North Caro 



"na State Ub rar y 

 Rafeigh 



N. & 

 Doc, 



UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 



February, 1979 



105 1911 Building 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N.C. 27650 Tel: (919) 737-2454 



Looking out for Cape Lookout 



An aerial view of Cape Lookout Lighthouse 



The Cape Lookout Lighthouse, with its diamond- 

 shaped pattern, has stood watch over treacherous 

 waters near Core Banks since 1859. But if nature is 

 allowed to follow its natural course, the days of this 

 well-known landmark are numbered. 



The culprit is Barden Inlet. It was during a 1933 

 hurricane that this inlet cut through the junction of 

 Core and Shackleford Banks. Ever since, it has been 

 gradually eating away at the sandy shore in front of 

 the lighthouse. 



In 1975 the erosion rate at the lighthouse site began 

 to accelerate greatly, reaching an alarming rate of 

 23.4 feet per month in 1977. At that rate, the light- 

 house would be in the water by May of 1981. Since 

 1940, however, the overall rate of erosion has been 2.8 

 feet per month. Using that rate, scientists figure that 

 the lighthouse could last until 1993. As of December, 

 1978, the lighthouse stood 310 feet from the inlet and 

 the lighthouse keeper's quarters, only 125 feet. 



Proposals to develop the Cape Lookout National 

 Seashore Park brought official discussion of the 

 lighthouse's plight to a peak last year. The issue is 

 complicated by the fact that there are a lot of fingers 

 in the lighthouse pie. The lighthouse itself, 200 feet of 

 property surrounding it and a nearby cement block 

 oil house are owned by the U.S. Coast Guard. The 

 lighthouse is still used as a navigation aid. 



The rest of the structures in the lighthouse 

 complex— a keeper's house, a summer kitchen, a 

 generator house and a coal and wood shed — all belong 

 to the National Park Service. The Park Service also 

 has acquired most of the privately owned property on 

 Core Banks in preparation for the development of the 

 national seashore. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

 is responsible for dredging the Barden Inlet channels. 



Lastly, the State Division of Archives and History 

 is involved because the lighthouse complex is listed 

 on the National Register of Historic Places. That 

 agency is authorized to see that proper measures are 

 taken to preserve the lighthouse and attendant 

 buildings. i ^ > 



