December 1st

 

ON THIS DAY in North Carolina history…

 

1875:

 

ON THIS DAY, the last of the four Outer Bank Lights, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, is lit. It fills in the dark hole from Bodie Island to Cape Henry, Virginia. It is virtually identical to its three sister lighthouses (Bodie, Lookout, Hatteras) in construction. The 162-foot tall tower is constructed of approximately one million bricks. Its foundation extends seven feet below ground, with walls that begin at 5.5′ thick at the base of its tower, then tapering to 3′ thick at the top. It took one and a half years to build, beginning in 1874, and cost around $178,000 to construct.

 

For its outer appearance, Currituck is left with its natural red brick. The thought by experts is this was the best way to distinguish it from the barber swirls of Hatteras, the diamonds of Lookout, and the horizontal stripes of Bodie Island.

 

Initially, the beacon is fueled by a mineral oil lamp with five concentric wicks, the largest of which was four inches in diameter. The light is fixed white with a red flash, which occurred every ninety seconds and had a five-second duration. A clockwork mechanism rotates the light. Directly underneath the light, it is powered by weights and has to be hand-cranked every 2 1/2 hours.

 

Today the light is automated and has been since 1939. The light has a flash pattern of three seconds on, and seventeen seconds off. It can be seen for almost 19 miles out to sea. As part of the automation, the lighthouse also has an automated bulb changer that holds a backup bulb. The Currituck Lighthouse comes on at dusk and turns off at dawn.

 

~Kevin Spencer, Author, North Carolina Expatriates