Oak Island Lighthouse

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Oak Island Light

(Caswell Beach, North Carolina)

Oak Island lighthouse is not one of the most picturesque or beautiful lighthouses on the southern Atlantic coast, but it is special in many ways. The present structure was built in 1958 making it one of the last lighthouses to be built in America and is also one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world.

During the late 1700s the Cape Fear River became an important means to reach the state’s largest port of Wilmington. To aid in navigation, two range lights were built on Oak Island. They were completed on September 7, 1849. Range lights are set up to guide boats in the inlets or shipping channels. Little is known about these early lights. They were replaced in 1879. These new lights, also referred to as the Caswell Lights due to their proximity to Fort Caswell, continued to function as range lights until 1893 when they were damaged by a hurricane. By this time, however, their usefulness had diminished since the inlet they had been guiding ships through had moved over time. They were discontinued in 1894.

A powerful lighthouse was needed in the area to protect ships from the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals that extended off the coast. The lighthouse board had petitioned Congress to make the Bald Head Island Light (see the Bald Head Island Lighthouse write-up) a coastal light by increasing its height and equipping it with a 1^st-order lens, however, Congress denied this request and instead approved funding for the Cape Fear Lighthouse to be built. The Cape Fear Lighthouse was completed in 1903. It was a skeletal tower 150 feet tall with a 1^st-order lens. The Cape Fear Lighthouse continued to function until 1958 when the new modern tower was built on Oak Island.

The present 1958 Oak Island Lighthouse was the last lighthouse built in North Carolina and was one of the last lighthouses built in the United States. It's constructed of eight-inch-thick reinforced concrete and stands 169 feet high with 139 steps to the top. The base is anchored 70 feet below ground to make it strong enough to support the tower. The concrete was permanently colored with paint mixed in with the concrete and, therefore, will never need to be repainted.

The tower is equipped with four 1000-watt aerobeam lights that produce 2.5 million candlepower, making Oak Island light one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world. The lights flash intermittently and can be seen for up to 24 miles out to sea.

The lighthouse is located on Coast Guard property, surrounded by a chain-link fence, and is not open to the public. The lighthouse, however, can be easily view from the road that goes right by the property and the lighthouse.

Directions: Take NC 133 from Southport to Caswell Beach. When the highway ends, the road curves to the left. The lighthouse is about three miles from the bridge that connects this outer strip of coast to the mainland.

Oak Island Light photographed from the top of Old Baldy Light.

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All pictures are the original work of Rick Totton and are protected under copyright laws.

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