A first-order Fresnel lens was installed atop the tower in 1856, but it wasn’t until Mathat Congress appropriated $45,000 to build a new taller lighthouse.įirst lit on Novemby Keeper John Royal, the second Cape Lookout Lighthouse proved to be a model for the other lighthouses that would be rebuilt along the Outer Banks at Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island, and Currituck. Additionally, the coast had eroded enough that the ocean was now dangerously close to the lighthouse, which was an important seacoast light that needed to be elevated to more properly assist mariners. Hartstene, captain of the mail steamer Illinois, complained that “…the lights on Hatteras, Lookout and Cape Florida, if not improved had be better dispensed with as the navigator is apt to run ashore looking for them.”īy 1850, the lighthouse was in serious disrepair, and the keeper had to constantly shovel piles of sand that would build up against his quarters. Because the tower was too low to be effective, mariners griped that seeking the light was more dangerous than braving the shoals. Thirteen oil lamps produced a fixed white light that was supposed to be visible sixteen to eighteen miles out to sea, but in actuality it was visible only eleven miles in good weather, and less than that in bad. Sadly, it was immediately apparent that the much-anticipated light was a busted flush. Winslow Lewis stated in 1817 that the tower’s stripes made it appear “at a distance like a ship of war with her sails clewed up, and was often taken for such during the later war.” The first keeper, James Fulford, whose parents had provided the land for the lighthouse, was appointed by President James Madison and paid an annual salary of $300. Getting construction for the lighthouse underway took some time though, and it wasn’t until 1812 that the first Cape Lookout Lighthouse was completed at a cost of $20,678.54.īuilt on a sand dune, the ninety-six-foot brick tower was encircled by an octagonal wooden tower covered in cedar shingles and painted with wide, horizontal red and white stripes. In 1804, Congress authorized a lighthouse at Cape Lookout, and in February 1805, a four-acre plot of land was deeded to the government by Joseph Fulford and Elijah Piggot. The long-term plan was to build lights along the Outer Banks approximately forty miles apart, so that as soon as ships lost sight of one light, the next would come into view. In 1803, Congress appropriated $5,000 for a committee to evaluate the possibility of building lighthouses along the eastern seaboard.
The particularly treacherous area off Cape Lookout earned the name the “Horrible Headland.” However, all vessels had a common problem: the warm Gulf Stream mixed with the cool Labrador Current to produce intense fog and dangerous shoals. Vessels sailing south needed to keep close to land to avoid the northbound waters of the Gulf Stream, and vessels sailing north needed to stay in the Gulf Stream to avoid the southbound Labrador Current. Lookout Bight was a favorite refuge for colonial sailors seeking safe harbor during the frequent hurricanes and storms, but the most lasting activity came from the ever-increasing maritime commerce along the eastern seaboard.īecause of opposing currents, the Outer Banks proved tricky to navigate. The convoluted and protected coast around Cape Lookout and Ocracoke provided ideal locations for pirates to launch attacks against other ships and to hide with their captured booty. Meanwhile, the surrounding waters had seen their share of excitement. But on April 12, 1776, North Carolina became the first colony to call for independence from England. The region was under control of the Lords Proprietor - complete with a constitution drafted by John Locke - until 1729, when North Carolina became a royal colony.
North Carolina saw the first attempts at English colonization in 1585, and by 1650 hundreds of settlers had moved south from Virginia.
It wasn’t until English settlers came that the Old World got its foot firmly in the door of this part of the New World.
The land has been inhabited for centuries in 1524, the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano reported native peoples living in the area, and between 15 Spain sent several explorers to the region, although none attempted to colonize. The twenty-one-mile stretch of Cape Lookout Shoals has a history as long and interesting as its country’s. To paraphrase Thomas Gray, Cape Lookout has “read a nation’s history in its eye.” It’s fitting that one of the most strikingly distinctive lighthouses on the eastern seaboard is on a stretch of the Outer Banks that has witnessed everything from hurricanes to malaria, from pirates to Nazi U-boats.
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