Life at the Light

Life at the Light. . There have been words written to the effect that the lighthouse keepers and their families had a very lonely life; however, we did not have this experience. In fact, just the opposite would be more apt to apply. The lighthouse was always a favorite place to visit by the village folk so we would have lots of company, especially on Sunday afternoons and the evening hours, when the heat of summer was unbearable in the wooded areas of the villages. Swimming, baseball games, croquet, chasing wild horses and penning them in the yards for breaking to the saddle, and climbing the lighthouse were all a big part of our lives.", Two residences served the keepers and their families at the Cape Hatteras Light Station. The larger building, the Double Keeper's Quarters (1854), was built for the staff of the first Lighthouse and today serves as Cape Hatteras National Seashore's Hatteras Island Visitor Center. The smaller building is the Principal Keeper Quarters (1871), constructed from materials left over from the present day lighthouse. It accommodated the head lighthouse keeper and his family.