A Hislory Buff
Sees Baldhead
Sonic old landmarks revisited via
jeep and sketch pad on North Caro¬
lina's most talkcd-about island.
By JAMES P. ARMSTRONG. JR.
Abandoned U. S. Cooit Guord Lifciaxing S»o-
lion. The main structure wot burned in the lotc
1950's by a distressed scoman signaling for help
ofter he hod been grounded off the shools.
Equipment shed built by the U. S. Coast Guord
on Smith Island, wos used from 1913 to 1937.
The eitcnsive eorlhwork structure known earlier
os Fort Holmes, built hurriedly in 1863, still ex¬
ists, olthough long since o«ergrown.
Pen-ink sketches were done by
the writer from photos made on a
visit to Smith t Baldhead) Island
last year, and from several older
photos dated 1953.
James Armstrong, of High
Point, has served as president and
a director of the High Point His¬
torical Society, Inc. He was ac¬
companied on the Baldhead visit
by Tony P. Wrenn, a historic
preservation consultant with the
N. C. Department of Archives and
History. — ED.
As we entered Baldhead Creek, we
were immediately impressed with the
beauty of the marshes, contrasted with
the thick live oaks, red cedars and
dogwood scattered in the distance. Al¬
though the first growth cedars were cut
for timber in 1926, the si/c and old
age of many of the live oaks give the
suggestion of forests as they might
have been when the first white men
ventured into the Cape Fear region
over 400 years ago.
The first historical landmark we in¬
spected was "Old Baldy," the ancient
lighthouse. It is actually the second
light station built on Smith (Baldhead)
Island, the first having been erected in
1 796; one of the earliest, as our young
nation began establishing maritime aids
to shipping.
“Old Baldy"
We arrived at “Old Baldy” by jeep,
following a way crowded by live oaks
and wooded underbrush. At the base of
the lighthouse we noted a tablet in¬
scribed "R. Cochran— Foundry A.D.
1817, D.S. Way. Builder."
In her book Cap'n Charlie and
Lights of the Lower Cape Fear, Mrs.
Ethel Herring, of Winston-Salem, tells
the story of how Mr. Way bid on the
lighthouse construction, in July 1816,
without first visiting the island. He did
not know that the lighthouse was to
be built about a mile upshorc from the
1796 structure. The mistake necessi¬
tated his moving several hundred thou¬
sand brick upstream and then inland to
the new site, which itself was quite a
feat for that day.
The stone and rock foundation,
seven feet solid, is comprised of ballast
stone from Old Brunswick Town’s har¬
bor, located a few miles up the Cape
Fear River from here. Incoming ships
from Europe used the stone as ballast,
then they were dumped in the harbor
for construction purposes and for pro¬
tection of the shoreline.
The lighthouse was originally known
as the Cape Fear lighthouse; Smith Is¬
land was then known as Cape Fear
Island. The structure was commis¬
sioned Bald Head Light Station in
1903, when a new lighthouse lamp was
lit on the southeastern end of the is¬
land. The new light took the name of
Cape Fear Lighthouse.
"Old Baldy" remains today a symbol
of devoted service in by-gone days,
when navigational aids were not as
proficient, and river pilots depended
upon its light for guidance through the
12
THE STATE. MARCH 15. 1972