Roanoke Marshes Light
Encyclopedia
Roanoke Marshes Light was a screw-pile
Screw-pile lighthouse
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse was built by blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell...

 lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

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History

Little is recorded about this light, which was replaced in 1955 with an automated light on a shorter tower. It marks the south entrance to the channel through Croatan Sound
Croatan Sound
Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians who once inhabited the area.The Croatan Sound is crossed...

, to the east of a marshy shoal extending from the western shore. Ironically this places it in the deepest bottom in the area.

There was a predecessor light on this site, beginning in 1857. The pictured light, of conventional screw-pile construction, was lit in 1877. When the light was decommissioned, an unsuccessful attempt was made by a private party to move it, but the house was lost in the sound.

In 2004, a replica of the light was dedicated at the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum in Manteo, North Carolina
Manteo, North Carolina
Manteo is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, located on Roanoke Island. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dare County.-Geography:...

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