Bodie Island Lighthouse

Bodie Island Lighthouse, North Carolina, 1872
Tower closed to the Public, tours available by the National Park Service


HISTORY

Reportedly, Bodie Island, originally Body , is named after the family who owned the land, but folklore would have it that the name resulted from the many shipwrecked bodies that washed ashore. Rising 165 feet and painted with striking black and white stripes, the picture-perfect Bodie Island Lighthouse is actually the third attempt to illuminate the perilous stretch of coast between Cape Hatteras and Currituck Beach.

In 1871 the Lighthouse Board finally purchased a new 15-acre site north of Oregon Inlet, and Dexter Stetson, the construction foreman who had just completed the Cape Hatteras tower, set to work. The same innovative foundation used at Cape Hatteras was repeated at Bodie Island, with stacked timber pilings below the ground and granite blocks above the base. The 164-foot tower s first order Fresnel lens was lit on October 1, 1872.

Except for an unfortunate flock of geese crashing into the lens later that year, the lighthouse has had a relatively peaceful existence. Strategically placed screening has protected the lens from further collisions with birds, and in 1884 a lightning rod was installed to solve the problem of improper grounding for electrical storms. On September 19, 1932 the lighthouse was electrified, and the now 160,000 candle-power light flashes at regular intervals. Ownership of the 15-acre site, excepting the lighthouse itself, was transferred to the National Park Service in 1953. The keeper s duplex now serves as a visitor center and a ranger office, although the tower is closed to the public.