Like most of Ocracoke Island, exploring is at its best for bikers and walkers who can leisurely peruse the grounds at their own pace, and a number of local gift shops feature plenty of Ocracoke Island Lighthouse books, memorabilia and souvenirs. Many vacationers make it a point to start at the Northern Outer Banks' Currituck Beach Lighthouse and enjoy a long but rewarding day driving south down the scenic North Carolina coastline and stopping at each lighthouse along the way.
With their own distinctive character, notoriety, and charm, all of these historic lighthouses are certainly worth a visit during your next Outer Banks vacation. The Ocracoke Lighthouse is located in Ocracoke village , on the southeastern corner of the Ocracoke Harbor. It is situated along the aptly named Lighthouse Road , and is visible throughout Ocracoke village.
As such, it is the oldest operating lighthouse in the state of North Carolina, and the second oldest lighthouse of any kind in the state as well — second only to the Bald Head Island Lighthouse. To see the Ocracoke Island lighthouse in person, visitors will need to take a ferry to Ocracoke Island.
Vehicular ferries depart from mainland North Carolina to the southern end of Ocracoke village, and from Hatteras Island to the northern end of the island. The Ocracoke Lighthouse has just 86 steps from the lighthouse base to the 4th order Fresnel lens at the top. Visitors will need to take a ferry to reach Ocracoke Island, where the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse is found. Two vehicular ferries depart from the mainland communities of Cedar Island and Swan Quarter, which are both a roughly 2.
The Ocracoke Island Lighthouse is not open for climbing, however, visitors are welcome to visit the structure for photos. The Ocracoke Island lighthouse is not open for climbing due to safety concerns of the old structure, and particularly its spiral staircase.
At nearly years old, the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse is the second oldest lighthouse in the state. The Ocracoke Island Lighthouse is white due to its unique coating that was applied during its construction in the s.
As a result of this unique formula, it is the only white lighthouse on the Outer Banks. By , the channel had shifted nearly a mile away. Constructed by Massachusetts builder Noah Porter and finished in , the tower still stands today. The lighthouse stands about 75 feet tall. Its diameter narrows from 25 feet at the base to 12 feet at its peak.
The walls are solid brick - 5 feet thick at the bottom tapering to 2 feet at the top. An octagonal lantern crowns the tower and houses the light beacon. The mixture was applied while still hot.
A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in , replacing the old reflector system. Its hand-cut prisms and magnifying glass greatly intensified the light. Early in the Civil War, the lens was dismantled by Confederate troops but was re-installed in by Union forces. Originally an oil-burning light, the Ocracoke Light was electrified in the early decades of the s.
The present light is equal to 8, candlepower and casts a stationary beam that can be seen 14 miles at sea. A battery powered back-up light operates during power failures. As duties at the lighthouse increased, an assistant keeper position was established. To house the additional keeper and his family, a second story was built onto the original quarters in and another section was added in The double keepers' quarters still stands on the site today, along with a generator house, once the oil supply shed.
Keepers performed a wide range of duties. Coast Guard By , Blackbeard had come to regard Ocracoke as his favorite anchorage. He even reportedly had a house on the island, which he intended to use as a sort of pirate haven. The coastal citizens, understandably unenthusiastic about the prospect, bypassed their useless Governor Eden and appealed instead to Governor Spotswood of Virginia.
Help came in the doughty figure of Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy, who brought with him two small sloops. O crow, cock! Though accounts vary as to how the battle started, all agree on its outcome. Under heavy fire and unable to either return fire or escape, Maynard ordered his troops below deck. In a move worthy of a TV movie of the week, Blackbeard personally led the charge aboard what appeared to be a foundering and deserted ship, only to meet Maynard and his pistol face to face.
Blackbeard attacked, but not before being grazed by the pistol and suffering a deep wound to his neck. The fight raged, with Blackbeard suffering more than thirty major wounds. After the pirating subsided, trade increased. As inland ports such as New Bern, Elizabeth City, and Edenton grew, the need for a lighthouse to help mariners navigate the passage between Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands that led to these towns grew accordingly.
In , a wooden pyramid-shaped tower was completed on Shell Castle Island, situated in the middle of the passage. However, the light was inadequate, and the sand bars changed so much that by the lighthouse was a mile away from the inlet. The lighthouse was to be coated with an unlikely formula of lime, salt, ground rice, whiting, and clear glue, which was mixed with boiling water and applied to the bricks while hot.
Such happy efficiency turned out to be indicative of the useful, relatively uneventful life of Ocracoke Lighthouse. In , the lighthouse was equipped with a new lantern room and lighting apparatus, which consisted of ten brass lamps and twenty-one-inch reflectors instead of the fifteen that had been used before. The apparatus revolved every two minutes to produce a flashing light. The characteristic of the light was changed to fixed white in through the installation of a fourth-order Fresnel lens.
The lighthouse survived the Civil War with minimal damage; Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel lens in , but Union forces re-installed it the following year.
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