The Oak Island Lighthouse, completed in 1958, was the last lighthouse to be built in North Carolina. In the last two hundred years many attempts were made to light this stretch of water but it was very difficult due to hurricanes, war and changing shipping routes. The “New Inlet”, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River Basin, was formed due to a hurricane in 1761 and became the popular route to Wilmington the largest North Carolina port. With the increase of sea traffic two range lights were built on Oak Island in 1849 and since they were so close to Fort Caswell they were called the “Caswell Lights”. During the Civil War, retreating Confederated Troops destroyed both lights. Re-built in 1893, another hurricane hit and damaged both lights. By then the shipping routes were changing and the lights were decommissioned. Even though there was a decrease in traffic, ships still needed a strong light to navigate the difficult Frying Pan Shoals. A new Cape Fear Light, 150 foot tower, was built on Baldhead Island in 1903 and functioned until the currant Oak Island Lighthouse was built. The tower is 158 feet and made of solid 8-inch thick reinforced concrete. The tower has three distinctive bands of color that will never need repainting. The first 40 feet is natural grey cement, the next 50 feet is a mixture of white Portland cement and white quartz aggregate and for the last 50 feet black paint was mixed with the cement. The aluminum lantern room has 4 1000-watt aerobeam lights that had to be installed by Marine helicopters. The lighthouse has 2.5 million candle power lights flashing intermittently and is visible 24 miles out to sea. The Oak Island Lighthouse is one of the most powerful lighthouses in existence today. |
