Hi fellow travelers,

I’m spending the summer of 2012 at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a National Park Ranger. It’s only a day and a half from home in Massachusetts and it was a very easy ride. Please follow along with my wife, Jan, and me as we share with you some less traveled nooks & crannies of the Outer Banks.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse, Outer Banks, North Carolina

On December 1, 1875, the beacon of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse filled the remaining ''dark spot'' on the North Carolina coast between the Cape Henry light to the north and Bodie Island to the south. Automated in 1939, the night beacon still flashes to warn ships sailing the chain of barrier islands along the coast.

Built in 1874-75 by the US Lighthouse Board-Superintendent of Construction, Dexter Stetson. With an overall tower height of about 162 feet, its one of the tallest lighthouses in the country.

This redbrick lighthouse towers above the northern Outer Banks in Corolla Village. Visitors can climb the circular staircase of 214 steps to the top of the lighthouse for a panoramic view of Currituck Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and the Currituck Outer Banks.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is fitted with what is known as a first order lens, which means it’s the largest (about 9-feet tall and 6-feet in diameter) of the seven Fresnel lens sizes. It is a white light but at one time flashed red. A red glass panel was place on a rotating mechanism around the outside of the first order Fresnel lens, which the Outer Banks Conservationists (OBC), permanent stewards of the lighthouse, plans to put back in place with continued restoration.

With a 20-second flash cycle, the light can be seen for about 18 to 19 nautical miles. The distinctive sequence enables the lighthouse not only to warn sailors but also to help identify their locations. Like the other lighthouses on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, this one still serves as an aid to navigation. The beacon comes on automatically every evening at dusk and ceases at dawn.

To tell the Currituck Beach Lighthouse from other regional lighthouses, its exterior was left unpainted and gives today’s visitor a clear view of the almost countless number of bricks used to form the structure. Additionally, the forged wrought iron detailing throughout, including the brackets supporting the gallery, the railings, rosettes, spiral stairs, are among the finest examples of Victorian design, anywhere.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse was the last major brick lighthouse built on the Outer Banks. Thirty years ago, the Currituck Beach Light Station was in need of repair. The nonprofit OBC was created to preserve the light station. Since then, the OBC has spent more than three decades and nearly $1.5 million from private funding restoring, maintaining and operating the lighthouse. OBC receives no government funds. OBC opened the lighthouse to the public in 1991.

The Currituck Beach Light Station is a member of Currituck Heritage Park, Historic Corolla and Historic Albemarle Tour.

Near the lighthouse is historic Corolla village and the Whalehead Club. These are should-see for all visitors to the Outer Bank.

Don’t miss the wild horses. I will talk about them in a future post.