Oak Island lighthouse
Encyclopedia
The Oak Island Lighthouse is currently part of the United States Coast Guard
station on Oak Island
in North Carolina
.
s in the United States
. It is made from concrete
and stands 169 feet (51.5 m) tall. It replaced the Cape Fear Lighthouse
, a steel
skeleton
lighthouse near Cape Fear on Bald Head Island. (That lighthouse was demolished afterwards to avoid confusion.) The lighthouse marks the mouth of the Cape Fear River
with the second most powerful beacon
in the world
, only surpassed by a French
lighthouse along the English Channel
. It can be seen for 19 miles, which is needed to help ship
s avoid the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals
.
The characteristic flashing pattern for the light is four one-second flashes every 10 seconds The heat
given off by the light is so intense that workers must wear protective clothing in order to do repairs. Even then, they are only able to work on it for a short time. It has become the symbol for Oak Island and can be seen on many of the souvenir
s sold there.
The top third of the lighthouse is black; the middle third is white, while the bottom third is grey. These colors are not painted on the structure, having instead been mixed into the concrete at the time the tower was constructed.
The Oak Island Lighthouse was recently designated as surplus by the Coast Guard (though it intends to continue operating the beacon). The town of Caswell Beach
was recently given ownership of the lighthouse and adjacent oceanfront property by the Federal Government in return for its agreement to maintain the property for parks and recreation purposes. The lighthouse is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 10 A.M. - 2 P.M. for limited tour. Tours to the top must be scheduled in advance.
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
station on Oak Island
Oak Island (North Carolina)
Oak Island is a barrier island on the Atlantic coast of southeastern North Carolina in Brunswick County. The island contains the towns of Oak Island and Caswell Beach as well as the North Carolina Baptist Assembly and a United States Coast Guard station, which is home to the Oak Island Lighthouse...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
History
Being completed in 1958, the Oak Island Lighthouse is one of the newest lighthouseLighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is made from concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and stands 169 feet (51.5 m) tall. It replaced the Cape Fear Lighthouse
Cape Fear Lighthouse
Cape Fear Lighthouse was built in 1903, replacing the Bald Head Lighthouse as the main navigation aid for Cape Fear and the Frying Pan Shoals off the coast of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It stood near the cape on Bald Head Island. It was a steel skeleton frame lighthouse, as opposed to the...
, a steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
lighthouse near Cape Fear on Bald Head Island. (That lighthouse was demolished afterwards to avoid confusion.) The lighthouse marks the mouth of the Cape Fear River
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...
with the second most powerful beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...
in the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
, only surpassed by a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
lighthouse along the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. It can be seen for 19 miles, which is needed to help ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s avoid the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals
Frying Pan Shoals
The Frying Pan Shoals are a long, shifting area of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina, United States. The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration of the area; the area is littered with shipwrecks. The southern edge of the shoals...
.
The characteristic flashing pattern for the light is four one-second flashes every 10 seconds The heat
Heat
In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...
given off by the light is so intense that workers must wear protective clothing in order to do repairs. Even then, they are only able to work on it for a short time. It has become the symbol for Oak Island and can be seen on many of the souvenir
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s sold there.
The top third of the lighthouse is black; the middle third is white, while the bottom third is grey. These colors are not painted on the structure, having instead been mixed into the concrete at the time the tower was constructed.
Recently
Caswell Beach, North Carolina
Caswell Beach is a small seaside town located on the eastern part of Oak Island in Brunswick County, North Carolina, and is adjacent to the North Carolina Baptist Assembly and the island's United States Coast Guard station. It was incorporated as a town in 1975. The population was 370 at the 2000...
was recently given ownership of the lighthouse and adjacent oceanfront property by the Federal Government in return for its agreement to maintain the property for parks and recreation purposes. The lighthouse is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 10 A.M. - 2 P.M. for limited tour. Tours to the top must be scheduled in advance.