{"nrhp_refnum":"75001242","name":"Bald Head Island Lighthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Southport on Smith Island at Bald Head","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southport","county":"Brunswick County","state":"NC","lat":33.87350117300008,"lon":-78.00055072699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story, 110-foot octagonal brick lighthouse with stucco facing on Bald Head Island (Smith Island) near Southport, Brunswick County, North Carolina, completed in 1817 by contractor Daniel S. Way, with a small brick supply shed nearby.","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina and is important to the maritime history of the Cape Fear region and Smith Island. The tapering octagonal tower is a distinctive landmark of stark simplicity, built to specifications that still survive. It replaced an earlier 1794 lighthouse that was wrecked during the War of 1812.","narrative":"Rising about 110 feet above the marshes at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, this octagonal lighthouse on Bald Head Island is the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina. Built of stuccoed brick on a sandstone-covered base, its walls taper from about five feet thick at the bottom to three feet at the top. Six windows spiral up the tower, and a sandstone tablet over the entrance names R. Cochran as founder and D. S. Way as builder, 1817. It replaced an earlier lighthouse finished in 1794 that was wrecked during the War of 1812. Congress appropriated $15,000 for the replacement, and Way won the contract with a low bid but lost money on the work. The light was reduced in importance after a new light was built in 1903 and later became an unattended gaslight. The federal government sold the property in 1963. A small brick supply shed stands to the south.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"D. S. Way (Daniel S. Way), builder; R. Cochran, founder","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair, with the property altered and unoccupied; original door, windows and stairs have been replaced, and only the iron skeleton of the lantern remains.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.724053-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7191/47719103/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/75001242.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001242/f4fccbc281-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001242/f4fccbc281-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Kubigula","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Baldy_Lighthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kubigula</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Baldy_Lighthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719103","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Head_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4286356"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/brunswick-county/bald-head-island-lighthouse-75001242/"}