Cape Lookout Lighthouse on the 56 mile uninhabited Cape Lookout National Seashore in the Crystal Coast - North Carolina's Southern Outer Banks - celebrates 150 years of faithfully warning ships of the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" on Nov. 1, 2009. The lighthouse recently received word that the U.S. Department of Interior plans to spend $487,000 on repairs in order for visitors to climb the cast-iron stairs to the top. Lighthouse Keeper, John Royal, lit this distinctive black and white diagonal checkered patterned lighthouse on Nov. 1, 1859 and visitors enjoy the anniversary with events including live music, children's activities and a historical overview, concluding with a ceremonial re-lighting. 

The celebration began Oct. 10, 2009 with the Juried Art  Photography Exhibition, including past and present paintings and photographs of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, as well as music on the Keepers Quarters porch, children's activities and a U.S. Coast Guard boat to explore. The Cape Lookout Post Office temporarily re-opens and a special program recognizes the lighthouse keepers and more than 80 descendants of this life-saving and often isolated job on Nov. 1, 2009 with exhibits and a special reception at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, before a ceremonial re-lighting of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse at Shell Point. 

Cape Lookout Lighthouse, originally built in 1812 and proving too short, was rebuilt in 1859 to the current beacon. The side points of the black diamonds designate a north-south direction and the side points of the white diamonds indicate east-west. The lighthouse was designed and built by W.H.C. Whiting, the Confederate Major-General also responsible for designing Fort Fisher and defending the last seaport open to the Confederacy. After the Civil War, Cape Lookout served as a model for other current North Carolina lighthouses including Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island and Currituck Beach Lighthouses.

Dangling like a delicate strand of pearls off the coast of North Carolina, the favored Atlantic beach destination of generations represents one of the only remaining natural barrier island systems in the World. The Islands are strung together with 85 miles of silken coastline along the southern Outer Banks, 56 miles of which are in the protected Cape Lookout National Seashore. Miles of shimmering water reflects countless tiny suns during the day and shatters the moon into a thousand pieces at night. Lush maritime forests edge the silken coast like emerald jewels studding a royal crown. The barrier islands take a curious southward curve, blessing the Crystal Coast with beaches that course east and west making it possible to admire the dazzlingly bright sun rise to greet the day and then slip into the shimmering translucent blue waters in the evening during a spectacular North Carolina sunset.

To learn more about the Cape Lookout Lighthouse 150th birthday, visit www.nps.gov/calo.

To experience North Carolina's Crystal Coast, call (800) 786-6962, or visit www.crystalcoastnc.org or www.facebook.com/crystalcoast.