Oak Island Lighthouse in Caswell Beach, North Carolina

The Oak Island Lighthouse is in Caswell Beach, North Carolina and marks the mouth of the Cape Fear River. At first glimpse, the Oak Island Lighthouse looks like a pencil with the point down in the ground. The appearance of the Oak Island Lighthouse is just one of its unique features. Climbing up to the top of the Oak Island Lighthouse is also quite different than the usual trek to the top of a lighthouse. While most lighthouses have spiral steps, Oak Island Lighthouse is unique and has a series of ladders with a total of 131 steps to the top. Periodic landings were set up so you can stop, see the view and catch your breath. If you prefer not to climb to the top, you can also stand at the bottom of the ladder and see all the way up the 153' feet to the light.

Another unusual feature of the Oak Island Lighthouse is that the concrete tower will never need painted. The workers poured natural gray cement for the first forty feet followed by white concrete for the next fifty feet. Those ninety feet were topped with fifty-two more feet of concrete mixed with black paint making the striped colors permanent. It is constructed of eight-foot reinforced concrete with twenty-four concrete-filled pilings that go 70' below ground making it capable of supporting the height of its tower. It is said that in winds up to 100 miles per hour, the tower will move as much as three feet.

Trying to light up this area began as early as 1849, but hurricanes, war and changes in shipping routes kept interfering with the plans. Efforts continued because a lighthouse was really needed in this part of the Atlantic coast to protect ships from the Frying Pan Shoals. The Oak Island Lighthouse was finally built in 1958 and is one of the last lighthouses to be built in America.

The Oak Island Lighthouse has aerobeam lights rather than the more common Fresnel lens. There are four 1,000 watt lights that were installed by Marine Corp helicopters. These aerobeam lights make Oak Island Lighthouse one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world, and its light can be seen approximately 24 miles away. These lights are not only bright, but they get so hot that anyone doing repair work on the Lighthouse has to wear protective clothing. One more fact about the Oak Island Lighthouse sets it apart and adds to its uniqueness. The Oak Island Lighthouse is not an automatic light and gets lit every night before sunset and turned off every morning right after sunrise. The Oak Island Lighthouse has the distinction of being the last manually-operated lighthouse in the world.

When you go to visit the Oak Island Lighthouse, take note of the boardwalk across the street where you can get great pictures of this unique lighthouse.