Does anyone know if there is a plan to get a fresnel for Cape Hatteras? I don't believe they will ever get enough pieces returned of the '54 fresnel to use it. It looks so sad there in the museum. The Coast Guard I'm sure has a few first orders, and there are some in museums. Even if the signature were to change it seems it would be the crowning touch in restoring and preserving this beautiful light. IMHO there is no comparison between a lit fresnel and a modern optic. I thought maybe someone here might have some inside information.

Cape Hatteras doesn't have a Fresnel at the top? Its just a stationary light?

It has aerobeacons, I believe.

DCB-24 airport beacon

A great book about the fresnel installed in the first tower in 1854 and later moved to the 1870 tower is "The Lost Light" by Kevin Duffus. Lots of lighthouse info, Civil War and a good story too.
When I get a chance I'll post pictures of Hatteras lit and then the third order at Ocracoke. Huge difference. I don't have a picture of Bodie's first order lit but I saw it once from the sound. It was magnificent. That's what Hatteras should look like and why I asked this question.

The DCB-24 is also referred to as an aerobeacon, I believe.

There are a few first order lenses out and about, but no "spare" ones in storage. They would have to take one away from another light, and I don't think any would give it up. And, if the CG were to try to force the issue I would bet the public outcry would be significant.

There is one (or maybe more) companies that now build replica Fresnel lenses. If they could even build one the size of a first order I would hate to imagine the cost! However, it would look beautiful at the top of the light.

I once was told that the company that made the 4th order lens for Anclote Key light wanted about $70,000 to make a 3rd order so I think a 1st order would be somewhere in the 150-200 thousand range. That is with acrylic, I don't even want to think what glass would cost. Probably closer to 1 million.

Here is a link to their website.

http://artworks-florida.com/main.php3?primNavIndex=6&mainURL=%2Fpages%2Fpages812501.htm

Did you know you could legally purchase first order bullseyes? Check this out http://www.lighthouseantiques.net/antiques/antiques.html
The fresnels are about half way down the page.

Maybe Hatteras should raise the admission price to climb the tower, this past summer they were recommending purchasing tickets a day ahead, they were so busy. With that money, and some fund raisers, they buy a new lens. I just thought someone on the forums might know of a plan in progress to accomplish this.

What I believe you are looking at is just the bullseye section from a lens. To find, and purchase, a complete first order would be very much an incredible long shot. However, I believe the Australians were selling off a number of smaller lenses at one point.

Here's some information. The lens that is on display in the museum did not come from the present tower. It is indeed the Hatteras lens that Kevin Duffus found, and the subject of his book.

I worked with the lampist and his team and Kevin Duffus for over a month restoring this lens, along with two other members of this Forum. The intent of the display is to show the public for the very first time the REAL condition, and what these lenses endured. The whole, perfect restored lenses that you see on display anywhere else have new prisms and parts to give them that perfect whole look. The visitor is not seeing the true original.

In my opinion, the Hatteras lens you see in the museum is beautiful and magnificent. There is no expectation that all the parts will ever be returned. What the public sees is intended to be educational. I know that lens. My hands have touched almost every part of it and I've watched it be put back together. And once a person has read Kevin's book, that lens, partial that it is, can be that much more appreciated.

There is a thread in the archives here showing the restoration of this lens.

I doubt that there will ever be a movement to place a First Fresnel in the existing Hatteras tower. It cost the NPS plenty just to maintain the tower and grounds to keep them open for the public. When on the Outer Banks, the visitor can still see two working First Fresnels within a days drive...at Bodie and at Currituck.

Judy

Lighthouser, that must have been an honor to work on that lens, how exciting! When my sister and I were at Hatteras this past summer, there was talk that they were wanting to get a fresnel for Cape Hatteras. (I remember thinking at the time..."Keep your hands off Bodie!") It was probably the NPS guy at the top of the tower that I am remembering. Sounds like you are the insider who would know if there was a real plan or not. If something is ever started in that direction, I would be glad to help if I could.

I thought that the lens on display at the Shipwreck Museum was used in both towers.

The story as I recall it.

After the lens was removed by the retreating Confederates. It then traveled all over Eastern North Carolina during the later years of the Civil War. When it was recovered the lens was shipped back to France to be repaired. After it returned to the Lighthouse Boards care, the decision was then made to install it in the new tower at Cape Hatteras. This is why no one could find the missing original Cape Hatteras lens as it wasn't missing. It had been in the tower from 1870-1950. The lens in the new tower suffered badly at the hands of souvenir gatherers during the years the tower was abandoned from 1933-1950. When the Coast Guard relit the tower they removed the lens and placed an areo beacon in it's place. The remains of the original lens were then shipped to Manteo and stored at Ft. Raleigh. This is the lens that is now on display at the Shipwreck Museum.

I know the lens that was used in the old tower after it's capture by Union forces and after the war was shipped out west and then installed in the Pigeon Pt Lighthouse, where it remains today. At least that's how I remember the story.

Eric, you are correct. That's part of what makes Kevin's discovery so amazing.

Hatteras Lens

My first glimpse was in a NPS warehouse in Manteo, where it was in pieces scattered on shelves. We spent two days in the warehouse doing an inventory and tagging each piece. Then it was all loaded on a U-Haul truck and taken to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, where we scrubbed and cleaned and repaired under the direction of Jim Woodward. All of us dedicated a few pairs of jeans and some fingernails to the cause.
And yes, I'll always remember and am grateful for the opportunity.

I hope more folks will go to see it while on the Outer Banks.

Judy

This summer was the first time I was at the museum when it was open, I had tried several other years. I thought I took a picture of the fresnel but my card was full. The sight was memorable and also horrid. Still seems like a fitting end to the story would be a beautiful first order in the lantern at Hatteras, but then maybe I'm prejudiced.

It's a nice thought, but it would be the NPS that would have to raise the funds. It's not a situation where there is a private "friends" group who could go all out with fundraisers to come up with the money. NPS has to agree to partner with a private group, which has to follow strict NPS guidelines for any money to be accepted.

Then, the USCG would have to be in approval as well since this is an active aid to navigation.

Then what do we do about the existing working First Fresnels that are in dire need of repair, but still in their tower, such as Bodie Island?

It all takes money, and lots of it. That's what lighthouse preservation is all about. We save what we can. We can't save it all.

You know, I can't see the restored Hatteras lens any other way but beautiful & magnificent, never sad or horrid. It is history that's preserved and is actively teaching the next generation.

Judy