Friday, June 19, 2015

A Screw-pile Lighthouse





While we were at the Penelope Barker House/Welcome Center we noticed a lighthouse just across the water from us. Like I have said, it was very hot so we did not walk over there. But, I do want to sometime, when I feel like I can climb the steps without melting. 

The Roanoke River Lighthouse was built around 1886 and is believed to be the last remaining original square screw-pile lighthouse in existence. (More about screw-piles in a minute)

Once there were 15 screw-pile light stations along the North Carolina inland waterways. This particular lighthouse was in the Albemarle Sound marking the entrance to the Roanoke River near Plymouth. 

In 1941 the lighthouse was decommissioned. So there it sat, all alone and abandoned until 1955 when the Federal government (yep, our government was at it again, destroying our history) ordered the decommissioned lighthouses moved or done away with. 

A Mr. Tate bought three of them but two did not survive the move. I guess that pretty much disheartened Mr. Tate. He lost interest so an Emmett Wiggins bought the last surviving lighthouse from Mr. Tate and performed what people call an engineering feat by transporting it to Edenton. Mr. Wiggins lived in it until 1995 and it remained in his family until after he had passed away. 

In 2012 the lighthouse was moved to it's permanent location in Edenton Bay. In 2014 it was open to the public. 

Now for screw-piles. What you may ask are screw-piles. You may have seen pilings driven into the mud beneath the water of rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. Here is some information that is posted just above a screw-pile in the hallway of the Barker House. 
(click on picture to read more clearly)





This is the last post of our visit to Colonial Park in Edenton, North Carolina. There is more to come of the rest of our trip to Edenton so come back often for that. 

If you missed the last of the two Edenton posts that I have done, you can catch the last one HERE

9 comments:

  1. Pretty lighthouse! The screw is amazing. Great shots, enjoy your weekend!

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  2. Thanks for the lighthouse photos and explanation, Latane. I have been enjoying the posts about your visit and despite the heat, it looks like you and Leslie, had some great times.

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  3. How awesome is this?!!! I'm sure glad you shared this 'adventure'....
    And to learn about the square screw-pile lighthouse and the 'screws' was phenomenal. I love learning about this kinda stuff. I said it once, I'll say it again....AWESOME!!

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  4. Interesting information of the historic light house.

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  5. シ Olá, amiga!
    Passei para uma visitinha.
    Ótima foto reportagem... amei as fotos.


    Bom fim de semana, com tudo de bom para todos!
    Beijinhos.
    ⋰˚هჱ
    ♬✿゚。ه

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  6. a very beautiful but quite unusual lighthouse. i always try to visit when we are in the area of one, but i am unable, in any climate, to climb to the top!!!!

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  7. I love lighthouses and I enjoy reading about new places. Wonderful post!

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  8. That's so pretty! It sure would catch all the breezes, wouldn't it? I'm glad it wasn't destroyed.

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  9. Wow...I managed to get behind with you! Sorry! Loved this post. SOOO interesting! I love learning about such things and this was great! So sorry two of the lighthouses were lost...so glad this one survived!!Q!! May I recommend a book: The Lost Light, by Duffus about the move of many of the lighthouse mechanisms (including Hatteras) during the War between the States and how some of them became lost (as in, they couldn't find where they hid them!) It's really interesting! Great photos, Mom!

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