Gulf is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in southwestern Chatham County, North Carolina, United States, southeast of the town of Goldston. As of the 2010 census, the Gulf CDP had a population of 144. The community is home to a general store and several historic homes. It received its name from its location at a wide bend in the Deep River. Gulf is an interconnection point between the Norfolk Southern Railway and the Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Railway.