Currituck Lighthouse

Sights Near Corolla

While at the NC shore we decided to drive north along Highway 12 to explore areas we hadn't seen before. We found diminishing traffic, palatial shopping centers, large houses, and lovely Historic Corolla Park featuring the Currituck Lighthouse.

Lighthouse construction began in 1873 and was completed in 1875.

The lighthouse sits in a pretty shaded area featuring old restored buildings connected by brick walking paths. (Click on the following panorama to get a better idea of the layout.)

The lighthouse keepers' house, completed in 1876, (seen on the left in the panorama above), housed two families. It was restored and moved to its present position. A smaller house was moved to the location in 1920 and served as a home for a third keeper and his family. The smaller house, seen in the picture below, is now a museum shop filled with interesting items.

Park land extends far from the lighthouse itself. Here's a view looking back towards the lighthouse from the grounds of a "hunting lodge" built by wealthy landowners during the 1920's. A boathouse and lagoon appear in the foreground.

The view from near the boathouse itself reveals an attractive restored wooden bridge spanning the lagoon's exit into the neighboring sound.

The yellow "hunting lodge", seen in the next picture, was built by a wealthy couple, Edward Collings Wright Jr. and his wife, Marie Louise. Construction began in 1922 and was completed in 1925.

As we circled the house we saw enormous numbers of mosquitoes perched on the side just waiting for evening.

It was a pleasant surprise to find these attractions conveniently close to our vacation house.