Bodie Island Light
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Bodie Island Lighthouse |
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| Location: | 4 miles north of Oregan inlet, Near Nags Head, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
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| Foundation: | Timber, Granite, Rubble |
| Construction: | Brick, Cast Iron, Stone |
| Year first lit: | 1872 |
| Automated: | 1954 |
| Tower shape: | Conical |
| Markings/Pattern: | White and black bands with black lantern |
| Height: | 165-feet originally, 156-feet (existing third lighthouse) |
| Original lens: | First order Fresnel lens, 1872 |
| Characteristic: | White 2.5 seconds on, 2.5 seconds off, 2.5 seconds on, and 22.5 seconds eclipse with 2 cycles each minute |
The current Bodie Island lighthouse is the third that has stood in this vicinity of North Carolina. The first two actually stood south of Oregon Inlet on Pea Island. 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 first order Fresnel lens, was completed in 1872.
While some people (including North Carolinians not from the Outer Banks) pronounce the name with a long "o" sound, it is traditionally pronounced as body. This is derived from the original name of the area, which was "Bodies Island", due to the number of dead sailors washed ashore from this portion of the Atlantic Ocean, which is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Local gift shops sell maps of the shipwrecks on the ocean floor. An impressive array of ships have been sunk due to storms, shoals, or even German U-boats in World War II.
[edit] History
From USCG Web site:
- 1847: The contractor on the first project was Mr. Francis Gibbons, of Baltimore, who would later become a prominent lighthouse builder on the West Coast. Cost was $5,000.00 but problems with location and design of the tower caused a ten-year delay in construction. The tower was highly unstable and soon after it was completed, it began to lean toward the sea.
- 1859: By 1859, the Bodie Island Lighthouse was deteriorated and the Lighthouse Board secured a $25,000. Appropriation from Congress to erect a new tower. This new tower was 80 ft and its lantern was a third-order Fresnel lens.
- 1861: In the fall of 1861, Confederate troops stacked explosives inside the tower and blew it apart.
- 1871: A third Lighthouse was completed in 1871 with material left over from construction of a new tower at Cape Hatteras. Tower was 156 ft with a first-order Fresnel lens that made its light visible from 19 miles at sea. The Bodie tower is painted with white and black horizontal bands.
