Cape Lookout National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Cape Lookout National Seashore

North Carolina

Cape Lookout and its associated shoals have historically been as treacherous to 

passing ships as the more famous Diamond Shoals and Cape Hatteras area located 

70 miles to the north. Compounding the danger of the shoals was the lack of any 

landmark that could be used for easy identifi cation of the area. The land was so 

low that even in the best weather a ship might be on the shoals before the captain 

realized that they were dangerously close to land.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Graveyard of the Atlantic

The First Lighthouse Built in 1812, the fi rst lighthouse was only 

107 feet in height. It was constructed as 

a wooden building with an interior brick 

stairwell and an iron lantern. Both the 

tower and the lantern were octagonal in 

shape. The wooden exterior of the tower 

was painted in red and white bands.

Inside the lantern, 13 oil lamps with 

parabolic refl ectors produced a fi xed white 

light that could be seen 16 to 18 miles out to 

sea.

However, mariners found that the tower 

was too short and the beacon unreliable. 

Lieutenant H.J. Hartstene, United States 

Navy, commanding the United States mail 

steamer Illinois, stated in 1851 that “...

the lights on Hatteras, Lookout and Cape 

Florida, if not improved had be better 

dispensed with as the navigator is apt to 

run ashore looking for them.”

Eventually replaced by a taller tower, the 

fi rst lighthouse continued standing until 

after 1868.

The Second Lighthouse Construction on the second lighthouse 

tower began in 1857. It would become 

operational on November 1, 1859. This 

tower style was the fi rst of its kind built on 

the Outer Banks.

The completed tower stands 163 feet in 

height. Its walls taper from a total of 9 feet 

thick at the base to 1 foot 7 inches at the 

top.

When fi rst completed, the tower was a 

solid, natural brick red color. From the 

lantern shown a fi xed white light that 

could be seen 18 miles out to sea. To reach 

the lantern at the top, a circular cast iron 

staircase wound its way upward.

In order to build such a tall tower, a 

diff erent construction technique was used. 

Although it looks solid, the lighthouse is 

built with double walls.

Building in this manner allowed the tower 

to be as tall as needed while not making it 

unstable or weakening the strength of the 

wall.

Sketch of the fi rst Cape 

Lookout lighthouse 

(National Archives)

Architectural plan

Cross section of the lighthouse tower

Outer Wall

Inner Wall

Connecting Wall

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08/2011

Lanterns, lenses, and 

lamps

 

Daymarks

 

Fast Facts

The old lighthouse had used a number of 

oil lamps to try and make its light bright. 

For the new lighthouse, a more effi cient 

lighting system was installed inside 

the lantern. Consisting of a single oil 

burning lamp inside a large, glass Fresnel 

(pronounced Frey-nel) lens this system was 

a vast improvement.

The Fresnel lens 

A Fresnel lens has the appearance of a huge 

glass beehive. These lenses come in seven 

sizes or “orders.” A fi rst order lens is the 

largest with a diameter of six feet. This size 

lens was used in coastal lighthouses such 

as Cape Lookout. In 1979, this lens was 

replaced by two modern electric beacons. 

These beacons use 1000 watt electric light 

bulbs.

Fuel

Originally oil was used to fuel the lamps. 

Over the years the type of oil changed from 

whale oil to mineral oil (kerosene).

Electrifying the light

Eventually electricity became available 

for lighting. At fi rst, gasoline powered 

generators were the only way to have 

electricity for the light. Today, an 

underwater cable running from Harkers 

Island supplies electricity to the lighthouse.

Light Characteristics

The heart of a lighthouse is the light that 

shines from the lantern at the top. This light 

can be either “fi xed” (steady) or “fl ashing” 

(blinking). The color of the light can be 

white or red or green or a combination 

of these colors. These variations allow 

mariners to tell lighthouses apart at night.

The light at Cape Lookout was a “fi xed 

white” from 1812 until 1914. At that time, a 

clockwork device was added to the Fresnel 

lens to make the light appear to “fl ash”. 

Since that time the light has had various 

“fl ash” patterns. Currently the pattern is 

one “fl ash” every 15 seconds.

The painted pattern on a lighthouse is 

known as a “daymark.” From the deck of a 

ship at sea, it can be very diffi cult to tell one 

lighthouse from another. Daymarks help 

to distinguish one lighthouse from another 

during daylight hours.

Originally, the new Cape Lookout tower 

was left a natural solid brick red. But by 

1872, new light towers at Cape Hatteras 

and Bodie Island were built. Since these 

two lighthouses looked the same as the 

Cape Lookout tower from a distance, it was 

decided to paint each one with a diff erent 

daymark. Cape Lookout was painted in 

1873.

The daymark chosen for Cape Lookout 

was offi cially called a “diagonal checker” 

pattern. Today, most people refer to this 

pattern as a “diamond” pattern.

This pattern has some unusual properties. 

Look at the two lighthouses in the left 

margin. Do they look like the same 

lighthouse? They are both Cape Lookout 

Light. The daymark is aligned with the 

black diamonds North/South and the 

white diamonds East/West. This makes the 

tower appear to change color when seen 

from diff erent directions. Cape Lookout 

is the only lighthouse in North Carolina to 

change like this, all others remain the same 

regardless of viewing direction.

Year current lighthouse completed........1859

Year painted with daymark pattern........1873

Year automated ........................................1950

Year transferred to the NPS ...................2003

Height above sea level...........................169 ft.

Height above ground level....................163 ft.

Focal plane of the lantern above mean high 

water ..........................................150 ft.

Wall thickness at the base ........................9 ft.

Wall thickness at the top...................1 ft. 7 in.

Base diameter ..................................28 ft. 7 in.

Top diameter ...................................13 ft. 3 in.

Number of steps in staircase ...................207

Number of stair landings .............................7

Number of windows ..................................10

Number of doors ..........................................2

A ship’s hatch provides access to the gallery 

around the top of the lighthouse.

Light produced by two rotating beacons.

Each 1000 watt bulb produces 800,000 

candlepower

Light color ..............................................white

Distance light seen out to sea...........20 miles

Light fl ash pattern: 1 fl ash every 15 seconds

Modern electric beacon

First order Fresnel lens

The Lighthouse Today Located within the boundaries of Cape 

Lookout National Seashore the Cape 

Lookout lighthouse is still an important and 

active aid to navigation. The United States 

Coast Guard - Group Fort Macon operates 

and maintains the light.

The lighthouse tower is open for climbing 

during the summer. Check with a ranger, 

at a Visitor Center, or on the park website 

(www.nps.gov/calo) for dates and 

reservation information.

The nearby historic Assistant Keepers’ 

Quarters is open during the summer 

months as a museum. Also during the 

summer, National Park Service rangers 

and park volunteers off er programs on 

lighthouse history and life at a lighthouse 

from the porch of the keepers’ quarters.

Through a special program, volunteers 

become modern Lighthouse Keepers and 

live on the second fl oor of the keepers’ 

quarters during the period they serve.

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