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Ocracoke Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

Ocracoke Lighthouse’s modest height (75 feet), subdued color scheme (solid white), and tranquil setting (a small island on the east side of Ocracoke Inlet) belie the dramatic history of its surrounding area. The calm waterway that today carries pleasure boats and small fishing craft witnessed its share of treachery, heroism, and adventure long before the lighthouse stood sentinel over the inlet.

Ocracoke hardly had an auspicious beginning; it was put on the map after an English sailing ship was wrecked on the shoal-ridden inlet in 1585. But its eventual useful role as a waterway access to various inland ports pales in comparison to the high drama played out in its waters. True, the gifted and dashing Sir Walter Raleigh landed on Ocracoke at least once during his explorations of the new world, but the real excitement came from another reckless Englishman—Edward Teach, better knows as Blackbeard, the most ruthless and dreaded of pirates.

By 1718, Blackbeard had come to regard Ocracoke as his favorite anchorage. He even reportedly had a house on the island, which he intended to use as a sort of pirate haven. The coastal citizens, understandably unenthusiastic about the prospect, bypassed their useless Governor Eden and appealed instead to Governor Spotswood of Virginia. Help came in the doughty figure of Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal navy, who brought with him two small sloops. Conflicting reports survive as to the beginning of the battle; some say Blackbeard fired on the two small boats Maynard sent to scout out his quarry. A more intriguing, though probably less reliable, legend claims that Blackbeard, knowing the sloops were nearby and eager to engage them in battle, spent the night before the fight impatiently crying out “O crow, cock! O crow, cock!” from where the inlet got its name.

At any rate, all stories agree on the outcome of the battle. One of Maynard’s sloops ran aground, and Blackbeard gained on the Ranger, the sloop Maynard was aboard. Under heavy fire and unable to either return fire or escape, Maynard ordered his troops below deck. In a move worthy of a TV movie of the week, Blackbeard personally led the charge aboard what appeared to be a foundering and deserted ship, only to meet Maynard and his pistol face to face. Blackbeard attacked, but not before being grazed by the pistol and suffering a deep wound to his neck. The fight raged, with Blackbeard suffering more than thirty major wounds. Finally, Maynard prevailed, and as Blackbeard fell dead at his feet, the Royal Navy Lieutenant cut off the pirate’s head and fixed it on the bowsprit. Blackbeard’s headless body was flung overboard, where it reportedly swam around the Ranger three times before sinking to its doom.

Click to view enlarged imageAfter the pirating subsided, trade increased. As inland ports such as New Bern, Elizabeth City, and Edenton grew, the need for a lighthouse to help mariners navigate the passage between Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands to these towns grew accordingly. In 1798, a wooden pyramid-shaped tower was completed on Shell Castle Island. However, the light was inadequate, and the sand bars changed so much that by 1818 the lighthouse was a mile away from the inlet. In a rather dramatic ending, both the lighthouse and the keeper’s cottage were struck by lightening and destroyed completely.

In 1822, the federal government purchased two acres on Ocracoke Island and commissioned Noah Porter to build a new lighthouse and keeper’s cottage. The lighthouse was to be coated with an unlikely formula of lime, salt, ground rice, whiting, and clear glue, which was mixed with boiling water and applied to the bricks while hot. Porter completed the project the next year, for $11,359, considerably less than the $20,000 the government had budgeted. Such happy efficiency turned out to be indicative of the useful, relatively uneventful life of Ocracoke Lighthouse.

The lighthouse survived the Civil War with minimal damage; Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel lens early on, but in 1864 Union forces re-installed it. In the early 1900’s it was electrified, and today the lighthouse casts a stationary beam visible for fourteen miles. In 1897, a second story was added to the original keeper’s quarters. Because the lighthouse and keeper’s cottage are built on higher ground, they have served as a refuge for local residents during hurricanes.

As the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation, Ocracoke Lighthouse is of historical interest, and the grounds around it and the keeper’s cottage are open to the public. Although the days of piracy, exploration, and heavy trade in the Ocracoke Inlet are over, the islanders’ distinctive accent is one of the most well-preserved of early-American speech, and gives visitors a taste of how the language of Sir Walter Raleigh and Blackbeard would have sounded.

Ridgefield and New Fairfield creations in "Festival of Lighthouses ... Danbury News Times, CT - 22 hours ago By Susan Tuz When Nick Parker's daughters heard he wasn't going to enter the "Festival of Lighthouses" contest at Maritime Aquarium this year, ...

Taking over Whaleback @Drop head:ALF gains ownership of local ... Foster's Daily Democrat, NH - Nov 19, 2008 "We think all lighthouses are historical. For Whaleback, you almost feel like you can touch it from land, but yet it's just out of reach, so people have ... Whaleback Lighthouse gets new owner York Weekly all 2 news articles

Holiday Deals Frenzy Prompts Online Art Retailer to Offer Free ... MarketWatch - Nov 18, 2008 "People come from all over the world to Maine to see our beautiful historic lighthouses -- which also represent hope, vision and strength and they want ...

Calgary Herald

Be moral in tough times, Manning challenges U of A grads Canada.com, Canada - Nov 20, 2008 "We need men and women equipped by their training with high ethical standards to serve as ethical beacons and lighthouses," Manning said as he accepted an ... Manning uses honour to push higher education Calgary Herald all 2 news articles

Tired of those gloomy winter days already? Zanesville Times Recorder, OH - Nov 16, 2008 Connected by a series of bridges, visitors can drive to most of the islands to visit lighthouses, wild horses, beaches and much, much more. ...

Holiday lights to adorn Montauk lighthouse Newsday, NY - 2 hours ago BY BILL BLEYER | bill.bleyer@newsday.com For 211 years, the Montauk Point Lighthouse has displayed just one light -- the navigation beacon atop the tower. ...

Holiday Deals Frenzy Prompts Online Art Retailer to Offer Free ... International Business Times, NY - Nov 18, 2008 "People come from all over the world to Maine to see our beautifulhistoric lighthouses -- which also represent hope, vision and strength andthey want ...

Mattituck Inlet Marina seeks expansion The Suffolk Times, NY - Nov 13, 2008 Representatives of East End Lighthouses asked the Town Board to assume ownership of Latimer Reef lighthouse, located north of Fishers Island in the Fishers ... The public water conundrum Suffolk Times all 2 news articles

The Independent Weekly

Come January The Independent Weekly, NC - Nov 19, 2008 Lone sprigs of parsley loom as lighthouses for sharp-eyed deer. Along the roadside, silhouettes of once-vibrant stalks of corn now resemble the Emperor's ...

Barents Observer

Russia removed radioactive lighthouses from Arctic coast Barents Observer, Russia - Nov 11, 2008 In the course of summer, Russia removed another 46 strontium-fuelled lighthouses from the coast of the White Sea and the Barents and Kara Seas. ...

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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 

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Ocracoke Lighthouse North Carolina Lighthouses Restoration

Ocracoke Lighthouse’s modest height (75 feet), subdued color scheme (solid white), and tranquil setting (a small island on the east side of Ocracoke Inlet) belie the dramatic history of its surrounding area. The calm waterway that today carries pleasure boats and small fishing craft witnessed its share of treachery, heroism, and adventure long before the lighthouse stood sentinel over the inlet.

Ocracoke hardly had an auspicious beginning; it was put on the map after an English sailing ship was wrecked on the shoal-ridden inlet in 1585. But its eventual useful role as a waterway access to various inland ports pales in comparison to the high drama played out in its waters. True, the gifted and dashing Sir Walter Raleigh landed on Ocracoke at least once during his explorations of the new world, but the real excitement came from another reckless Englishman—Edward Teach, better knows as Blackbeard, the most ruthless and dreaded of pirates.

By 1718, Blackbeard had come to regard Ocracoke as his favorite anchorage. He even reportedly had a house on the island, which he intended to use as a sort of pirate haven. The coastal citizens, understandably unenthusiastic about the prospect, bypassed their useless Governor Eden and appealed instead to Governor Spotswood of Virginia. Help came in the doughty figure of Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal navy, who brought with him two small sloops. Conflicting reports survive as to the beginning of the battle; some say Blackbeard fired on the two small boats Maynard sent to scout out his quarry. A more intriguing, though probably less reliable, legend claims that Blackbeard, knowing the sloops were nearby and eager to engage them in battle, spent the night before the fight impatiently crying out “O crow, cock! O crow, cock!” from where the inlet got its name.

At any rate, all stories agree on the outcome of the battle. One of Maynard’s sloops ran aground, and Blackbeard gained on the Ranger, the sloop Maynard was aboard. Under heavy fire and unable to either return fire or escape, Maynard ordered his troops below deck. In a move worthy of a TV movie of the week, Blackbeard personally led the charge aboard what appeared to be a foundering and deserted ship, only to meet Maynard and his pistol face to face. Blackbeard attacked, but not before being grazed by the pistol and suffering a deep wound to his neck. The fight raged, with Blackbeard suffering more than thirty major wounds. Finally, Maynard prevailed, and as Blackbeard fell dead at his feet, the Royal Navy Lieutenant cut off the pirate’s head and fixed it on the bowsprit. Blackbeard’s headless body was flung overboard, where it reportedly swam around the Ranger three times before sinking to its doom.

Click to view enlarged imageAfter the pirating subsided, trade increased. As inland ports such as New Bern, Elizabeth City, and Edenton grew, the need for a lighthouse to help mariners navigate the passage between Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands to these towns grew accordingly. In 1798, a wooden pyramid-shaped tower was completed on Shell Castle Island. However, the light was inadequate, and the sand bars changed so much that by 1818 the lighthouse was a mile away from the inlet. In a rather dramatic ending, both the lighthouse and the keeper’s cottage were struck by lightening and destroyed completely.

In 1822, the federal government purchased two acres on Ocracoke Island and commissioned Noah Porter to build a new lighthouse and keeper’s cottage. The lighthouse was to be coated with an unlikely formula of lime, salt, ground rice, whiting, and clear glue, which was mixed with boiling water and applied to the bricks while hot. Porter completed the project the next year, for $11,359, considerably less than the $20,000 the government had budgeted. Such happy efficiency turned out to be indicative of the useful, relatively uneventful life of Ocracoke Lighthouse.

The lighthouse survived the Civil War with minimal damage; Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel lens early on, but in 1864 Union forces re-installed it. In the early 1900’s it was electrified, and today the lighthouse casts a stationary beam visible for fourteen miles. In 1897, a second story was added to the original keeper’s quarters. Because the lighthouse and keeper’s cottage are built on higher ground, they have served as a refuge for local residents during hurricanes.

As the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation, Ocracoke Lighthouse is of historical interest, and the grounds around it and the keeper’s cottage are open to the public. Although the days of piracy, exploration, and heavy trade in the Ocracoke Inlet are over, the islanders’ distinctive accent is one of the most well-preserved of early-American speech, and gives visitors a taste of how the language of Sir Walter Raleigh and Blackbeard would have sounded.

Tired of those gloomy winter days already? Zanesville Times Recorder, OH - Nov 16, 2008 Connected by a series of bridges, visitors can drive to most of the islands to visit lighthouses, wild horses, beaches and much, much more. ...

Camera Club Falmouth Penryn Packet, UK - 18 hours ago CAMERA CLUB: From the outset it was apparent that the speaker was at home with his subject that encompassed the world of lighthouses. ...

Mattituck Inlet Marina seeks expansion The Suffolk Times, NY - Nov 13, 2008 Representatives of East End Lighthouses asked the Town Board to assume ownership of Latimer Reef lighthouse, located north of Fishers Island in the Fishers ... The public water conundrum Suffolk Times all 2 news articles

Barents Observer

Russia removed radioactive lighthouses from Arctic coast Barents Observer, Russia - Nov 11, 2008 In the course of summer, Russia removed another 46 strontium-fuelled lighthouses from the coast of the White Sea and the Barents and Kara Seas. ...

Taking a Chance The Times, South Africa - Nov 8, 2008 There is something rather romantic about lighthouses. If you sit on the beach at night at Beira, as we did as children when we used to camp at the Club ...

Green Island lighthouses to be conserved News.gov.hk, Hong Kong - Nov 6, 2008 The Green Island lighthouse compound has been declared a monument under the Antiquities & Monuments Ordinance. The Development Bureau said the compound ... Lighthouse declared a monument South China Morning Post (subscription) all 2 news articles

Lighthouse climb will boost nonprofit agency Colts Neck News Transcript, NJ - Nov 11, 2008 Johnathan Holmes, 23, of Mahwah, has committed to climb New Jersey's 11 public lighthouses in an effort to raise awareness and funds for LADACIN Network. ...

HK Green Island lighthouse compound declared a monument Xinhua, China - Nov 6, 2008 7 (Xinhua) -- The Green Island lighthouse compound has been declared a monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, a spokesman for the ...

Sequim Gazette

Louisiana lighthouse earns top spot in restoration initiative Sequim Gazette, WA - Nov 4, 2008 The New Canal Lighthouse, located on Lake Pontchartrain off the Gulf Coast, was the winner of the JELD-WEN Reliable Lighthouse Restoration Initiative. ...

TheDigitel

Lighthouse gets new owner TheDigitel, SC - Nov 9, 2008 Original post: Charleston Light, the lighthouse on Sullivan’s Island, now has a new owner after a deal to transfer it from the Coast Guard to the National ... Under New Ownership: Sullivans Island Lighthouse WCIV all 2 news articles

Common Misspellings include agre allthough altho, althought, altough adn, anbd anohter aplied aroud, arround, arund awya baceause, beacuse, becasue, beccause, becouse, becuase bedore, befoer, befor beggining, beggining, begining, beginnig beng betwen, bewteen inbetween, vetween bu claimes claer, clera comisioned, comissioned, commisioned comparision completelyl disctinctive dramtic buring, durig, durring, duting eearly effeciency, efficency eiter endig enlish excape, excape fedral, fedral feat, fet, fete fianlly, finaly fouth fomr, frome govement, govenment, govenrment, goverment, goverment, governmnet, govorment, govornment gouvener, governer ahev, ahve, haev, hvae, hvea heighth, heigth, hieght, hieght, hieght halp heigher, higer historial hstory housr howver inadiquate, inadquate inclreased instade intrest it's knwos, konws laguage lead, leaded leutenant lief moreso, mroe, omre movei anme, naem, nmae ened enxt nto, onot lonly, onyl orded orginal, origional probablly, probaly, probly, probly, prolly, prolly pubic rela relutively, relativly, realitvely, relitavely reportadly recidents sose smoe, soem speach, sprech storeis, storise sotry, sotyr, stopry, stoyr, stroy sufferring sorrounding, surounding, surrouding survivied tast tahn, thna taht, tath, thast, thgat, thta, thyat hten, tghe, ther, thge, tjhe ther, theri, thier, thier theese htey, tehy, tyhe threee todya troups twpo unlikey uise usefull wiew visable vistors wass, weas, ws warter vell waht, whta hwihc, whcih, whic, whihc, whlch, wich hwile worls owudl, woudl eyar, yearm, yera
 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