While we were in North Carolina last month, I photographed three lighthouses that are architecturally similar in that they all look more or less like a house with a light on the roof. Of the three only the lighthouse in Edenton is an original structure. The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse in Manteo is a replica—the original was lost during a relocation attempt— and the 1866 Roanoke River Lighthouse in Plymouth is also a replica. (The original 1866 lighthouse was destroyed by fire in 1885.)
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Roanoke river was an important inland waterway, and the Roanoke River Lighthouse stood in the western Albemarle Sound to mark the river's mouth. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1941 and moved to Edenton by a private individual. In 2007, the lighthouse was purchased by the Edenton Historical Commission and moved to its current location in Colonial Park at Edenton Harbor.
The information for this brief overview came from the Edenton Historical Commission's excellent Roanoke River Lighthouse web site.
Very beautiful !
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, Patrick!
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