Seeing More Light

NC’s Lighthouses:

Cape Lookout and Bald Head Island

In the first installment in a series about North Carolina’s storied lighthouses, the Cape Hatteras and Currituck Island lighthouses were featured. This time, the Cape Lookout and Bald Head Island lighthouses are worth a tour through history.

The dangerous, shifting shoals of the North Carolina coastline were a constant danger to mariners and shipwrecks happened frequently. The U.S. Congress authorized a lighthouse at Cape Lookout in 1804, but the first tower was not completed until 1812. But like the original Cape Hatteras light, the Cape Lookout light was too dim to be easily seen off the coast, and ships were in more danger of running aground while looking for the light than if they just kept going until they could see one.

The 13 original lamps were difficult to keep trimmed, their reflectors were too small, and they often smoked up the lantern room when burning. The keeper had a difficult job keeping them bright enough – and the room clear enough – for the light to be seen beyond the shoals.

In 1856 a Fresnel lens was installed, grouping hundreds of prisms to reflect and refract the lamplight into a more intense beam. Still, the 96-foot tower needed to be made taller to correct the problem for shipping. In 1857 the government ordered a new, 150-foot tower, which was finally completed in 1859 by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Within just two years of the new tower’s completion the nation was at war with itself and the lighthouse was vital to supply shipments for the Confederate army that held the ground surrounding it. The Confederates were forced to retreat in 1861, so tried to destroy both the old and new lighthouse beacons (sited next to each other) so they wouldn’t fall into Union hands. They succeeded in almost total destruction of the old tower and light and managed to inflict severe damage to the new lens. In 1862 a new, 3rd order Fresnel lens was installed and it shines to this day.

The Cape Lookout tower became the design model for all of North Carolina’s refurbished lighthouses after the Civil War, and this 1859 tower has guarded the coast ever since. Because the light is still very important to shipping interests, the Coast Guard operated tower is not open to the public. The National Park Service does maintain a visitor center and museum in the keeper’s house on the property. The lighthouse can only be reached by boat, but there are ferry services available from nearby Harkers Island. Pack a picnic lunch and snacks, be prepared to pack your trash out with you.

Next on our lighthouse list is the Bald Head Island Lighthouse – “Old Baldy” – which was originally built in 1817 and still stands as originally sited and built today, making it the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina.

The lighthouse was built to help guide ships through the channels and sand bars of the Cape Fear River estuary as well as to help vessels avoid the Frying Pan Shoals that extend more than 20 miles into the ocean. The lighthouse replaced North Carolina’s first lighthouse, located on the southwest point of Bald Head Island and built in 1795. Severe erosion along the Cape Fear River led to its destruction.

Old Baldy is a octagonal tower of brick and covered by cement. It is not painted in the black and white of other of North Carolina’s lighthouses, and is no longer in service. It hosts visitors who arrive by ferry from Southport. The ferry is people only, but bicycles can be rented on the island. Visitors can climb the stairs to the light chamber, the keeper’s house has recently been rebuilt, and there is a museum, a chapel and gift shop.

If you’re planning to visit during the winter, give the keepers a call first to check hours and ferry availability for both sites. For more information, check the links below.

Links:

Outer Banks: “Old Baldy” Lighthouse

Outer Banks: Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Bald Head Island Lighthouse

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