Bald Head Light

Bald Head Lighthouse, known as Old Baldy, is the oldest lighthouse still standing in North Carolina. It is the second of three lighthouses that have been built on Bald Head Island since the 18th century to help guide ships past the dangerous shoals at the mouth of the Cape Fear river.HistoryA 10acre site on the west side of Bald Head Island, along the banks of the Cape Fear River, was selected for North Carolina’s first lighthouse. The property was purchased from Benjamin Smith, who would later become the governor of North Carolina. In 1792, Congress appropriated $4,000 to complete the lighthouse that had been started by the North Carolina Colony before becoming part of the United States. Work on the lighthouse was overseen by Abisha Woodward, who would later build five lighthouses along the Connecticut coast and one in New York on the east end of Long Island, two of which still stand at New London, and Falkner's Island. The lighthouse, which was first activated on December 23, 1794, directed traffic to the Cape Fear River and the growing port of Wilmington, located several miles upstream. In less than two decades this lighthouse was threatened due to severe erosion of the river bank. Between 1813 and 1817 funds were approved for rebuilding Bald Head Lighthouse.