Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Location	Cape Lookout (North Carolina), Carteret County, North Carolina
Coordinates	34°36′19″N 76°32′10″W / 34.60528°N 76.53611°W / 34.60528; -76.53611
Tower
Constructed	1859
Construction	brick
Automated	1950
Height	163 feet
Shape	Conical tower
Markings	black, white
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place, National Register of Historic Places contributing property
Light
First lit	1859
Focal height	52 m (171 ft)
Lens	third order Fresnel lens
Range	12-19 miles
Characteristic	15-second flash cycle
Cape Lookout Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	On Core Banks, Core Banks, North Carolina
Area	25 acres (10 ha)
Built	1857
NRHP reference No.	72000097[1]
Added to NRHP	October 18, 1972

The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is a 163-foot-high lighthouse located on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. It flashes every 15 seconds and is visible at least 12 miles out to sea and up to 19 miles. It is one of the very few lighthouses that operate during the day. It became fully automated in 1950.^[2] The Cape Lookout Lighthouse is the only such structure in the United States to bear the checkered daymark, intended not only for differentiation between similar light towers, but also to show direction. The center of the black diamonds points in a north-south direction, while the center of the white diamonds points east-west.^[3]