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Lighthouse History
Built: 1849
Type: Conical Brick Tower
Height: 20 feet
Status: Non-Active
Location: West Side of Cape
Fear River
Deactivated: 1861
Lens: Eight lamps and eight
14-inch reflectors - Replaced Sixth Order Fresnel with fixed white light
Keepers: 1849 John Bell
Notes: The sister light,
located around 700-800 feet upriver, served as keepers quarters. It was
a larger, square, brick structure with a lantern room on top and an overall
height of 35 feet. Although the first person appointed as keeper was Samuel
C. Mason, for some reason he never took up the post, and John Bell worked
as the first keeper.
During the early part of
the Civil War, when they served to guide daring Confederate blockade runners
past the Union ships stationed offshore. The Confederate army turned the
brick keeper's house into a signal station, which provided communication
between Fort Caswell and Fort Fisher. The Union eventually did gain complete
control of the coast, forcing the Confederates to retreat inland. Rather
than let the lighthouses remain for the enemy, Confederate soldiers dismantled
or destroyed as many lights as they could.
The lighthouses along the
Cape Fear River never recovered from the war. By the end of the century,
the rear range light at Price's Creek had sustained such storm damage that
it was torn down and the bricks hauled off and used by locals. Now none
of the river lights remain except the front range light at Price's Creek,
which is in a state of disrepair.
This lighthouse was basically
forgotten until it was rediscovered in the 1980s. The property on which
the lighthouse stands today belongs to Archer Daniels Midland Company.
There is no public access
to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is best viewed from the Southport-Fort
Fisher ferry, which passes near the lighthouse a few minutes after leaving
Southport. For more information, call 1-800BYFERRY |