DEL.ICIO.USAssociated Press
Published on: 09/21/04
RALEIGH, N.C. — Combine the tragic romance of seafaring, the skill of engineering, the lessons of history and a nice day at the beach, and you have some of the reasons why lighthouses continue to captivate travelers on land and sea.
Seven lighthouses dot the North Carolina coast, anchored by the 134-year-old Cape Hatteras light, once considered the most important navigational aid on the East Coast — and, five years ago, the subject of a $10 million move to save it from the encroaching sea.
 JOSHUA CORSA/AP Photo | |||
| The 134-year-old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest light on the East Coast, overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and the community of Buxton, N.C. | |||
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MOST POPULARIt's the pinnacle of a lighthouse enthusiast's quest to stand next to the 208-foot tower — the tallest in the United States — and look up the vertiginous swirl of black and white stripes, or down from its wind-whipped observation deck.
The coastal sentinels range from Currituck a dozen miles south of the Virginia border to Oak Island and Bald Head at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
The lights are fascinating on any day to Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, co-founder with her husband, Bruce, of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society.
"Their height is awesome. And just their history — they're old, they've been there a long time, they truly are symbols of strength," she said recently from her home in Morehead City.
Six of the seven are working navigational aids. (There are two automated "Texas tower" lights off the coast, Diamond Shoals and Frying Pan Shoals.)
Oak Island, the newest at 46 years old, is part of an active Coast Guard station, though it will soon be turned over to the town of Caswell Beach. Bodie, Cape Hatteras, Ocracoke and Cape Lookout belong to the National Park Service; Currituck and Bald Head belong to private groups.
Four can be climbed — Currituck, Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout and Bald Head.
Currituck and Cape Hatteras charge $6 to climb to the light deck. Climbing Cape Lookout light is free, but ongoing restoration means it's open only on specific Saturdays and reservations are required. Bald Head Island charges $3 per person.
The others can be viewed from the grounds or nearby. The Oak Island station is not open to walk-in visitors, though the light can be seen clearly from the road.
The Web site of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society includes detailed directions to all seven lights, plus how to get a glimpse by ferry of the remains of the last Cape Fear River light near Southport.
The tour starts with Currituck light, run by the nonprofit Outer Banks Conservationists, near Corolla on the northernmost Outer Banks.
The structure is distinctive for its plain, red brick exterior, said OBC director Jenn Barr, whose organization has been restoring and maintaining the light since 1980.
With three black-and-white lights already on the coast, Currituck's "day mark" — the pattern or color that makes a lighthouse recognizable from sea in the daytime — is its unpainted shell.
Next is Bodie Island light, marked by broad, horizontal black-and-white stripes, on the Oregon Inlet south of Nags Head.
Bodie seems to live under a dark cloud: One side of the first tower sank by a foot in its first year. The structure was rebuilt in 1859, but blown up during the Civil War. Soon after the existing tower opened in 1872, a flock of birds smashed into the top, damaging the light inside. And on Aug. 9, the base of Bodie was closed when two large chunks of cast iron broke off the balcony at the top of it and fell harmlessly to the ground at the base of the tower. Slated for restoration in 2007, the Bodie lighthouse has never been open to the public to climb. But the light station remains open to the public.
At Cape Hatteras near Buxton, the lighthouse fairly gleams in the sunlight from a recent paint job that followed the epic move and, later, restoration of the corroding iron staircase inside.
The view from the deck is spectacular, but only for the fit and ready: Climbing to the top of the light is the equivalent of climbing up a 12-story, sometimes sweltering, dimly lit building.
From Cape Hatteras, a two-hour trip by car and ferry brings you to squat, whitewashed Ocracoke light. The picket-fenced site is picturesque and historic — at 181 years old, Ocracoke is the second-oldest operating light in the country and the smallest in the state (75 feet).
Cape Lookout, at the southernmost point of the Core Banks, is accessible only by ferry or private boat. The buildings around the black-and-white "checkered" lighthouse are staffed by volunteers from Easter to Thanksgiving. A visit demands a full day and can be exhausting: The Cape Lookout National Seashore's sandy, roadless terrain can be traveled only on foot or by four-wheel-drive.
The two southernmost lights are about 20 miles south of Wilmington. "Old Baldy," as the blotchy gray-white Bald Head light is known, can be reached by ferry from Southport.
The light stopped operating in the 1930s, but visitors can still climb the tower — a 90-foot structure built in 1817, making it the oldest light in the state. The building, owned by the Old Baldy Foundation, is open daily except Monday through the summer.
A ferry detour to nearby Fort Fisher gives passengers a glimpse of the 20-foot-tall remains of Price's Creek Lighthouse on private property along the south bank of the Cape Fear River. It's the only remnant of eight lights that once lined the Cape Fear between Wilmington and Oak Island, and which were destroyed by retreating Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
Across the mouth of the Cape Fear is Oak Island light, the brightest in the Eastern Hemisphere at 2.5 million candlepower — visible for up to 24 nautical miles.
Unlike its conical sisters, this tower is a straight column with a lantern chamber reached by a series of interior ladders.
There's no public access to it because of the station's increased duties and security since the 2001 terrorist attacks, said Petty Officer Robert Smith. Also, the station itself was only recently reopened in a new building to replace one damaged by fire in 2001.
Plans call for handing off the light to Caswell Beach officials within the next couple of months, and visits may resume by fall or winter, he said.
For now, the light is visible — and photographable — from safely outside the station. Also, visits are sometimes arranged for organized groups.
But the only people who will see the view from atop this light are the lucky members of the Coast Guard.
"It's not as easy to climb as the other lighthouses, but it's nice once you get up there," said Chief Warrant Officer Chris Humphrey, spokesman for Group Fort Macon. "It is a beautiful view."
