Ocracoke Light

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox lighthouse Ocracoke Template:IPAc-en <ref name="North Carolina Collection">Talk Like A Tarheel Template:Webarchive, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2013-02-05.</ref> Light was built in Hyde County, on Ocracoke Island, Ocracoke, North Carolina in 1823 by Massachusetts builder Noah Porter. The lighthouse stands Template:Convert tall. Its diameter narrows from Template:Convert at the base to Template:Convert at its peak.Template:Citation needed The lighthouse was built to help guide ships through Ocracoke Inlet into Pamlico Sound.

In 1864, Confederate troops dismantled the fourth-order Fresnel Lens, but Union forces later restored it.

Ocracoke Light is the oldest operating light station in North Carolina and the second oldest lighthouse still standing in the state. The lighthouse was automated in 1955. During the summer months when there is a U.S. National Park Ranger on duty, visitors may access the base of the lighthouse. Access to the top of the lighthouse is not allowed due to the simple steel spiral staircase being safe only for maintenance activity.

However, this is not the original staircase; the original staircase was a wooden step spiral built into the inside of the exterior wall. This was removed during the 1950s due to excessive rotting to the boards and a lacking necessity for a substantial staircase because of the automation of the light. The wooden stairs were removed and the holes in the all-brick lighthouse were cemented closed.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as Ocracoke Light Station.

Controversy

Various claims have been made about the light, including "the Ocracoke Light is the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation," from the National Park Service.<ref name=nps/> The original 1795 construction a mile away<ref name=cghist/> would qualify only as fifth oldest and the current 1823 tower is about twelfth oldest.Template:Citation needed