Cape Lookout Lighthouse

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CAPE LOOKOUT LIGHTHOUSE

Cape Lookout Lighthouse was lit on the first of November in 1859. It was not the original lighthouse, but a second chance to make it a success as one of the North Carolina lighthouses.

The first attempt was riddled with problems that included the fact that it was just too short to help the seamen, as well as having a light too dim to see in bad weather, when it was needed most.

Many of the North Carolina lighthouses along the Outer Banks had to be rebuilt for one reason or another and Cape Lookout was one of them. This one became the example that the rest would eventually follow.

The new lighthouse stood at 163 feet tall where the original was only 96 feet tall.

Those sixty-seven feet made a very big difference in how it was able to do it's job!

It was re-built strong with a bright light that could be seen for nineteen miles out, even in the worst rain storms.

You will know the Cape Lookout tower at by it trademark black and white diamonds that were originally meant for another lighthouse!

Yes, you guessed it! The diamonds were meant for the The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to warn of the Diamond Shoals.

If things had gone as planned, you would be looking at a Cape Lookout lighthouse with spiraled black and white bands.

Most of the lighthouses along the Outer Banks were planned so that once a light was out of sight a new one would soon come into view.

It was because of the many shoals that the North Carolina lighthouses were built, attempting to keep sailors safe and warn them of the existing danger along the Outer Banks North Carolina.

Although the Cape Lookout lighthouse is considered nearly perfect in design, there is one defect that still has not been repaired. When it was built, the stairwell was not anchored properly to the side of the wall and tended to be weak with repairs needed often.

So today, this lighthouse is not open to the public.