Price Creek Lighthouse Price Creek Lighthouse, erected in 1849, was the last lighthouse built in the original series. Originally there were two beacons standing next to each other at this site: a 20-foot circular brick structure and a wooden structure on top of a keeper's brick house. During the Civil War, the keeper's house was used as a Confederate States Signal Station, and the beacons were a means of communication between Fort Fisher and Fort Caswell. In the hands of the Confederate States Signal Corps, the beacons served military and civilian blockade runners. The wooden tower was seriously damaged between the late 1800s and early 1900s and eventually disintegrated. The brick beacon still stands, though it was damaged during the Civil War when the Confederate forces damaged or destroyed all beacons to prevent Union forces from safely navigating the river.

The Price Creek Lighthouse is located on private property on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, about two miles above Southport. It can be seen clearly in the distance from aboard the deck of the Southport/Fort Fisher Ferry while in the mouth of the Southport Harbor. At this writing, Price Creek Lighthouse cannot be toured. However, recent discussions between Southport city officials and the owners of the land where the lighthouse is located have led to the reconvening of a study committee. This committee is charged with the task of making recommendations as to how the public may be given access.

Bald Head Island Lighthouse The 1817 Bald Head Island Lighthouse, known as “Old Baldy”, was not the first beacon to stand on Bald Head Island. The first was the 1795 Bald Head Island Light Station — actually the first lighthouse structure built in North Carolina. The first light station, however, was built too close to the water, was plagued with erosion problems and was torn down by 1810. In 1817 the 109-foot-tall Old Baldy was built of bricks coated with cement on the outside. Inside it has a ground floor of brick and a stone floor in the lantern room, while the rest of the floors are Carolina yellow pine. It still has the original 12" by 14" double-glazed windows from Boston. Because of the limited range of its lens, the Bald Head Island Lighthouse was not useful for warning ships away from Frying Pan Shoals, which extend over 30 nautical miles out into the ocean. In 1854 Congress voted to place a lightship on the shoals. When the Cape Fear Lighthouse, a 150-foot steel skeleton structure, was built on the shoals in 1903, Old Baldy was downgraded to a low-intensity non-blinking light. The Bald Head Island Lighthouse was discontinued in 1935, but from 1941 to 1958 the structure housed a radio beacon to guide ships in low visibility.

With the construction of the Oak Island Lighthouse in 1958, the Cape Fear Lighthouse was dismantled and the radio beacon was removed from Old Baldy. On self-guided tours of Old Baldy, which is now an historic site, you can climb all the way to the top. A small climbing fee is charged at the museum next door, and the funds are used for preservation of the structure. Or you can arrange to participate in the Bald Head Island Historic Tour by calling Ann Mills at (910) 457-7481.

Oak Island Lighthouse 
Constructed in 1958, the present Oak Island Lighthouse was one of the last lighthouses built in America and is the last manually operated lighthouse in the world. It was not the first beacon on Oak Island. As in the case of the Price Creek Lighthouse, there were originally two beacons on Oak Island, part of the series of navigational lights designed to guide ships to the harbors of Brunswick Town and Wilmington. The original beacons were meant to be situated to allow approaching ships to line them up to help with navigation, but they were not properly placed. Both lights were destroyed during the Civil War. They were rebuilt in 1879, but the front beacon was seriously damaged by a hurricane in 1893, and their use was discontinued the following year.

The present lighthouse is 153 feet high with an 8-inch thick reinforced concrete base anchored with 24 pipe pilings filled with concrete to 67 feet below ground. This design allows the tower to sway about three inches in a 100-mile-per-hour wind. The tower itself is concrete with color compounds mixed into it to keep it from ever needing painting. The 11-foot-tall aluminum lantern on top arrived by water from Portsmouth, Virginia, and was put into place by two Marine helicopters. The 4,000-watt, aerobeam lights can be seen 24 miles out to sea. A second bank of lights is used as backup. With 2,500,000 candlepower, it is one of the most powerful lighthouses in the world. Its characteristic flash pattern is four flashes every ten seconds. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard act as light keepers and climb the 120 narrow metal steps to the platform and a 14-rung metal ladder to the lantern room for weekly inspections. A metal box attached to a shelf with a pulley is used to haul tools, lamps and other supplies to the top of the tower. From the base of the tower, the light is switched on each evening 30 minutes before sunset and off each morning 30 minutes after sunrise.

In 2004, because the service provided by the lighthouse, though it is useful, is no longer considered vital, the National Park Service and the U.S. General Services Administration approved the gift of the lighthouse to the town of Caswell Beach. This transfer ensures that the lighthouse will remain in local control with proper preservation. The Town of Caswell Beach has formed the Friends of the Oak Island Lighthouse (FOIL). The members of the group have built a handicapped accessible walkway over the dunes and a viewing platform across the street from the lighthouse and overlooking the five acres of beachfront which was included in the transfer of the lighthouse property. Recently FOIL made application to the National Register of Historic Places to have the lighthouse added to the official list of buildings, structures, sites and objects deemed worthy of preservation. At this writing, the group is involved in restoration of the lighthouse grounds which involves low-impact development techniques to handle storm water and walkways to eliminate foot traffic on vegetation. Guided tours of the lighthouse area available on a regular basis May through September and by appointment only year-round. Strict guidelines apply to the tours because the climb to the top is accomplished on ships ladders — there are no circular stairs as in most other lighthouses. For more information visit www.oakislandlighthouse.org