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Sightseers and day-trippers
will revel in the opportunity to view five
lighthouses along the Outer Banks – Ocracoke Lighthouse on Ocracoke Island; Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at Buxton on Hatteras Island; Bodie Island Lighthouse between Nags Head and Oregon Inlet; Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla; and the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse reproduction on the Manteo waterfront. However, before proceeding with an account of each individual lighthouse,
let’s take a moment and consider the things common to all of them.
In the old seafaring days, lighthouses were needed as navigational aids to mark dangerous shoals, channels or inlets and to aid mariners in determining their location at sea.
Today lighthouses are automated and run by electricity, but that was not always the case. Prior to electricity, the light source was a lamp fueled by whale oil, mineral oil or kerosene. Two of the many jobs a light keeper performed were trimming the wick and filling the lamp.
The lamp light was magnified by a lens
so that the beacon could be seen for miles. Frenchman Augustin-Jean Fresnel (pronounced fre-NELL) found a way to capture and concentrate light using a series of glass prisms. These lenses are classified according to size, with the first order Fresnel lens being the largest. First, second and third order lenses were used in coastal lighthouses, while fourth, fifth and sixth order lenses were used in inlet, river and harbor lights.
Lenses rotate in a manner that causes the signal to flash in a particular pattern, with each pattern unique to a certain lighthouse. Mariners recognizing the flash pattern can then identify their location.
Ocracoke Lighthouse
Completed in 1823, the Ocracoke Lighthouse has the distinction of being the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina and the second oldest in the nation. It sits
on two acres of land in Ocracoke Village. Its beacon is fixed and amplified by a fourth order Fresnel lens.
While the structure itself is not open to
the public, the picturesque grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset. Additional buildings at the site include the old oil house and former keepers’ quarters. The
keepers’ quarters is currently used as housing for National Park Service personnel, so while visiting please respect their privacy.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
The first federal legislation to provide for
a lighthouse at Cape Hatteras was passed in 1794. The need was great, as countless ships had grounded or been lost altogether in the area off the Cape known as Diamond Shoals, where convergent currents create a vast, ever-changing sandbar. These shoals extend miles into the ocean and often the sea is only a few feet deep here.
Work on the foundation of the first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse began in early 1800, and by late 1803 the 90-foot tower was complete. Its 12-foot lantern was made up of 18 whale
oil lamps, which in addition to putting off an almost unbearable heat presented a fire hazard. Additionally, the beacon was not strong enough to reach the eyes of seafaring mariners across the shoals. Improvements were made to the lighthouse in 1854 when it was raised in height to 150 feet and received a first order Fresnel lens.
After the Civil War the U.S. Lighthouse Board initiated building three new lighthouses along the North Carolina coast, one of which was the black and white spiral-striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse we know today. The three new towers were painted distinctively so that mariners could use them as navigational aids during the day. The second Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was
finished in 1870,
complete with a first order Fresnel lens. At 180 feet, it is America’s tallest brick lighthouse.
Erosion began to threaten the spire
in the 1930s, and it
was abandoned and replaced with a lighted steel tower that
was built nearby. Unfortunately, the years of abandonment had left the lighthouse open to vandalism, and prisms from the
Fresnel lens were often taken as keepsakes.
But by 1950, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was put back into service. The erosion trend had reversed, aided in part by an artificial
dune system constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. A new
electric lighting system was installed, and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was again guarding the coast.
Erosion continued to threaten the lighthouse, and although several methods were employed to attempt to halt the encroaching sea – groins, artificial seaweed, sandbags, beach nourishment – it was determined that the best way to save the lighthouse was to relocate it. In 1999 teams of workers performed an
engineering marvel and moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 2,900 feet to the
southwest, where it rests today.
Visitors can climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from April 20 to October 8. Admission is $7 for adults and $3.50 for
children and senior citizens ages 62 and older. Children must be at least 42 inches tall in order to climb the tower. A gift shop and museum are open year-round from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Bodie Island Lighthouse
The horizontal-striped spire at Bodie Island (pronounced body) is the third lighthouse to bear that name. The original Bodie Island Lighthouse was begun in 1847 on the south side of Oregon Inlet, but was plagued from its onset. Poor design, engineering and construction led to a structure a foot taller on one
side than the other, which caused the lighting mechanism to falter. It was determined that instead of making repairs to the
54-foot structure,
a new lighthouse should be built.
The second Bodie Island Lighthouse, also on the south side of the inlet, was a vast improvement. Standing
nearly 90 feet tall, the white brick tower was equipped with a third order Fresnel lens visible for 15 miles. However, during the Civil War, Rebel troops blew up the lighthouse, fearing that Union soldiers would use it as a lookout.
The present-day lighthouse, placed in
service in October 1872, was built on the north side of the inlet. This was a wise move, as the inlet had migrated south to within a quarter-mile of the spot where the earlier
beacons stood.
Although the lighthouse itself is closed to visitors, the former keepers’ quarters is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and houses a gift shop and an exhibit area. There are also walking trails on the site.
Currituck Beach Lighthouse
The final seacoast lighthouse built along the Outer Banks is the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, which was placed in operation on December 1, 1875. In order to distinguish its appearance, the red brick exterior was never painted. It has a first order Fresnel lens.
In 1939 the light was automated with electricity, and the keepers were no longer needed. The property was abandoned, and by the 1970s the tower and the keeper’s house had fallen into disrepair. Vandals abused the keepers’ house, and broken doors and
windows left the house open to the elements.
Fortunately a group of concerned citizens formed the Outer Banks Conservationists Inc., and in 1980 they leased the property from the State of North Carolina. Outer Banks Conservationists maintains the 36-acre site and can be credited for the meticulous renovation of the lighthouse and its surrounding buildings. The grounds include an 1875 double keepers’ quarters, a smaller keepers’ home that was barged over from the mainland circa 1920, a storage building and an outhouse.
The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is open for climbing at a cost of $6 per person
(children 7 and younger get in free). The gift shop is located in the smaller keepers’ quarters. It’s open Easter through Thanksgiving weekend (closed Thanksgiving Day) every day
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Roanoke Marshes Light
The Roanoke Marshes Light on the Manteo waterfront is a reproduction of a
lighthouse of the same name that was located off Wanchese, marking the southern entrance to the Croatan Sound. It is an example of a screw-pile light, which were located in rivers and sounds. The pilings were literally screwed into the floor of the body of water over which the
lighthouse stood.
While many land-based lighthouses were located
in isolated areas, nothing could compare with the
isolation of the screw-pile lighthouses. These structures stood out in the middle of the water, sometimes miles from shore. The keeper lived in a 1,000-square-foot structure that included living area, office space, watch area and the lantern room.
Boats were hung beneath the lighthouse, and food and supplies were also stored there.
Although Lighthouse Service policy
sometimes forbade families from living at the screw-pile lighthouses with the keeper, this rule was often ignored. Fortunately, approaching watercraft could be seen for miles and if it was thought that a lighthouse inspector was making a visit, the keeper’s wife and children could hide in the wood closet until the
inspection was over.
The Roanoke Marshes Light marks Manteo’s Shallowbag Bay with a fourth order Fresnel lens.
It is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. and there are
historic photographs
on display inside the lighthouse.
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