Date of Ocracoke Lighthouse’s birthday discovered by island native – August 15
By Aida and John Havel
On Thursday, May 18, 2023, the National Park Service hosted a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the building of the Ocracoke Lighthouse. Ocracoke is the oldest operating lighthouse in North Carolina and among the top three oldest in our nation. An estimated 500 people gathered to join in the celebration. Park Service administrators, local historian Philip Howard, Outer Banks Lighthouse Society president Bett Padgett, and Coast Guard representatives all participated in the joyous occasion.
Documents and research clearly indicated that the lighthouse was built in 1823, so there was no doubt that a celebration was called for. However, during planning meetings leading up to the celebration, discussions included the fact that no one had ever discovered when the lighthouse was actually completed and lit. As someone remarked during the discussions, “It can’t be called a lighthouse until there’s a light!” Park Service historians and other interpretive staff searched their files, books, and the internet for a definitive date of the lighting. The Ocracoke Preservation Society did not have the answer. The island historian Philip Howard, who had discovered numerous amazing island facts, could not find the elusive date, and independent researchers, such as the authors of this article—and others—also searched and came up empty-handed.
As a side note, we knew well the month, day, and year that the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was first lit (December 16, 1870). The same was true for the Bodie Island Lighthouse (October 1, 1872), and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse (December 1, 1875). But Ocracoke? Poor Ocracoke was an orphan.
Into this murky mystery stepped Dale Mutro, Ocracoke Island native, who worked the front desk at The Anchorage Inn by day and conducted super sleuth historical research by night. Mutro is not a writer or a historian, and yet, in the year when an entire island was getting ready to celebrate their light’s 200th anniversary, he quietly and humbly revealed to a few chosen people a small stack of documents from numerous websites and resources that show, step-by-step, and year-by-year, not only when the lighthouse construction was completed, but also the month, day, and year that Ocracoke Lighthouse was first lit by Anson Harker, its first Keeper. Here is what Mr. Mutro found, all supported by primary source documents:
On April 24, 1823, Winslow Lewis, who sold lamps to the Lighthouse Establishment for installation in lighthouses around the country, wrote a letter to Henry Dearborn, Collector of Customs and Superintendent of Lighthouses, in Boston, saying, “The lighthouse to be built at Ocracock [sic], is situated between Cape Hatteras & Cape Look Out light houses….. I should recommend the light to be lighted with 15 lamps….” The mention of these 15 lamps will become important later.
On June 20, 1823, Henry Dearborn entered into a contract with builder Noah Porter for the construction of the Ocracoke Lighthouse, with Porter “to furnish all the requisite materials and to perform the work as aforesaid in a faithful and workmanlike manner….by the first day of December next,” which would be December 1, 1823.
On May 6, 1824, Stephen Pleasanton, the Fifth Auditor (who was in charge of lighthouses but who delegated this authority to Dearborn) and Acting Commissioner of Revenue sent a letter to Dearborn saying “Sir, Your account for building a lighthouse and dwelling house at Ocracoke has been received and handed to the first Auditor for adjustment,” meaning that construction had been completed and payment (handled by the First Auditor) would be forthcoming.
Then there are a flurry of letters in June 2024 suggesting a replacement for Anson Harker who was “being about to resign” his post as Commissioner of Wrecks in Carteret County to take up new duties as Ocracoke’s first lighthouse keeper. (It would seem clear that a lighthouse can’t be lit without first having a keeper.) The new wreck commissioner, Jechonias Pigott, was commissioned by Governor Gabriel Holmes on July 3, 1824.
We’re almost there!
On November 9, 1824, Stephen Pleasanton wrote to Henry Dearborn, scolding him for overpaying Winslow Lewis, who supplied the lamps. “In the above account you have included the payment to him [Mr. Lewis] for Ocracoke and St. Augustine lighthouses from the 1st January, when the former was not lit til the 3rd of April and the latter the 15th August……Deductions: St Augustine 10 lamps from 1 January to 3 April 1824 is 3 months 2 days at $4.25 per annum… Ocracoke 15 lamps from 1 January to 15 August 1824 is 7 months 14 days at $4.25 per annum.”
Please note that in the last sentence above, Pleasanton mentions the 15 lamps at Ocracoke (which Winslow Lewis had suggested needed to be installed in his letter of April 24, 1823) not being lit from 1 January to 15 August 1824. And ta da!, the day Ocracoke’s light was first lit was August 15, 1824! She was no longer an orphan, she was not born in 1823, and we can now celebrate on a proper date, thanks to Mr. Mutro!
Mutro’s research was reviewed by Philip Howard in March 2023. Howard subsequently updated his May 20, 2018 newsletter article on the history of the lighthouse on villagecraftsmen.com and credited Mutro for the new information in his footnotes at the end of the article. And the Park Service has accepted Mutro’s research and now includes the date of August 15, 1824, on their nps.gov website.
So today, August 15th, 2024, we ask everyone near and far to raise a glass—beer, wine, apple juice, or just water—to Dale Mutro for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of his research. Not only did he find all the missing pieces, he also linked them together in a way that is absolute and indisputable. That is not easy when trying to piece together a 200-year-old mystery. We thank you, Dale, for finally giving the Ocracoke Light a proper birthday to remember and celebrate!
