COROLLA, N.C. — The story of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse goes back 150 years.
"Lighthouse is first illuminated on December 1, 1875. The flashing beacon illuminates the last major dark space on the Atlantic coast," said Meghan Agresto, the site manager of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse for the Outer Banks Conservationists.
From 1875 to 1933, the lighthouse keepers' main goal was to make sure that the beacon did not go out. It was electrified in 1933 and became an automatic light in 1937.
"Until 1933, lighthouse keepers, every single night, are making sure this is an active aid to navigation by carrying oil to the south, filling it in a lamp, lighting a wick, and making sure that the coast is illuminated," said Agresto.
Agresto shares that in 1999, the Outer Banks Conservationists hosted a descendant reunion of the original 24 lighthouse keepers.
"In 1999, the Outer Banks Conservationists had a descendants reunion with the hope that there were still enough grandchildren of lighthouse keepers alive with stories to tell and photos to share, and we put together an oral history at that time."
On December 1 of this year, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse will be celebrating its 150th anniversary. To commemorate that, during COVID, Agresto began writing and updating documents about the original 24 lighthouse keepers.
"During COVID in 2020, I'm at home trying to help a kid through trigonometry and figured I would put my work time to good use. Ancestry.com and eventually newspapers.com, along with donations from descendants, began to see how much information I could find for every one of our lighthouse keepers, I needed at least a paragraph."
It's a time that has been both educational and fun for Agresto.
"At least one keeper was hired, this as his first lighthouse, and then fired. So it wasn't as if he transferred to 13 different towers in his career. So you'd be like, 'he got fired for going dancing and not bringing a replacement in?' Who is this guy?"
Now, Agresto needs help. She is seeking out information that anyone in the public can provide about any of the lighthouse keepers' histories.
"There are lots of people in this area who are related to or have photos in their attic, or have family friends who knew. And so what I have done is created a link that's available for reading. It might even be available for making notes on, I can make it available for making notes for people to correct me where I'm wrong. Or if they're just curious and want to read, or they're like, 'hey, Megan, paragraph nine made no sense, fix it.' Great, I'm open to all of that."
The hope is to have as accurate of a history as possible for everyone to read at the 150th anniversary celebration later this year.
"For December 1, what I hope is that the information will be as accurate as we in 2025 can make it."
For anyone who might have information to help, you can find the working draft of the biographies here or reach out to Meghan at currituckbeachlighthouse@obcinc.org
