Bodie Lighthouse

What is there to see in the Bodie Lighthouse? It is a wonder but something to discover.
The Bodie Lighthouse, with its popular black and white horizontal stripes, is one of the 8 lighthouses in North Carolina. It is located at the north of Hatteras, particularly part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 2 miles north of the bridge by the Oregon inlet.

The entrance is outside of Highway 12 South of Nags Head. Bodie Lighthouse was spelled originally as “Body” Lighthouse. Body is believed to be the name of the family who owned the island, (also known as Bodie Island) where it stands now.

It was completed in 1872 and is identified as one of the most archetypal light stations of America. Its flashing lights that signal each night is a first-order Fresnel lens which had been replaced a couple of times but the last one has functioned for a long time now.

But what does a lighthouse really do?

A lighthouse, to begin with, is a tower that stands near the shore of an ocean, harbor, or river. In it is a lantern room which is where the lens is positioned. Understandably, it is in this room that the lens shines its bright light to caution ships of the likelihood to wallop onto rocks or sandbars. The tower is also a mark of an entrance to rivers or inlets.

Navigation is also one of the purposes why lighthouses are made and situated by the shore. This way, it assists sailors in their navigation through light patterns.

General Facts of the Bodie Lighthouse:

• Height of tower: 165 feet, 156 feet to focal plane
• Year Completed: 1872
• Signal Distance: 19 Nautical Miles
• Signal Pattern: white 2.5 seconds on, 2.5 seconds off, 2.5 seconds on and 22.5 seconds eclipse with 2 cycles per minute

Visitors are given a tour to the light station and the grounds of the towers. The route to the tower begins at the lower portion of the lighthouse. The visitors can step inside and be able to look at the overwhelming 214 flight of steps that lead the way up the tower. Its rocket-like appearance amazingly sets an out-of-this-world mood but is essentially an instrument used for hope and safety.

If you are an individual interested in sailing, lighthouses are there to guide and warn you. But before seeing other lighthouses, it would be great to take a first good look at the Bodie Lighthouse!