Lighthouses

North Carolina Lighthouses

The lighthouse on Ocracoke Island, built in 1823, is the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina that is still operating. The Smith Island lighthouse that was built in 1795 is the oldest lighthouse still standing. There are seven lighthouses in North Carolina. These are: . .

• Baldhead Island Lighthouse – Southport/Cape Fear River
• Bodie Island Lighthouse – Bodie Island (see Bodie Island Lighthouse Restoration Project)
• Cape Hatteras Lighthouse – Hatteras Island
• Cape Lookout Lighthouse – Lookout Island
• Currituck Beach Lighthouse – Corolla, NC, Curritick Island
• Ocracoke Island Lighthouse – Ocracoke Island
• Oak Island Lighthouse – Caswell Beach/Oak Island

There was the US Lifesaving Service prior to today’s U.S. Coast Guard. The federal government agreed to form the service in the 1840′s with early effort concentrated in the northeast and Great Lakes region.

Expansion was hindered during the Civil War until, in the 1870′s, a number of new stations were ordered for the North Carolina coastal regions.