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The
Keeper's Quarters at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse consist of
a two-story brick house for the head keeper (3 views at
left), and a two-story wood duplex for the assistant keepers
(2 views at right). The interior of the head Keeper's Quarters
is being restored and is not presently open, though you
can look in through the windows. The duplex serves as a
museum and gift shop, and both floors are open to the public. |
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 The
assistant keeper's duplex interior is all wood paneling
and wood floors, even wood ceilings. The photos at right
show the east side stairs to the second floor, and a second
floor room used for museum displays. One of those displays
is this handsome brass Lyle gun seen below. With its wooden "carriage" it
weighs almost 200 pounds. |
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Several
sections of a 1st Order Fresnel lens are also on display,
seen in the photo at right. The lenses are made up of many
dozens of individual finely ground glass prisms. Each prism
is mounted at the optimum angle within a framework to capture
the light from the beacon and focus it in a horizontal beam.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse used to have a 1st Order Fresnel
lens, as Bodie Island and Currituck Beach Lighthouses still
do. Now Cape Hatteras (and Cape Lookout) Lighthouse uses
dual rotating airport beacons, back to back, separated by
a panel. This can be plainly seen in the photo at left below. |
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 The
twin beacons at left are separated by a piece of plywood
painted black. This black plywood and one of the white beacon
lanterns can be seen above the heavy metal flooring mesh
in the photo at right. This photo was taken looking up from
the top floor of the lighthouse just inside the door to the
gallery. The large fluted metal cylinder with the decorative
grille work around the top edge held the 1st Order Fresnel
lens. It is evident there was pride in the work being done
back in 1870. Even machinery, hidden high atop a lighthouse
where no one but the lighthouse keeper would see it, was
embellished with artistic and decorative detail.
The photo at right is a wider angle
shot, showing the whole unit, with gears and rollers, which
allowed it to turn using a weighted drive mechanism, somewhat
like the weights and chains inside a grandfather clock. The
steps from this work room up to the lantern room are visible
to the left of the gray mechanism in the photo. |
 Getting
to the top of the lighthouse to see the beacon and get
a view from the gallery is half the fun. But you obviously
have to start at the bottom. It's here that an appreciation
of the fine workmanship that went into building this lighthouse
begins. The grand scale of the entrance (photo above) is
unrivaled among North Carolina's other lighthouses. Here
the fine workmanship is quite evident. The granite is carved
and shaped to slope away from the door frames, as seen
at right.
 
The granite stonework and brick octagonal
base was surely meant to impress, in spite of the remoteness
of the structure in 1870. Why would anyone build something
with such grand detail on an isolated island with practically
no one to see it up close but a few resident fishermen and
the keepers? Taking such pride in craftsmanship seems to
be a thing of the past. But thankfully we can still see today
the wonderful workmanship that went into Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
  Entering
the doorway (above right) we see the floor is tiled in black
and white marble. On the left wall is a marble plaque, shown
in a close-up at left, giving the construction date and original
coordinates of the lighthouse.
The "well", in the
center of the base floor (photo at right), is where the weights
that powered the beacon rotating mechanism were lowered for
inspection and servicing. In the alcove part-way up the first
flight of steps is a square red drum, used for storing lantern
oil. There are more of these alcoves at the base made for oil
storage containers, but only one presently has a container
in it.
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Beginning the climb.
View of the base from just above the 1st landing.
View of the 1st flight of stairs and 1st landing from a base alcove.
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Step and banister detail view.
Unlike
the unrestricted view at Bodie Island and Currituck Beach,
the landings at Cape Hatteras alternate sides, limiting the
view to two flights. |
Every step riser is
decorated with this
flower motif.
Step risers bolt together
in modular fashion much
like Bodie Island and
Currituck Beach.
No matter how you look at it, the stair view is limited.
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A better view of the oil storage canister.
Window alcoves become shallower as you reach the top.
The very last flight
of steps is cased
in iron.
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The floor of every landing is marble, just like the first floor.
Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse is masterfully constructed and richly
detailed, and is certainly worthy of
being the most famous lighthouse in the world. It is a
marvel in every respect. But respect is the one thing the
park service
forgot when laying out the facilities in the new location.
There can be no arguing that the park service made regrettable
errors in its arrangement of buildings and parking at the
lighthouse's new home after the move. |
The only unobstructed view of the
lighthouse in its new home is from the front of the assistant
Keeper's
Quarters. Every other half-decent
view is either too far away, or obstructed by something. Just
take a look at this view from the parking lot, shown at right.
Does this not look like a carnival? Why were the restrooms
and bookstore placed in front of the lighthouse? Do people
come to see the lighthouse or the restrooms?
Yes, folks. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Step
right up, get in line and buy your ticket to see the famous
lighthouse. It's only six bucks, and it'll buy you five minutes
at the top. All you have to do is climb 257 steps. That's a
bargain, isn't it? |
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Navigate to individual
lighthouse pages with these buttons.
     
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
- Page
One
Beautiful
Photos
of
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the Lighthouse
Gallery
Beautiful Photos
of
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the Lighthouse
Gallery
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| Visit
these other web sites by Fred Hurteau |
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