LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Old Baldy Lighthouse and the Smith Island Museum of History

Visit Old Baldy, North Carolina's oldest lighthouse and learn about its rich maritime history.

Preview your trip on the web: Old Baldy Lighthouse and Museum

Learn more

  • Graveyard of the Atlantic The waters off North Carolina's coast have been called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because of the great number of ships that have wrecked there -- thousands since the sixteenth century. Geography, climate, and human activity have all played roles in making this region unusually treacherous to shipping.
  • Lighting the maritime path: The geography of North Carolina's lighthouses In this lesson students will examine images of North Carolina lighthouses from the Built Heritage Collection at North Carolina State University and explore various websites to determine the relative location of eight North Carolina lighthouses and develop an understanding of maritime activities and coastal living.
  • Shifting coastlines In their study of North Carolina's changing coastline during the Paleoindian and Archaic periods, students will determine the positions of the coastline at different times and decide what types of archaeological information has been lost due to rising sea levels.

Related pages

  • Ocracoke Island: There are many things to see on Ocracoke Island including the Ocracoke Lighthouse, the shortest lighthouse on the Outer Banks.
  • North Carolina Maritime Museum: Students will learn about the rich maritime history of the North Carolina coast as well as the coastal environment and barrier island ecology.
  • Bodie Island Lighthouse: Although the lighthouse is closed to the public, the old keeper's house of Bodie Island Light houses a National Park Service visitors center.

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Old Baldy lighthouse has a rich maritime history and is North Carolina’s oldest standing lighthouse. The first lighthouse was built in 1795 but was in danger from erosion. It was torn down and a new lighthouse was built in 1817 using bricks from the old lighthouse. Today, students can visit Old Baldy and its museum and learn about lifesaving, shipwrecks, pirates, and much more.

The Old Baldy Foundation has special tours for school groups and reservations must be made in advance through Old Baldy Foundation’s Tour Director, Susan Grantier at (910) 457-7481. Large groups are divided into sub-groups and will do a rotation of activities and climb the lighthouse. This usually takes 3 hours.

In addition, there is a special school program for Southport Elementary School 4th graders called Lighthouse Learners. The Foundation works hard to find the funds to make it possible for these students to visit Old Baldy while they are studying about lighthouses in school.

The lighthouse is accessible by ferry from Deep Point Marina in Southport, North Carolina. Call Bald Head Island Transportation about reservations (910) 457-5003.

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