Year first constructed 1798 Automated 1955 Tower shape Conical Construction started 1798 | Year first lit 1823 (current tower) Foundation Dressed stone / timber Height 23 m | |
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Location SR 1326, Ocracoke Island, Ocracoke, North Carolina, Hyde County, North Carolina Address Lighthouse Rd, Ocracoke, NC 27960, USA Hours Open today · 9AM–5PMWednesday9AM–5PMThursday9AM–5PMFriday9AM–5PMSaturday9AM–5PMSunday9AM–5PMMonday9AM–5PMTuesday9AM–5PMSuggest an edit Materials Lumber, Mortar, Stone, Brick Similar Bodie Island Lighthouse, Currituck Beach Light, Cape Hatteras Light, Cape Lookout Lighthouse, The Elizabethan Gardens | ||
Ocracoke lighthouse opened to the public
Ocracoke /ˈoʊkrʌkoʊk/ Light was built in Hyde County, on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina in 1823 by Massachusetts builder Noah Porter. The lighthouse stands 75 feet (23 m) tall. Its diameter narrows from 25 feet (7.6 m) at the base to 12 feet (3.7 m) at its peak.
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In 1864, Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel Lens, but Union forces later restored it.
Ocracoke Light is the oldest operating light station in North Carolina. The lighthouse was automated in 1955. During the summer months when there is a U.S. National Park Ranger on duty, visitors may access the base of the lighthouse. Access to the top of the lighthouse is not allowed due to the simple steel spiral staircase being safe only for maintenance activity.
However, this is not the original staircase; the original staircase was a wooden step spiral built into the inside of the exterior wall. This was removed during the 1950s due to excessive rotting to the boards and a lacking necessity for a substantial staircase because of the automation of the light. The wooden stairs were removed and the holes in the all-brick lighthouse were cemented closed.
The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as Ocracoke Light Station.
Ocracoke lighthouse
Controversy
Various claims have been made about the light, including "the Ocracoke Light is the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation," from the National Park Service. The original 1795 construction a mile away would qualify only as fifth oldest and the current 1823 tower is about twelfth oldest.