Firm Footing

By Beth Yarbrough

Bodie Island, just south of Nags Head, North Carolina, was not the first choice for a lighthouse in the area. That award went to Pea Island, but given the fact that Pea Island is now underwater and only a distant memory, and after two earlier lighthouses did not survive, a new location seemed like a sound idea in 1872.

The Outer Banks are notorious for storms, shifting currents and hidden sandbars (which also tend to move themselves around on a regular basis). Suffice it to say that this area earned its nickname “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” honestly. Visitors to the area can even purchase maps showing the locations of known shipwrecks up and down the coast.

By the time this lighthouse came along, engineers had finally figured out how to build these things on land that had a little firmer grasp on the future. Standing 159 feet tall, Bodie Island’s light is third in height behind the slightly more famous Cape Hatteras Light to the south and the Currituck Light to the north. Thanks to a “refresh” of this light a few years ago, it looks as if the third time was indeed the charm for one of North Carolina’s iconic structures.

If you’re a hearty soul, Bodie Island’s lighthouse is open to the public and available for climbing, and good luck with that. Even though I walk a solid three miles every day, I think y’all can go on up those steps without me. I’ll hang around down here, take a few photos, and then wait for you in the car.

Just released from Warren Publishing, Inc., Higher Ground: Southern Churches and Their Stories contains full page color photos of 38 churches across the South along with their stories. Click here to order.