The four lighthouses illuminating the shores of the Outer Banks of North Carolina – Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island, Ocracode and Currituck Beach lighthouses – are magnificent and unique in appearance and their history.
The most famous is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which is the tallest brick beacon in the US, measuring 208 feet high. Nicknamed the “Big Barber Pole,” the famous lighthouse attracts 200,000 visitors annually and can be seen from 20 miles out to sea. For more than 100 years, it has warned sailors of te treacherous Diamond Shoals, the shallow sandbars that extend some 14 miles into the ocean off Cape Hatteras and an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is a first-order lighthouse, which means it has the largest of seven Fresnel lens sizes.
The present lighthouse standing on Cape Hatteras is the second of three beacons built on Hatteras Island. The first, erected in 1804, was destroyed by Union forces during the Civil War. The present lighthouse, built as a replacement in 1870, was abandoned by the federal government and fell into disrepair. A third temporary structure was erected in 1936 several miles north in Buxton. This lighthouse was used until a 1,000 watt double rotating lamp was installed in the present Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1950, which still shines brightly today.
The black and white barber shop striped lighthouse recently reopened after renovations and being move 2,900 feet inland for protection from the encroaching shoreline. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, which has celebrated its 50th year as the nation’s first national seashore. Next to the lighthouse are buildings that originally served as quarters to the keepers of the light and that now serve as a visitor center, maritime museum and a gift shop and bookstore.
Lighthose admission fees are $6 for adults, $3 for children and seniors. Open daily from Good Friday through Columbus Day, the visitor center and museum are open every day except Christmas. There are a variety of tours in the summer time.
Following the chain of barrier islands southward, Outer Banks visitors will come by ferry upon the fishing village of Ocracoke, NC, home of the Ocracoke lighthouse. This whitewashed cement structure was built in 1868 and is the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina. Now lit by electricity, the Ocracoke Lighthouse was once fueled by whale oil. It is not the first beacon to illuminate Ocracoke Island – a 54 foot wooden tower was built in 1798. The former lighthouse was rendered ineffective when the channel shifted.
Although Ocracoke is the lighthouse with the coast’s longest history, the beacon is the Outer Banks’ shortest in size. At 75 feet tall, Ocracoke’s fourth-order Fresnal lens can be seen for 14 miles at sea. But what the lighthouse lacks in size, it makes up in swashbuckling lore. Edward Teach, also known as “Blackbeard the Pirate,” maintained his camp at the Ocracoke Inlet, a short distance from the lighthouse. Blackbeard is said to hae been beheaded in a duel during the 1700’s, and, according to some locals still haunts the island.
The Ocracoke Lighthouse and keeper’s quarters are used by the Coast Guard for observation and are not open to the public. However, lighthouse enthusiasts are welcome to visit the tower and grounds.
Traveling north, the Bodie Island Lighthouse rises 150 feet above the island’s marsh and nature walk. The lighthouse, which was built in 1872, is painted white with two 22 ft horizontal black stripes. It’s first order, 160,000 candlepower beacon shines 19 miles out to sea from Bodie Island. Like the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the beacon on Bodie Island plays an important role in North Carolina’s Civil War history. Confederate troops destroyed the former lighthouse in 1862 to prevent Union forces from using it as an observatory. The present lighthouse was rebuilt following the end of the war.
The three lighthouses that have stood on Bodie Island have sustained a variety of interesting events. According to one of the first light keepers of te present Bodie Island lighthouse, the original lens was damaged when a flock of geese flew into the lantern and shattered the glass. The lens was repaired and a wire screen installed to prevent another mishap. The original Bodie Island lighthouse, built in 1837 was so poorly constructed that it began to lean and eventually was abandoned.
Though the Bodie Island lighthouse is not open for climbing, the keeper’s quarters have been restored as a visitors center.
The Currituck Beach lighthouse illuminates the northernmost island on the Outer Banks.
To distinguish the lighthouse from others in the area, its exterior was left an unpainted red brick displaying the variety of bricks used to form the structure. At 158 feet, the beacon has a first order Fresnel lens that can be seen for 18 miles at sea from it’s position in Corolla, NC. Currituck was built in 1875 to illuminate the remaining “dark spot” left between Bodie Island and Cape Henry in Virginia. A Victorian home was built in 1876 as the keeper’s quarters.
Although it is now one of the most loved landmarks in the Outer Banks, the Currituck Beach lighthouse has suffered from a lack of maintenance and vandalism. by the 1970s the keepers house had no windows or doors, its porches had decayed and vines invaded the houses north side. Much of the interior millwork of the lighthouse had been vandalized. Concerned about the preservation of the historic property, Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc signed a lease with the State of North Carolina to begin a phased restoration.
Today the lighthouse and its grounds are rejuvenated and open to the public. Visitors can climb the 124 steps to the top observation deck for a nominal fee from Easter through Thanksgiving.
