PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



Lighthouse History 



In the late 1700s, the dangers of the shoals 

 were compounded by the lack of any landmark 

 that could be used for easy identification of the 

 area. The land was so low that — even in the best 

 weather — a ship might be on the shoals before 

 the captain realized he was close to land. 



hi the early 1800s, Congress authorized 

 construction of a lighthouse on Cape Lookout. 

 Though it is not certain when construction 

 began, the original lighthouse was completed 

 and lit in 1 8 12. The 96-foot high brick tower was 

 eventually painted with red and white horizontal 

 stripes. 



The original lighthouse proved to be inad- 

 equate to protect passing ships, because the light 

 was too low for mariners to view from the water. 



In 1 857, the government ordered a new and 

 taller lighthouse to be built. An impressive 150 

 feet tall, the new lighthouse was the first of its 

 kind built on the Outer Banks. 



"The Cape Lookout Lighthouse was a 

 prototype for the Cape Hatteras and Bodie 

 lighthouses," says Vogel. 



The present structure was completed in 

 1859. Its red brick tower was sturdier and taller 

 than the original structure of 1812. The lantern 

 on the second tower contained a first-order 

 Fresnel lens that displayed a fixed light that could 

 be seen up to 18 miles offshore. Today, a pile 

 of rubble is all that remains of the original 1812 

 lighthouse. 



After the outbreak of the Civil War, retreat- 

 ing Confederate troops vandalized the tower and 

 damaged the Fresnel lens, making the lighthouse 

 useless to the Union ships after nightfall. 



By 1872, new light towers at Cape Hat- 

 teras and Bodie Island were built. Since these 

 two lighthouses looked the same as the Cape 

 Lookout tower from a distance, officials decided 

 to paint each one with a different daymark. The 

 distinctive diamond pattern was painted on the 

 Lookout tower in 1 873. 



For many years, a lighthouse keeper 

 lived next door to the tower and tended to the 

 day-to-day operations — from keeping the light 

 clean and lit to clearing off the windows in bad 

 weather. The keeper kept the light operating from 

 4 p.m. to a little after dawn. 



"I used to carry the whale 

 oil up for the lightkeeper, Mr. Van 

 Willis, along with his son, Ray," 

 says David Yeomans who spent his 

 childhood on the Cape. "It took four 

 gallons of whale oil to keep the light 

 burning through the night. Mr. Van 

 would stand on the ground and hoist 

 the whale oil up the lighthouse in a 

 four-gallon can. 



"When the oil came up, we 

 would take it through the railing and 

 then wait for Mr. Van and let him 



put it where he wanted it," adds 

 Yeomans. "I have run up and down 

 the stairs hundreds of times." 



During World War II, the Cape 

 was abuzz with military activity, 

 and the lighthouse was shut down 

 to protect U.S. Army troops. "There 

 was a blackout on the island then," 

 says Guthrie. "They wouldn't let 

 us go on the Cape except during 

 daylight." 



In 1950, the lighthouse was 

 automated. Now, the light turns 

 every 15 seconds. 



TOP TO BOTTOM: Madge Guthrie played in the lighthouse as a child. 

 David Yeomans and Margaret Ann Gil li kin share their memories of 

 growing up near the lighthouse. The view from the top of the lighthouse is 

 spectacular. 



24 SPRING 2004 



