The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Civil War

The second (1859) Cape Lookout lighthouse was in operation for less than two years when the Civil War broke out. On April 19, 1861, President Lincoln ordered a Federal blockade of Southern ports from South Carolina to Texas and that same day North Carolina Governor John Ellis ordered the principal lights along the coast darkened even though North Carolina would not formally secede from the Union until May 20th. The Confederate Light House Bureau ordered all lighting apparatuses removed from lighthouses in early June. Later that month, the lens and lamps of the Cape Lookout lighthouse were removed and taken to a warehouse in Beaufort where they were stored along with the 4th order lenses from the range lights on Bogue Banks and smaller lenses from lighted buoys marking the sea lane into Beaufort Inlet. They were eventually moved to Raleigh, where they remained for the duration of the war.

Once Federal forces controlled the area after the Burnside expedition the Cape Lookout lighthouse was relit with a third order Fresnel lens on March 1, 1863. On April 3, 1864, a small band of Confederate troops, armed with kegs of powder, staged an expedition into Federally-controlled Core Banks with the objective of disabling the Cape Lookout lighthouse. Reports of the resulting damage inflicted during this raid are conflicting. An initial Confederate report, written on April 9th, stated that the party “destroyed both lighthouses at Cape Lookout so that they never can be repaired again.” A second report issued on April 12th indicated that the 1812 lighthouse was destroyed, however, due to poor powder quality the 1859 lighthouse was only temporarily disabled. A Union report, written on April 5th, noted only relatively minor damage to the 1859 lighthouse with no mention made of the 1812 lighthouse. Both Union and Confederate reports indicated that the oil supply was destroyed. The controversy is further discussed here (https://www.ourstate.com/civil-war-cape-lookout/). Physical and historical evidence shows that the lower section of the iron spiral staircase was badly damaged. Due to iron shortages during the war, this section was replaced with wooden steps. These repairs were completed by June 27, 1864. When General Sherman’s men captured the state capital of Raleigh on April 13, 1865, they found the Fresnel lens from Cape Lookout, which was stored there since July 22, 1862.

Some of the hundreds of glass prisms were broken or missing and the lens was sent to France for repair. It left the United States on November 28, 1865 and returned, completely restored in mid-August of the following year. In addition, after the war the temporary wooden stairs were replaced with iron steps.

There is a small museum and gift shop inside the visitor center but there are no exhibits or books relevant to the Civil War.

**The Visitor Center**– to **the far** **left is a ticket booth. I booked my ticket online.**

There are several signs along the shoreline outside the visitors center.

**The ferry boats operated by Island Express Ferry Service- the only vendor that provides service to the island**

There is a waiting area under the green roof in the picture above. After walking through the gate and ramp I entered the boat and sat on the immediate right at the front of the boat in order to get the best pictures on the way over.

**I could see the lighthouse from the shoreline**

The boat passed between Cape Lookout and the eastern end of Shackleford Banks.

It drops passengers off first on Shackleford Banks shown below famous for its wild horses.

It then heads for Cape Lookout.

There is a small gift shop on the island as you head toward the lighthouse. At the gift shop you can purchase a ticket for a shuttle that will take you to the other side of the island, located there are several post-war structures. I visited on a very hot and humid day and did not visit there.