the world, the most interesting parts of the Aurora are buried underneath the city.
A large phosphate mine in the area gives both paleontologists and fossil enthusiasts a unique opportunity to collect and study fossils from prehistoric times. The Aurora Fossil Museum, located in town, includes a wide variety of marine fossils from the Pleistocene, Pliocene and Miocene eras, as well as Native American artifacts from the area.