Jones Lake State Park in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain preserves two Carolina bay lakes, Jones Lake and Salters Lake, within an unusually intact coastal landscape shaped by ancient thermokarst processes. Settled in the late 1720s and early 1730s, the lakes were later tied to local figures Isaac Jones and Sallie Salter. In the 19th century, state control over large lakes helped lay groundwork for later parks in the region. Much of the park took shape through a New Deal land project and Civilian Conservation Corps work, and it opened in 1939 as a segregated state park for African Americans. Its forests, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and rare insect habitat remain central to its significance.