We arrived at The Club At Gaston Lake Resort in Gasburg, VA on 12/01/2010. We visited Historical Halifax, NC on 12/04/2010. The Roanoke River Valley of northeastern NC was settled in the early 1700s by colonists who found the valley’s fertile bottomlands ideal for large scale farming. By the late eighteenth century a thriving plantation system had created a society of merchants, craftsmen, wealthy planters, small farmers, freedmen, and enslaved people. In 1760 the town of Halifax was founded on the south bank of the Roanoke River and quickly became a focal point for the entire valley. Halifax served as a river port, county seat, and social center. A farmers’ market operated here and inns and taverns did a brisk business. By 1769 Halifax could boast of nearly sixty houses and public buildings. During the American Revolution, the town became the scene of important political events. NC’s Fourth Provincial Congress met in Halifax in the spring of 1776. On April 12, delegates unanimously enacted the first legislation by an entire colony recommending independence from England – the “Halifax Resolves.” The Picture is of the Owen’s House which was built in 1760.
We drove to Bass Lake Campground in Dillon, SC on 12/08/2010. We traveled to Caswell Beach, NC on 12/11/2010 to see the Oak Island Lighthouse. Oak Island Lighthouse is an intriguing mixture of old and new, tradition and innovation. The present structure, completed in 1958, is one of the most recent lighthouses built on American shores. Although the current lighthouse is young, attempts to illuminate this particular stretch of water have been made for over two hundred years but have been thwarted by hurricanes, war, and changing shipping routes. In 1761 a hurricane carved out an inlet near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, which soon became the most popular route to Wilmington, North Carolina’s largest port. Because of the increased traffic in this aptly named “New Inlet,” two range lights were built on Oak Island, located on the west side of the river mouth. First lit on September 7, 1849, these lights were often referred to as the “Caswell Lights” because of their nearness to Fort Caswell. Unlike the other Cape Fear River range lights, the Caswell Lights were free-standing brick towers, with a separate 1 ½ story cottage for the keeper. The original brick beacons were in use only a few years before the Civil War extinguished all the lights on the Carolina coast. Both range lights were destroyed by retreating Confederate troops. In 1879 the front range light was a wooden tower attached to a sixteen-foot-high brick foundation, which still stands today, and the rear light was a simple structure mounted on skids so it could be moved with the shifting channel. The keeper’s dwelling was a separate, two-story house. Unfortunately, like their predecessors, these range lights survived less than 20 years. Another hurricane in 1893 damaged the front beacon and keeper’s house beyond repair. But this time, because changes in shipping routes had decreased the number of vessels along that part of the Cape Fear River, the damaged range lights were decommissioned with no plans to repair them. Although there was less traffic through New Inlet, ships trying to navigate the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals still needed a strong coastal light. The Lighthouse Board petitioned for funds to equip Bald Head Lighthouse as a coastal light, but when Congress finally did appropriate funds, they were for a new Cape Fear Lighthouse, a 150-foot tower built on Bald Head Island. Outfitted with a first-order Fresnel lens, this lighthouse was completed in 1903, and functioned until the current lighthouse was built on Oak Island in 1958. The picture is of the Oak Island Lighthouse.
