Bald Head Lighthouse, Lighthouse on Bald Head Island, North Carolina, US
Bald Head Light, known as Old Baldy, is an octagonal brick tower coated in stucco that stands 110 feet (34 m) high, 36 feet (11 m) wide at its base and 14.25 feet (4.34 m) at the top. Its walls are 5 feet (1.5 m) thick at the base and taper to 2.5 feet (0.76 m). Inside, a rectangular stairway of Carolina yellow pine leads up the tower, and the lantern room sits offset from the centre on one of the support beams.
The tower was built in 1817 using bricks salvaged from an earlier structure that once stood on the site. It served as a beacon to guide ships safely past treacherous sandbars at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
Locals call the tower "Old Baldy", and it stands as the symbol of Bald Head Island. Its first keeper, Sedgwick Springs, a veteran of the American Revolution appointed in 1806 at the request of President Thomas Jefferson, ran the light for more than thirty years and died in 1837, aged eighty. A stone plaque above the entrance names Daniel S. Way as builder and R. Cochran as foundry for the lantern room.
The island is reached by a passenger ferry from Southport that operates year-round to transport visitors. Climbing to the top requires navigating a tight spiral staircase and is challenging for those with mobility limitations.
The tower's walls taper as they rise, measuring 1.5 meters thick at the base but only 0.76 meters at the top. This design technique reduced the overall weight of the structure while maintaining its strength against coastal forces.
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