Bodie Island Lighthouse

The current Bodie Island Lighthouse is the third that has stood in this vicinity of Bodie Island on the Outer Banks in North Carolina and was built in 1872. It stands tall and is located on the Roanoke Sound side of the first island that is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse is just south of Nags Head, a few miles before Oregon Inlet. It was renovated from August 2009 to March 2013, and was made climbable by the public. There are 214 steps that spiral to the top. The 170-foot structure is one of only a dozen remaining tall, brick tower lighthouses in the United States — and one of the few with an original first-order Fresnel lens to cast its light.HistoryThe preceding Bodie Island lighthouses actually stood south of Oregon Inlet on Pea Island in an area that is now under water due to the southward migration of the inlet. The first was built in 1847 and then abandoned in 1859 due to a poor foundation. The second, built in 1859, was destroyed in 1861 by retreating Confederate troops who feared it would be used as a Union observation post during the Civil War. The third and current lighthouse, with its original first order Fresnel lens, was completed in 1872. This lighthouse was built further North and further inland on a 15-acre site. In 1932, the Bodie Island Lighthouse became automated (and the light was upgraded to an electric lamp by using oil-fueled electrical generators), and by 1953 it had been transferred into the care of the National Park Service. It remained manned until 1940, when the lighthouse was fully automated. In 1953, the generators were disconnected and power was supplied from the commercial electric grid.