"North Carolina Lighthouses

Reveal Maritime History"

Lighthouses are a fascinating feature of the North Carolina coast. Visitors can find a unique lighthouse about every 40 miles along the picturesque shore of North Carolina. In more than two centuries of history, North Carolina lighthouses have endured untold adventure. They have been moved, demolished and reincarnated. From the Civil War to high winds and relentless erosion, each of these beacons has its own unique story to tell.

 Currituck Beach Lighthouse

North Carolina's northernmost lighthouse lies about 30 miles south of Virginia's Cape Henry Light Station.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse, located in the Corolla community, was built on the same basic model as the towers at Bodie Island, Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras, but Currituck sports a distinctive redbrick facade. Its approximately 1 million bricks were left unpainted to help the seafarers distinguish it from its neighbors.

Completed in 1875, the 158-foot Currituck Beach Lighthouse was the last of the brick lighthouses constructed on the North Carolina coast. It's one of the only eight lighthouses in the nation using its historic first-order Fresnel lens, which casts a beam that's visible for about 19 miles. From Easter to Thanksgiving, visitors can climb 241 steps to the top of the Currituck lighthouse, which has been lovingly restored.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Bodie Island Lighthouse has had its troubles. Disagreements over the location delayed its initial construction for over 10 years. Construction finally began in 1847, but the structure was leaning toward the ocean even before it was completed, and within two years, one side had dropped one foot lower than the other. Attempts to prop it up failed, and a new, a 90-foot brick tower was built in 1859. More misfortune befell the Bodie Island Lighthouse in 1861 when Confederate troops slipped into the lighthouse and blew it up to keep it from Union ships. After the war, another tower was built, this one on the model of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Shortly after it 1872 opening, a flock of geese flew into the 150-foot-tall structure and damaged the beacon's lens.

The light's latest setback stemmed from structural problems discovered during a major restoration and a lack of funds to fix them. Work has resumed and by spring 2013 the lighthouse will be open to visitors who want to climb its 214 steps. The newly restored first order Fresnel lens will burn bright again on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

The 208-foot Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse on the American Coast. Located in Buxton, this tower is made of 1.2 million bricks that were hauled to the site by oxen. Its walls are 14 feet thick at the base. The lighthouse presides over the Diamond Shoals, projecting light 20 miles into the Atlantic and warning travelers away from this dangerous area known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."

There have been three different lighthouses at Cape Hatteras, the first was erected in 1803. Today's lighthouse was begun in 1869 and was once so threatened by erosion that in 1936 a steel skeleton tower in nearby Buxton Woods replaced it. The erosion was reversed in 1950 and the brick lighthouse was reactivated.

In the summer of 1999, the National Park Service moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 2,900 feet from its original location. It still rests there today on a new concrete foundation just 1,600 feet from the shoreline, the distance it stood from the sea when it was completed in 1870. From mid-April through mid-October, visitors can climb the 248 iron spiral stairs to the top.

Although the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is probably the most famous, the Carolina coast is dotted with these beacons from another era. Many are now under the care of the National Park Service and can be visited during the summer months until October. For more information on these and other Carolina attractions go to www.visitnc.com.