NC NSP-Lesson Templates - BestPracticesLibrary. The Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Graveyard of the Atlantic Built in 1812, the first lighthouse was only 107 feet in height.
It was constructed as a wooden building with an interior brick stairwell and an iron lantern. Both the tower and the lantern were octagonal in shape. The wooden exterior of the tower was painted in red and white bands. Inside the lantern, 13 oil lamps with parabolic reflectors produced a fixed white light that could be seen 16 to 18 miles out to sea. Eventually replaced by a taller tower, the first lighthouse continued standing until after 1868. The Second Lighthouse Construction on the second lighthouse tower began in 1857. The completed tower stands 163 feet in height.
When first completed, the tower was a solid, natural brick red color. In order to build such a tall tower, a different construction technique was used. Lanterns, lenses and lamps The old lighthouse had used a number of oil lamps to try and make its light brighter. The Ocracoke Lighthouse. (The following is from a National Park Service handout, revised June, 2005) OCRACOKE LIGHTHOUSE FACTS HEIGHT: 77 feet 5 inches STAIRS: 86 LIGHT PATTERN: Fixed Light BEAM RANGE: 14 Miles OWNERSHIP: transferred from US Coast Guard to the National Park Service in 1999 Ocracoke Inlet was first put on the map when English explorers wrecked a sailing ship there in 1585.
Two centuries later this was one of the busiest inlets on the East Coast. Ocracoke Inlet was the only reasonably navigable waterway for ships accessing inland ports such as Elizabeth City, New Bern, and Edenton. Ocracoke Village, then known as Pilot Town, developed as a result of the inlet's use. Text of sign shown at left The first lighthouse at Ocracoke Inlet was the 1798 Shellcastle Rock lighthouse located on an island in the inlet.
Currituck Beach Lighthouse - Corolla, NC: History. On December 1, 1875 the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining "dark space" on the North Carolina coast between the Cape Henry light to the north and Bodie Island to the south.
To distinguish the Currituck Beach Lighthouse from other regional lighthouses, its exterior was left unpainted and gives today's visitor a sense of the multitude of bricks used to form the structure. The lighthouse was automated in 1939 when the United States Coast Guard assumed the duties of the Bureau of Lighthouses. At a height of 158 feet, the night beacon still flashes at 20-second intervals to warn ships hugging the chain of barrier islands along the coast. The Bodie Island Lighthouse. Click here for April 2006 Pictures (The following is from a National Park Service handout, revised June, 2002) BODIE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE FACTS HEIGHT: 156 Feet HEIGHT OF STRIPES: 22 Feet STAIRS: 214 LIGHT PATTERN: 2.5 seconds on, 2.5 off, 2.5 on, 22.5 off BEAM RANGE: 19 Miles OWNERSHIP: transferred from US Coast Guard to the National Park Service in 2000 Throughout history, the watery perils that exist off North Carolina's coast have endangered mariners.
Hundreds of ships have fallen prey to these formidable currents, fierce storms, and shifting shoals...the infamous Graveyard of the Atlantic. The Outer Banks were an area crucial for the construction of lighthouses. In 1837, the federal government sent lieutenant Napoleon L. (Click to enlarge) Congress responded with an appropriation for a lighthouse that same year, but complications over purchasing the necessary land delayed construction until 1847. The second lighthouse fared little better than its wobbly predecessor. Construction and Maintenance - Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Q.
How tall is the lighthouse? At the current lighthouse site: 193.20 feet from the ground to the peak of the lighthouse 198.49 feet from the ground to the top of the lightning rod 192.2 feet is the focal height (mean sea level to light) 208.0 feet above mean sea level at the OLD lighthouse site. 210.01 feet above mean sea level at the NEW lighthouse site. The lower gallery is 165 ft ½ inch above sidewalk level (at the inner edge-it slopes for drainage) - roughly the same as a 12 story building.