Ocracoke Inlet lighthouses helped shape North Carolina

Ocracoke Inlet’s first federally funded lighthouse became operational in 1803 on Shell Castle Island. After it was destroyed in a lightning strike in 1818, the U.S. government opted not to rebuild the wooden lighthouse. 

Instead, beginning in 1820, a “channel light ship” was stationed within the inlet to signal mariners. 

That proved to be totally inadequate, so funds were allocated in 1822 to build a new lighthouse in the village of Ocracoke, N.C. Land was acquired for $50 from Justice of the Peace Jacob Gaskill. 

Completed in 1823, the brick, solid-white Ocracoke Lighthouse stands 75 feet tall and tapers from a diameter of 25 feet at the base to 12 feet at the top. Its beam can be seen 14 miles out to sea and within the Pamlico Sound.

Formally known as the Ocracoke Light Station, it is the oldest functioning lighthouse in North Carolina. Though the lighthouse is not open for climbing, the site can be visited daily.

 

Planning is already underway to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the Ocracoke lighthouse in 2023. Things got complicated, however, with heavy flooding that occurred during Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Dorian (2019). 

Cape Hatteras National Seashore is weighing its options. Is “repair and preserve the site as is” the best choice? Should the U.S. National Park Service recommend a more expensive investment in other solutions? What are they? 

National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Supt. David Hallac said he anticipates that at some time in the near future, the effects of sea level rise may require actions “to sustainably preserve the historic resources at the Ocracoke Light Station.” 

Moving the lighthouse to higher ground isn’t very realistic, because there is no high ground in Ocracoke. The elevation is but 3 feet above sea level.

 

While pondering the future, it’s interesting to reflect back. For a few years, Ocracoke Inlet was served by two lighthouses. 

A second lighthouse once stood on Beacon Island in the Pamlico Sound, about 4 miles west of Ocracoke. It was authorized in 1853 to complement the Ocracoke Lighthouse. 

The lighthouse on Beacon Island was 39 feet tall. It went into service in 1855, but within two years “it was considered useless, due to the shifting channels,” wrote Philip Howard, Ocracoke’s resident historian. Therefore, the Beacon Island lighthouse was decommissioned in 1859.

 

What’s left of both Shell Castle and Beacon islands are within Carteret County. Both properties “have gone to the birds,” serving as nesting sanctuaries that are now owned by the North Carolina affiliate of the National Audubon Society. 

Beacon Island is a favorite habitat for brown pelicans. Designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA), Beacon Island is one of nine nesting sites for brown pelicans in the state. This 7.5-acre estuarine island supports about 12% of the North Carolina population of this species. 

North Carolina Audubon says that “during the spring and summer, hundreds of terns and black skimmers nest here, and thousands of shorebirds stop off to rest during their long migrations.” 

The island is off limits to visitors during the nesting season, from March 1 until the last pelican chicks fledge in September or October. Other birds often seen at Beacon Island include piping plovers, rails, gulls, diving ducks and puddle ducks. 

“To the east of Beacon lies Shell Castle Island, a long, narrow finger of oyster shells, backed by extensive oyster beds. Oystercatchers that nest there do well. Their chicks can walk with the parents a few feet to an oyster buffet and eat their fill.”