currituck

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Currituck Beach Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

currituck beach lighthouse Currituck Beach Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

Currituck Beach Lighthouse is distinct among its fellows along the Outer Banks both in history and appearance. The other four lighthouses are painted in striking black and white—in vertical, horizontal, and checkered patterns—while Currituck Beach Lighthouse shows off the natural brick used in its construction. And while the others suffered early damage and drama with everything from pirates to Civil War skirmishes to encroaching waters, Currituck Beach lighthouse had an uneventful beginning and a slow decline.

Nearly 100 years after the first lighthouse was constructed along North Carolina’s shores, there remained a forty-mile stretch of “dark” coast between Bodie Island and Cape Henry, Virginia, where ships still fell prey to the dangerous waters of the Outer Banks. Although Congress had approved plans for a lighthouse and allocated the necessary funds, the outbreak of the Civil War put a stop to any construction.Click to view enlarged image In their 1872 Annual Report, the Light-House Establishment again stressed the need to illuminate this part of the coast. “The land along the coast in this vicinity is low and in many places without trees, so even in day-time there is danger of vessels getting into unsafe proximity to the coast before coming aware of it . . . in the absence of powerful sea-coast lights sufficiently near each other to give warning of approach to danger, many vessels laden with valuable lives and cargoes are in danger of being lost.”

Congress responded with several appropriations totaling $178,000, and in 1873 Dexter Stetston, who had previously overseen the construction of towers at Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, began work on the 162-foot tower. A foundation of stone and timber piling was laid seven feet below ground, and well over a million bricks were used for the tower. On December 1, 1875, the last brick lighthouse to be built on the Outer Banks was illuminated for the first time.

The first-order Fresnel lens was originally fueled by a mineral oil lamp consisting of five concentric wicks that were visible for 18 nautical miles. Two keepers and their families shared a Victorian “stick style” duplex constructed from pre-fabricated materials sent by barge and constructed on-site. A smaller keeper’s house was moved to the site in 1920 to accommodate a third lighthouse keeper, but in 1939 the light was automated when the U.S. Coast Guard absorbed the U.S. Lighthouse Service, and the keepers were no longer needed. After World War II, the lighthouse’s usefulness declined, the property was abandoned, and by the 1970’s the tower and the keeper’s house had fallen into disrepair. Vandals had stripped the keeper’s house of its wainscoting and destroyed the mahogany balustrades. Broken doors and windows left the house open to the elements, and soon the porches had fallen in, the floors were ruined, and tangled vines crept in and out.

A group of concerned citizens formed the Outer Banks Conservationists (OBC), Inc., and in 1980 they leased the property—excluding the lighthouse—from the State of North Carolina. Thanks to their efforts, the original keeper’s house is now on the National Registry of Historic Places and renovations continue to renew the property’s former beauty. Over a million dollars has gone into restoring and maintaining the lighthouse. In 1999 the ironwork was restored and reproductions of the original wooden windows replaced the rather unfortunate Plexiglas panels serving as temporary shields.

The Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 made roughly 300 lighthouses, including the Currituck Light, available to federal, state, and local agencies, non-profit corporations, and community development organizations. Both OBC and the County of Currituck Board of Supervisors filed applications for ownership of the Currituck Lighthouse in February 2003. The National Park Service Review Committee rated the two applications in March 2003, and recommended that OBC be awarded the lighthouse. Currituck County immediately appealed the decision and, backed by the support of Congressman Walter Jones, the dispute soon escalated into what has been called the “Fight for the Light”. In the end, the deed to the lighthouse was signed over to OBC, justly rewarding the organization for its years of restorative work.

Today, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse is one of three lighthouses in North Carolina open to the public. Shady brick walkways link the lighthouse keeper’s houses with several outbuildings, including a gift shop. Visitors can climb the 214 steps up the circular staircase to the lighthouse gallery, and romantically-inclined lighthouse enthusiasts can even schedule weddings on the grounds of the compound. From Good Friday until after Thanksgiving, visitors can travel back to the time before radars and airplanes, back to the time when lighthouses provided life-saving navigational assistance. And every night, from dusk to dawn, the 20-second flash cycle of Currituck Beach Lighthouse illuminates the sky.


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Point Lynas lighthouse for sale at £1.5m
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Docents run historic site for a week
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Lighthouse lovers fundraiser tour Aug. 23-24
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WTAQ

Federal govt. looks to unload 3 Mich. lighthouses
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» Saving pieces of the past
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Elliott and county park staff say the state once led a PR campaign and events each year to raise awareness for Oregon lighthouses. ...



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New Lighthouse Project Plan Unveiled
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Divers inspect ailing Del. lighthouse
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The damage was so bad the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation ceased running summer tours at Harbor of Refuge, and the organization is looking at ...

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Door County, Wis., is home to lighthouses, cherries and more
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Views of the 1869 Cana Island Lighthouse, one of the most visited sites in Door County. The catwalk at the top of the tower affords spectacular views of the ...


Google News

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 Sailing Lessons Carolina   Bald Head Island NC Lighthouse  Cape Hatteras Lighthouse  Oak Island Lighthouse  Bodie Island Lighthouse  North Carolina Lighthouses  Cape Lookout Lighthouse  Ocracoke Lighthouse  Roanoke River Lighthouse  Cape Fear Lighthouse  Currituck Beach Lighthouse  Prices Creek Lighthouse  sailing alantic 

 


 

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

currituck

   Links 

 

 

 

Currituck Beach Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

currituck beach lighthouse Currituck Beach Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

Currituck Beach Lighthouse is distinct among its fellows along the Outer Banks both in history and appearance. The other four lighthouses are painted in striking black and white—in vertical, horizontal, and checkered patterns—while Currituck Beach Lighthouse shows off the natural brick used in its construction. And while the others suffered early damage and drama with everything from pirates to Civil War skirmishes to encroaching waters, Currituck Beach lighthouse had an uneventful beginning and a slow decline.

Nearly 100 years after the first lighthouse was constructed along North Carolina’s shores, there remained a forty-mile stretch of “dark” coast between Bodie Island and Cape Henry, Virginia, where ships still fell prey to the dangerous waters of the Outer Banks. Although Congress had approved plans for a lighthouse and allocated the necessary funds, the outbreak of the Civil War put a stop to any construction.Click to view enlarged image In their 1872 Annual Report, the Light-House Establishment again stressed the need to illuminate this part of the coast. “The land along the coast in this vicinity is low and in many places without trees, so even in day-time there is danger of vessels getting into unsafe proximity to the coast before coming aware of it . . . in the absence of powerful sea-coast lights sufficiently near each other to give warning of approach to danger, many vessels laden with valuable lives and cargoes are in danger of being lost.”

Congress responded with several appropriations totaling $178,000, and in 1873 Dexter Stetston, who had previously overseen the construction of towers at Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, began work on the 162-foot tower. A foundation of stone and timber piling was laid seven feet below ground, and well over a million bricks were used for the tower. On December 1, 1875, the last brick lighthouse to be built on the Outer Banks was illuminated for the first time.

The first-order Fresnel lens was originally fueled by a mineral oil lamp consisting of five concentric wicks that were visible for 18 nautical miles. Two keepers and their families shared a Victorian “stick style” duplex constructed from pre-fabricated materials sent by barge and constructed on-site. A smaller keeper’s house was moved to the site in 1920 to accommodate a third lighthouse keeper, but in 1939 the light was automated when the U.S. Coast Guard absorbed the U.S. Lighthouse Service, and the keepers were no longer needed. After World War II, the lighthouse’s usefulness declined, the property was abandoned, and by the 1970’s the tower and the keeper’s house had fallen into disrepair. Vandals had stripped the keeper’s house of its wainscoting and destroyed the mahogany balustrades. Broken doors and windows left the house open to the elements, and soon the porches had fallen in, the floors were ruined, and tangled vines crept in and out.

A group of concerned citizens formed the Outer Banks Conservationists (OBC), Inc., and in 1980 they leased the property—excluding the lighthouse—from the State of North Carolina. Thanks to their efforts, the original keeper’s house is now on the National Registry of Historic Places and renovations continue to renew the property’s former beauty. Over a million dollars has gone into restoring and maintaining the lighthouse. In 1999 the ironwork was restored and reproductions of the original wooden windows replaced the rather unfortunate Plexiglas panels serving as temporary shields.

The Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 made roughly 300 lighthouses, including the Currituck Light, available to federal, state, and local agencies, non-profit corporations, and community development organizations. Both OBC and the County of Currituck Board of Supervisors filed applications for ownership of the Currituck Lighthouse in February 2003. The National Park Service Review Committee rated the two applications in March 2003, and recommended that OBC be awarded the lighthouse. Currituck County immediately appealed the decision and, backed by the support of Congressman Walter Jones, the dispute soon escalated into what has been called the “Fight for the Light”. In the end, the deed to the lighthouse was signed over to OBC, justly rewarding the organization for its years of restorative work.

Today, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse is one of three lighthouses in North Carolina open to the public. Shady brick walkways link the lighthouse keeper’s houses with several outbuildings, including a gift shop. Visitors can climb the 214 steps up the circular staircase to the lighthouse gallery, and romantically-inclined lighthouse enthusiasts can even schedule weddings on the grounds of the compound. From Good Friday until after Thanksgiving, visitors can travel back to the time before radars and airplanes, back to the time when lighthouses provided life-saving navigational assistance. And every night, from dusk to dawn, the 20-second flash cycle of Currituck Beach Lighthouse illuminates the sky.


Rock Island lighthouse volunteers experience 1800s life
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Brothers Liam (left) and Max Strehlow raise the flag at the Pottawatomie Lighthouse at Rock Island State Park. Every summer volunteers can live in the ...

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Meet Isle of Man's lighthouse family
Isle of Man Today
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Delmarva Daily Times
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WTAQ

Federal govt. looks to unload 3 Mich. lighthouses
Chicago Tribune
The federal government wants to unload three Michigan lighthouses that it no longer needs, and is looking for local communities, museums or nonprofit groups ...
South Haven lighthouse on pier is no longer needed, US Coast Guard saysKalamazoo Gazette - MLive.com
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Journal Times -Interlochen Public Radio -WTAQ
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Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Peninsula in Lake Michigan makes lovely summer retreat
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
One of the many lighthouses erected along Door Country's perimeter to guide passing vessels in Lake Michigan. ...

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History events
Times Herald-Record
Slide and lecture presentation featuring Kevin Woyce, author of "Hudson River Lighthouses and History." Books will be available for purchase and signing. ...



Door County, Wis., is home to lighthouses, cherries and more
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Views of the 1869 Cana Island Lighthouse, one of the most visited sites in Door County. The catwalk at the top of the tower affords spectacular views of the ...



Shine for Lighthouse?
Wall Street Journal
The three lighthouses in question are being offered for sale by the federal government, which is seeking owners willing to take the money-burning ...
Government giving away lighthousesWashington Post (blog)
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Lighthouse closing in August for month
Boca Beacon
As the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse closes for the month of August for maintenance, the Barrier Island Parks Society has announced what their latest ...



The last keeper of the Harbor Refuge Lighthouse now helps conduct boat tours ...
Press of Atlantic City
Rigazio was the last keeper of the lighthouse, which sits at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Angelo Rigazio wasn't there when the men built the base of the ...


Google News

Common Misspellings include agian, agin, agina allthough altho, althought, altough amoung, amung adn, anbd anual appeareance, appearence, apperance, apprearance applicaitons availaible, availble, availiable, availible, avalable, avaliable, avilable awared bakc, bcak bedore, befoer, befor beggining, beggining, begining, beginnig beng betwen, bewteen inbetween, vetween balck bu caost comming comming comittee, commitee. committe conserned congreso consttruction, constuction, contruction coorperations, corperations decison, descision delevopment, developement, develpment, devolopement eahc eearly effords eveyr everthing familes, fimilies febuary, febuary, febyuary, febyuary fedral, fedral feat, fet, fete firt, firts formant, fomed, fromed fourty fomr, frome gropu gaurd hstory housr emmediately, imediately, immediatley, immediatly, immidately, immidiately includng, incuding, inlcuding inot it's layed lastr, lsat lefted lief maked maintinaing milion, millon minerial naturual neccesary, neccessary, neccessary, necesary, nessecary ened noeth, noth nowe organiztion orginal, origional orginally, origanaly, originall, originaly, originially, originnally, origionally, orignally, orignially nother, otehr poverful, poweful powerfull provded proximty pubic recomended, reccomended, reccommended rougly schedual sevice severeal sose stpo sufferred sufficently wupport temprary taht, tath, thast, thgat, thta, thyat hten, tghe, ther, thge, tjhe ther, theri, thier, thier their, ther htey, tehy, tyhe thrid htis, thsi, tihs threee tiem, timne, tiome twpo untill unsed valuble, valueable vacinity, vincinity wiew visable vistors wass, weas, ws vell waht, whta wehn, whn hwile widows owrk, wokr, wrok worls eyars, eyasr, yeasr, yeras, yersa
 Sailing Lessons Carolina   Bald Head Island NC Lighthouse  Cape Hatteras Lighthouse  Oak Island Lighthouse  Bodie Island Lighthouse  North Carolina Lighthouses  Cape Lookout Lighthouse  Ocracoke Lighthouse  Roanoke River Lighthouse  Cape Fear Lighthouse  Currituck Beach Lighthouse  Prices Creek Lighthouse  sailing alantic