History with ‘Hud’: Detailing the Cape Fear’s most overlooked lighthouse
SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — Most people are aware of the Oak Island Lighthouse and Bald Head Island Lighthouse which stand tall along the Cape Fear coastline. But far fewer know of the much smaller, but equally significant Price’s Creek Lighthouse.
The short brick structure can hardly be seen today, as it’s located on private property and can only be spotted as the Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry is coming to or going from the dock in Southport. But it was once relied upon for vessels cruising up the Cape Fear River.
Mariners began lobbying for a navigational light years before the construction started. The project was finally approved on August 14, 1848 when $35,500 was appropriated for seven beacons and a lightship dotting the shore along 25 miles of the Cape Fear River.
John C. Wood and Robert B. Wood were contracted to build the light at Price’s Creek, and were paid a little less than $6,000 for the job.
A two-story lightkeeper’s house with a wooden lantern was built the following year around 800 feet from the first. The bricks for both structures had been imported from England, with the top of Price’s Creek Lighthouse containing eight original lamps with reflectors measuring 18 inches in diameter. The lights were used to help vessels ensure they were in the center of the channel and not in danger of striking land.
Samuel C. Mason was appointed as the first lightkeeper, but never took up the post. John Bell was then appointed and officially became the first lightkeeper when he lit the light for the first time on January 4, 1851. The lamps were replaced with a fixed white light in 1855, resulting in the saving of 200 gallons of oil each year, which amounted to nearly enough to pay the salary of the lightkeeper.
Less than a decade later, the 26-foot lighthouse served the Confederacy as a signal house to communicate between Fort Fisher and Fort Caswell as well as to signal blockade runners. When the Union began to push inland following the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, many of the lights were destroyed but Price’s Creek survived the war despite suffering cannon-fire damage.
A new lightkeeper, Hanson Ruark, took over the job at the site following the war. But tragedy struck in 1868 when his son, Robert, fell while climbing the lighthouse’s stairs and died from his injuries around 30 minutes after.
The lighthouse switched roles in the decades to come, serving as a quarantine station from 1882 until 1895 to inspect mariners for diseases as the arrived to Wilmington.
As the building slowly fell into disrepair, it was sold in 1939 to an Atlanta man for just $151.55. It has sat in relatively the same condition ever since, despite numerous hurricanes pounding the region over the last century.
Several efforts have been made in recent years to restore the lighthouse, but nothing has been finalized. For now it sits, frozen in time as a piece of local history which once served a vital role in keeping mariners safe.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.
To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.
