Ocracoke Light

Ocracoke Light

Ocracoke Light
Location	SR 1326, Ocracoke Island, Ocracoke, North Carolina, Hyde County, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°6′32.3″N 75°59′9.8″W / 35.108972°N 75.986056°WCoordinates: 35°6′32.3″N 75°59′9.8″W / 35.108972°N 75.986056°W
Year first constructed	1798
Year first lit	1823 (current tower)
Automated	1955
Foundation	Dressed stone / timber
Construction	Brick with mortar surface
Tower shape	Conical
Markings / pattern	White
Height	76 feet (23 m)
Focal height	75 feet (23 m)
Current lens	4th order Fresnel lens installed 1854
Range	15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)
Characteristic	Fixed white
Fog signal	none
Admiralty number	J2408
ARLHS number	USA-561
USCG number	2-660 [1] [2] Ocracoke Light Station U.S. National Register of Historic Places Area 2 acres (0.81 ha) Built 1823 Architect Noah Porter NRHP Reference # 77000110 [3] Added to NRHP November 25, 1977

Ocracoke /ˈoʊkrʌkoʊk/ ^[4] Light was built in Hyde County, on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina in 1823 by Massachusetts builder Noah Porter. The lighthouse stands 75 feet (23 m) tall. Its diameter narrows from 25 feet (7.6 m) at the base to 12 feet (3.7 m) at its peak.

In 1864, Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel Lens, but Union forces later restored it.

Ocracoke Light is the oldest operating light station in North Carolina. The lighthouse was automated in 1955. During the summer months when there is a U.S. National Park Ranger on duty, visitors may access the base of the lighthouse. Access to the top of the lighthouse is not allowed due to the simple steel spiral staircase being safe only for maintenance activity.

However, this is not the original staircase; the original staircase was a wooden step spiral built into the inside of the exterior wall. This was removed during the 1950s due to excessive rotting to the boards and a lacking necessity for a substantial staircase because of the automation of the light. The wooden stairs were removed and the holes in the all-brick lighthouse were cemented closed.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as Ocracoke Light Station.

Controversy

Various claims have been made about the light, including "the Ocracoke Light is the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation," from the National Park Service.^[5] The original 1795 construction a mile away^[2] would qualify only as fifth oldest and the current 1823 tower is about twelfth oldest.

References

1. Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 6.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: North Carolina". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
3. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
4. Talk Like A Tarheel, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
5. "The Ocracoke Lighthouse". National Park Service. Retrieved 8 February 2010.

Ocracoke Lighthouse and Silver Lake from Ocracoke National Park Museum

U.S. Coast Guard Archive