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Lighthouse Opens for Season
April 2004
Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse opened to the public on Friday April 9, 2004. Entrance to the lighthouse will be on a scheduled tour basis. The lighthouse will be open through the fall.
Old Glory © Bruce Roberts
The "Old Glory" flag, with 15 stars and stripes, was the first American flag raised at Cape Hatteras in 1803. It flew over the lighthouse again October 18, 2003 in honor of 200 Years of Light at Cape Hatteras. The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society co-sponsored the event with the National Park Service.
Lighthouse tours will begin at 9 a.m. daily and will run every 10 minutes until 5 p.m. with a limit of 30 visitors per tour. The last tour of the day will begin at 4:50 p.m. Tour fees are $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for senior citizens (62 or older), children (12 and under), and those holding Golden Access passes. From Memorial Day, May 31 through Labor Day, September 6, the Lighthouse will be open until 6 p.m. with the last tour beginning at 5:50 p.m.
Upon purchase, each visitor will receive a ticket indicating the date and time of their tour. Visitors should line up at the lighthouse gate five minutes before their tour time and present their tickets for entry.
The ticket booth at the lighthouse will open at 8:15 a.m. daily. Tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis, are sold only at the ticket booth on site, and are available for the day of purchase only. Advance ticket sales are not available to the public or commercial tours. Tours will likely sell out by noon each day, so visitors should plan to arrive early to purchase their tickets. Annual passes will not be sold this year.
Some tours may be booked in advance for school groups. These tours will be limited to 10:00, 10:20, and 10:40 a.m. and 2:00, 2:20 and 2:40 p.m. School group tours can be scheduled by calling the Hatteras Island Visitor Center between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily at (252) 995-4474. Educational fee waiver requests must be submitted in advance to: Fee Manager, National Park Service, Outer Banks Group, 1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC 27954.
"To show the park's appreciation to the community, no tour fees will be charged on the opening day, Friday, April 9," stated Lawrence A. Belli, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group. Tour tickets must still be picked up at the lighthouse fee booth for Friday April 9 tours. As with most days, available tours on Friday April 9 will likely fill up by noon that day.
Cape Lookout Light Station © Bruce Roberts
The 1859 Cape Lookout Light Station is located on remote Core Sound Banks Island. The lighthouse was designed by Lt. W.H.C. Whiting, Army Corps Engineer based in Wilmington, NC, who became a captain during the Civil War and died following the battle of Ft. Fisher. Its height reached skyward over 150 feet, making it one of the courntry's first tall, coastal lights built of double-wall brick construction. It survived the Civil War though its companion 1812 tower was destroyed. The repaired first order Fresnel lens was reinstalled in 1867 and it was fitted with iron spiral stairs. It was painted in black and white diamonds, then called "checkers," in 1873. The Cape Lookout Lighthouse survived Hurricane Isable in September 2003 but the coal shed, the small building in front of the keeper's quarters, was blown over and subsequently removed. The ruins of the 1812 lighthouse are still evident adjacent to the current lighthouse.
Currituck Beach Lighthouse © Bruce Roberts
The Currituck Beach Lighthouse was conveyed to permanent stewards, Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc. on October 17, 2003, following an application and review process under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. The lighthouse, keepers' quarters and grounds are beautifully restored and ranked as one of the best restoration projects in America.
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Celebration of 200 Years of Light at Cape Hatteras
Winter 2003
Article by Cheryl Shelton-Roberts
Outer Banks Lighthouse Society
Cape Hatteras
On a late fall day, typically blustery Outer Banks weather greeted a group of over 100 people who came to pause for a while and remember the Cape Hatteras keepers and their families. Huddling together at the Circle of Stones that mark the original site of the 1870 tower, the brisk and salty wind reminded us of the tough conditions under which our coast watchers frequently worked.
For 200 years there has been a light at Cape Hatteras, tended by keepers and their families to mark the Graveyard of the Atlantic. However, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was different from the time it was conceived. For the first time in America, a light was constructed to warn mariners away, not to welcome them into a harbor. Prior to the government taking responsibility for building American lighthouses in 1789, local merchants along the East Coast collected duties on cargoes entering and leaving colonial ports to fund lighthouse construction. These colonial lights burned like neon signs of modern-day businesses. A harbor light meant, “We’re open business, come here and make a deal.” Cape Hatteras, however, was not a friendly light as it warned of dangerous Diamond Shoals and flashed a warning, “Stay as far away as possible.”
A tribute
The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society did not want the bicentennial of this historic light station site to pass without due commemoration. Just weeks prior to the celebration weekend on October 18, 2003, the tightly-wound Hurricane Isabel rushed onto the Outer Banks and caused havoc and damage of historic proportions. The weekend was cancelled, but due to members’ encouragement, the event was replanned. And it was grand.
Celebrating 200 Years of Light
Celebrants huddled together against the cold, brisk Outer Banks wind at the "Circle of Stones" the morning of October 18, 2003 to celebrate 200 Years of Light at Cape Hatteras site. U.S. Coast Guardsmen presented the colors to begin theceremony.
Photography © Bruce Roberts - Outer Banks Lighthouse Society
In a humble and reverent ceremony, Sandra MacLean Clunies, certified genealogy researcher for Hatteras Keepers Oral and Family Histories, read the names of the Principal Keepers. After each name, Joe Schwartzer of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum struck the bell of the ghost ship Carroll A. Deering. The engraved granite face stones of the first plinth, left behind during the 1999 relocation of the 1870 tower and just several yards from the original 1803 lighthouse, have become a historic site as well. It hosts weddings, funerals, and christenings. As Bett Padgett sang “Two Hundred Years of Light,” onlookers moved quietly with the rhythm. The Atlantic rolled in just yards away sounding like a soundtrack for a movie theme song, only it was real and unmuffled by absent sand dunes completely washed away by the recent hurricane. Historian and author Kevin Duffus delivered an outstanding, well-researched history of the site that spanned 200 years. He spoke of the lighthouses, the keepers, historical events the lighthouses silently witnessed, shipwrecks, and the bravery of surfmen who attempted to rescue all who met misfortune there. As OBLHS cofounder and president, I noted that “We are all Keepers of the Lights now. Our American lights have gone from being critical aids to navigation to icons of our pioneering spirit as mariners. They serve as a source of great joy to many and represent the honest principals upon which our nation was founded. It is up to us to see our magnificent historic sites are kept for all to experience. Cape Hatteras represents the rich maritime history of the Outer Banks and has become a national icon and landmark. It exhibits strength and stability and perseverance, the very best of the American character.”
Following the ceremony, everyone returned to the lighthouse for free climbing throughout the day. Thanks to our cosponsor, the National Park Service, OBLHS members received special reserved climbing times. In the big tent near the lighthouse, visiting authors spoke on various subjects. Well-known Outer Banks historian, David Stick, commented on his father’s efforts to help create the Cape Hatteras National Seashore during the 1930s, the first national seashore in history. Its significance becomes more apparent as its wilderness environment is a treasure amongst growing development on the Outer Banks. It is not only a refuge for birds, turtles, and a plethora of other fauna and flora, but it is also a refuge for mankind to leave behind the stress of daily routines and enjoy relaxation. National Park Service Cultural Resources Specialist Doug Stover along with Bruce Roberts and Homer Hickam also addressed the crowd. Each of us attending harbor a story about what lighthouses mean to us. We like to share how our lives are enriched by visiting them, volunteering for them, working to save them. In a fitting tribute to save thoughts about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse for future generations, Kevin Duffus designed a time capsule in which various books, newspaper articles, and comments by visitors, volunteers, and local students will be enclosed and buried during early 2004.
I have written many times about the importance of saving lighthouses as part of our American heritage. Beyond the many things discovered that lighthouses represent, I continue to discover that lighthouses also symbolize “friendship.” In working with the fine members of the lighthouse community, my family and I have made lasting and meaningful friends who are generous, kind, and hard-working. For all of us attending the event, I think author Homer Hickam summed it up beautifully in several radio interviews in the Raleigh and Chapel Hill areas afterwards,
“It was one of the most inspirational weekends I’ve ever experienced.”
Currituck Beach Lighthouse Stairs © Bruce Roberts
The iron spiral stairs at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse hug the contour of the inner brick wall. Akin to the inside of a nautilus shell, the symmetry of the ascending stairs is striking. This lighthouse and the one at Bodie Island are built from identical plans. Army Corps Engineer and later fifth district U.S. Lighthouse engineer Peter C. Hains was present during the completion of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1870 and supervised the construction of Bodie Island Lighthouse 1870-72 and Currituck Beach, completed in 1875. Hains was later famous for dredging the Potomac River and creating the park lands upon which the Lincoln Memorial is located. Hains Point is named for him.
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