Cape Hatteras NS - Bodie Island Visitor Center

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

We came to the Outer Banks for one reason this time, to be a passporter. This being said, we were dealing with the remains of Tropical Storm Julia, which dumped several inches of rain to the north of the Outer Banks. We drove in rain all the way from Pennsylvania the day before and were ready to do some exploring.In the hotel, we watched the forecast for the day and it looked as the rainfall was to be south of the OBX, but today we focused on the Northern Beaches/ Bodie Island. We started the morning in Corolla under Drizzle at the Currituck Beach Light (yes, a stamp) After stopping briefly at the Aycock Brown Welcome Center in Kitty Hawk and the Goodwill Store (they call them GCF here) across the road in the Town of Southern Shores,and finished the morning at the Wright Brothers NM. After having lunch in Southern Shores then dodging the raindrops Tropical Storm Julia while doing some Thrift Shopping, we decided to close the day finishing the Bodie Island Sites. We stopped briefly here at Whalebone Junction, simply to get the stamp and use the Comfort Facility and our last destination for the day is here at Bodie where it is now 4:13 and the Visitor Center closes at 5.

We proceed in the Visitor Center, do the two stamps and explore the grounds. While photographing the light (climbing isn't my thing. A ranger offers to take our photo, which we oblige to do so. After exploring the area, we complete the visits for the day and head into Nags Head and have dinner at the Outback Steakhouse there, getting postcards prepared and making plans to head over to Roanoke Island and Hatteras Island the next day.

Synopsis

The Bodie Island Light Station is located at the northern end of Cape Hatteras National Seashore. In 1837, the federal government sent Lieutenant Napoleon L. Coste of the revenue cutter Campbell to examine the coastline for potential lighthouse sites that would supplement the existing one at Cape Hatteras. Coste determined that southbound ships were in great need of a beacon on or near Bodie Island by which they could fix their position for navigating the dangerous cape. He punctuated his recommendation with the statement that "more vessels are lost there than on any other part of our coast." Congress responded with an appropriation for a lighthouse that same year, but complications over purchasing the necessary land delayed construction until 1847. Numerous expensive repairs failed to rectify the problem and the lighthouse had to be abandoned in 1859.

The second lighthouse fared little better than its wobbly predecessor. Though funded, contracted, and completed in prompt fashion at a nearby site in 1859, it soon succumbed to an unforeseen danger - the Civil War. Fearing that the 80-foot tower would be used by Union forces, retreating Confederate troops blew it up in 1861.

After the war, the coast near Bodie Island remained dark for several years while a replacement tower was considered by the Lighthouse Board. Though the Board was disposed against the idea, numerous petitions came in from concerned ship captains and, finally, it decided in favor of a third Bodie Island Lighthouse. Still, it was not until 1871 that construction began. The first two Bodie Island Lights had been located south of Oregon Inlet, actually on Pea Island.

The new 15-acre site, purchased by the government for $150.00 from John Etheridge, was north of the inlet. Work crews, equipment, and materials from the recent lighthouse project at Cape Hatteras were used to build necessary loading docks, dwellings, and facilities. Government contracts brought bricks and stone from Baltimore firms and ironwork from a New York foundry. Construction of the tower proceeded smoothly and it first exhibited its light, magnified by a powerful first-order Fresnel lens, on October 1, 1872. The keepers' quarters duplex was completed soon thereafter.

The light was electrified in 1932, phasing out the need for on-site keepers. Finally, all of the light station’s property, except the tower, was transferred to the National Park Service in 1953. The keepers' duplex has since undergone two historic restorations, the last having been completed in May 1992. The building now serves as a ranger office and visitor center for Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The most recent restoration of the lighthouse itself was completed in 2013. Still a functioning navigational aid, the tower is open for public tours.

Tucked away between tall pine trees and freshwater marshland, the Bodie Island Light presents anything but a typical lighthouse setting. Though not as well-known as its neighbors, it remains an important part of local history and a favorite spot for visitors. And still every evening, amidst the water towers and blinking radio antennae of modern development, its powerful light beams out across the darkening waves, keeping silent watch over the treacherous waters known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

If You Go

Approximately six miles south of the seashore's northern entrance is the Bodie Island Visitor Center. This visitor center is located in the historic Bodie Island Lighthouse Double Keepers' Quarters at the end of a short park road off of NC Highway 12 across from Coquina Beach. The visitor center is a great place to get oriented, purchase lighthouse tour tickets, and browse the bookstore.

Outside the visitor center, a path leads to the 156-foot Bodie Island Lighthouse, which is open for tours spring through autumn. Also nearby is a boardwalk that continues past the lighthouse to a wildlife observation deck on the edge of a freshwater pond where you can peacefully observe area waterfowl and wading birds.

Accessibility

Accessible comfort facilities are available as well as Accessible parking. There is no elevator in the lighthouse, however There is a photo book available at the Bodie Island Lighthouse that provides views of the inside of the lighthouse and views from the top of the lighthouse for anyone unable to climb. There is a photo book available at the Bodie Island Lighthouse that provides views of the inside of the lighthouse and views from the top of the lighthouse for anyone unable to climb. The visitor center is accessible via ramp.