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The Outer Banks Enterprise Calendar of Events ... your source for up-to-date events throughout the Outer Banks


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Welcome to the North Carolina's Outer Banks Internet Initiative

North Carolina's Lighthouses


Photography © Bruce Roberts
Outer Banks Lighthouse Society

A powerful Fresnel lens glows atop the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla. This lens projects a focused beam that can be seen from nineteen miles at sea.

Many of the descriptions and much of the photography in this collection of North Carolina Lighthouses have been provided by The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society. The * beside the name of a lighthouse indicates Lighthouse Society notes have been included in the description.

Lighthouse Tour
Take the Tour
There is perhaps more here than you plan to do, but you can select the information that suits your individual needs.
Lighthouse Directions
Driving Directions
From Currituck Beach Light Station in the north to Oak Island Lighthouse in the south. Here's where you'll learn how to find them.


North Carolina to Become Lighthouse Climbers' Mecca
Six towers will be open to the public by 2011

On October 16, 2009, in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., the Outer Banks Scenic Byway was named to the distinctive and diverse collection of America’s byways. The nationally designated highway traverses one of the nation’s and North Carolina’s great coastal landscapes through Dare, Hyde, and Carteret Counties. The timing is perfectly in synch with ongoing restoration projects at Bodie Island, Cape Lookout, and Ocracoke Lighthouses. Within two years, the maritime trail from Currituck Beach Lighthouse all the way to Old Baldy and Oak Island will offer up six climbable towers and an assortment of other sound, river, and harbor lights to visit. Mixed into this trail of historic sites are life-saving stations, bird-watching areas, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, and maritime museums including The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum at the southern end of Hatteras Island next to the ferry docks, the Beaufort Maritime Museum, and the Southport Maritime Museum.

The Outer Banks National Scenic Byway’s nomination emphasizes the unique maritime culture shared by 21 coastal villages that punctuate the byway route. That culture, says the nomination is thoroughly linked to the byway’s natural environment of barrier islands, capes and shallow sounds as well as nationally significant historic places. Add the beautiful southern areas that include Oak Island and Old Baldy Lighthouses, and anyone seeking a memorable coastal tour will be in the right places.

Stimulus monies out of Washington, D.C., are helping at Bodie Island, Ocracoke, and Cape Lookout Lighthouses. It is reminiscent of make-work projects during the Great Depression that brought improvements to roadways and coastal areas that proved a boon for tourism. Since a large part of North Carolina's economy is based on tourism, stimulus monies couldn't have come at a better time. Soon, visitors to NC’s lighthouses will enjoy some of the finest views available.

Contribution by Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, January 6, 2010


Photography © Bruce Roberts
Bodie Island Lighthouse
A new boardwalk and viewing area adjacent and behind the Bodie Island Lighthouse afford a classic view of the 1872 light station.

North Carolina Lighthouses are one of America's most prized resources. We hope you'll enjoy seeing them here and, one day, we hope you'll visit them in person. The photography contained in this collection is owned by their respective photographers and may not be reproduced or copied without their express written consent.

We owe a debt of gratitude to a number of people who have made important contributions to this collection.

  1. We are pleased to provide a glimpse of outstanding lighthouse photography and reference materials by Bruce and Cheryl Roberts. For many years Bruce was Senior Travel Photographer for Southern Living magazine. He is the recipient of many photography awards; some of his photos are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Many of these photographs are available in book form. See Southern Lighthouses, Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern Lighthouses by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones.

    Lighthouse Families by Cheryl Shelton-Roberts contains a collection of stories among which are three chapters from interviews with the last Keepers' children at the Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island and Croatan Shoals Light Stations in North Carolina. These were some of the last children of the old U.S. Lighthouse Service Keepers who manned the lights before the coast guard took over the lighthouse service in 1939.

    In December 1994, the Roberts co-founded the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society.

  2. Mike Halminski from over on Hatteras Island (professional photographer par excellence) has consistently provided outstanding photography for our use both here and throughout the North Carolina's Outer Banks Internet Initiative.

  3. We are pleased to present photographs by a wonderful North Carolina photographer from Durham, Charles Wayne Clower. Mr. Clower's photographs of Hatteras Lighthouse in June are sure to leave a lasting impression.

  4. Gary and Debbie Presley from Warrenton, Missouri sent us an excellent photo of Cape Lookout Lighthouse. You'll love it.

  5. One of our favorite views of Currituck Beach Lighthouse was taken by Laura Elizabeth Ruffin. There is the extraordinary external view accompanied by an unusual look at the staircase.

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