Laurel Point, NC 
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On the southern shore of North Carolina’s vast Albemarle Sound, Laurel Point projects into one of the most important inland waterways on the Atlantic seaboard. Albemarle Sound, stretching more than fifty miles across northeastern North Carolina, forms part of a complex network of sounds, rivers, and channels that historically carried coastal trade between the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. Although it lacks a direct opening to the Atlantic Ocean, Albemarle Sound was connected to the coast through neighboring sounds and inlets and served as a vital link in the inland navigation route that later became part of the Intracoastal Waterway. Steamers, schooners, fishing vessels, and commercial craft routinely crossed its often rough and unpredictable waters.
Located on the sound’s southwestern shore in Tyrrell County, Laurel Point marked an important point of reference for vessels approaching the mouth of the Scuppernong River and the town of Columbia. Mariners had long recognized the need for a navigational aid in this area, and by the late 1860s local pressure for a lighthouse had become substantial.
In 1868, numerous petitions requesting a light at Laurel Point were forwarded to the Lighthouse Board by the district inspector. After reviewing the matter, the Board concluded that “a light at or near that point is desirable” to facilitate navigation on Albemarle Sound. Although no immediate action followed, the recommendation remained on record for the next decade.
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Congress finally acted on June 20, 1878, appropriating $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse at Laurel Point. Plans were promptly initiated, and engineers began examining the site and conducting borings to determine suitable foundation conditions. The proposed structure would follow a design that had proven successful in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina sounds: the screw-pile lighthouse.
The Lighthouse Board awarded contracts for the ironwork in 1879. The metal components were produced in conjunction with those for two Maryland lighthouse projects, while the wooden superstructure was constructed at the Lighthouse Service depot at Lazaretto, Maryland. By June 1879 the prefabricated wooden frame had been completed and stored pending delivery of the iron foundation.
Construction moved quickly once materials reached North Carolina. On January 1, 1880, the engineer’s tender departed Norfolk towing a scow and schooner loaded with workers and building materials. The party arrived at Laurel Point on January 4.
Work commenced the following day. The construction sequence demonstrated the remarkable efficiency of screw-pile lighthouse construction. By January 6 the platform was in place and the central pile had been screwed into the bottom. Two days later all seven piles were positioned and braced. On January 10 the frame of the dwelling was raised, and by January 15 the exterior weatherboarding was complete. Except for some final painting, the lighthouse was finished before the end of the month.
The new station consisted of a hexagonal dwelling supported on seven cast-iron screw piles driven into the sound bottom. Rising from the center of the roof was a lantern displaying a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The focal plane stood forty-two feet above mean low water.
A Notice to Mariners announced that the light would be exhibited beginning January 31, 1880. Mariners were informed that the white fourth-order light would illuminate the entire horizon and produce a flash every thirty seconds. Visible for approximately twelve nautical miles in clear weather, the light was intended to guide vessels navigating the broad waters of Albemarle Sound. During foggy weather, a bell struck every ten seconds supplemented the visual signal.
The structure itself was distinctive. The foundation piles were painted brown, the dwelling white, and the lantern red. Standing in nine feet of water roughly three-quarters of a mile north of Laurel Point, the lighthouse appeared to float above the sound.
The station closely resembled nearby sound lights such as Gull Shoal. The hexagonal dwelling contained six rooms, with separate quarters for the keeper and assistant keeper. Four cisterns, each capable of holding approximately 200 gallons of rainwater, supplied the station's fresh water needs. Provisions arrived periodically by Lighthouse Service vessels.
The station’s original keeper was Henry G. Sikes, appointed when the light was commissioned in 1880. Over the next two decades several keepers served at Laurel Point, including William G. Ambrose, William H. Lyon, William J. Harris, James W. Gillikin, Thomas B. Spencer, Thomas A. Patrick, Robert W. Wynn, and Robert B. Hopkins.
Operating the station required constant vigilance. The fourth-order Fresnel lens revolved continuously and required winding approximately every four hours. Through the night, either the keeper or assistant remained on watch to ensure that the light remained visible and the machinery functioned properly.
Nature occasionally reminded the keepers of their isolation. In 1886 the keeper reported feeling several earthquake shocks at the station. Three tremors occurred on August 31, followed by additional shocks on September 3 and October 22. Although relatively minor, the vibrations were distinctly felt in the elevated screw-pile structure, with the movement appearing to travel from east to west.
The greatest threat to Laurel Point Lighthouse was not storms but ice.
Although Albemarle Sound lies in the South, severe winters occasionally transformed the broad estuary into a frozen expanse. Moving sheets of ice exerted enormous pressure against screw-pile structures, often causing serious damage.
In January 1893 newspapers reported alarming rumors that Laurel Point Lighthouse had been overturned by ice. While the reports proved exaggerated, conditions were indeed extraordinary. Ice reached nine inches thick in many places, reportedly the worst freeze in forty years. Keepers abandoned the station temporarily as massive fields of ice shifted across the sound.
Inspection revealed extensive damage. All seven cast-iron columns supporting the upper portion of the structure had been broken to varying degrees. One foundation pile had settled, and the house had shifted laterally from its original position. Remarkably, the lighthouse remained standing.
Repairs commenced in September 1893. A working party transported new columns to the station aboard the tender Jessamine. Engineers lifted the entire dwelling with jackscrews, removed the damaged columns, inserted replacements, and carefully lowered the structure back into position. The operation demonstrated both the ingenuity of Lighthouse Service engineers and the resilience of the screw-pile design.
Unfortunately, the repairs did not fully solve the problem. Additional severe ice during the winter of 1893–94 left the lighthouse in a worse plight than before. An inspection in October 1895 discovered five replacement columns cracked near their bases and found the structure leaning noticeably.
Because the piles had been intentionally installed at an angle rather than vertically, straightening the lighthouse risked catastrophic collapse. Engineers instead devised a protective system of heavy wooden pile clusters placed in front of the iron supports. Each cluster contained roughly fifteen piles secured together with iron chains and served as a fender to absorb the force of moving ice fields before they could strike the lighthouse itself.
The protective works successfully shielded the station from destructive ice fields for the remainder of its service life.
No individual became more closely associated with Laurel Point Lighthouse than Benjamin Fenner Cox.
Born in December 1861 in Middleton, North Carolina, Ben Cox was the fourth of fourteen children born to Jeremiah and Mary White Cox. Descended from one of the Outer Banks’ pioneering families, he grew up in a maritime environment that prepared him well for lighthouse service.
He married Margarette Williams of Fairfield in 1885 and entered the Lighthouse Service in 1896. His first assignment was as assistant keeper at Gull Shoal Lighthouse in Pamlico Sound, where he served from April 1896 until September 1900. Because Gull Shoal maintained a fog signal, mechanical aptitude was especially valued. Lighthouse officials often preferred experienced seamen for such positions, noting that “The best keepers are found to be old sailors, who are accustomed to watch at night . . . and know by experience the value of a light.”
In 1900 Cox transferred to Laurel Point. Robert W. Wynn had been dismissed after serving as keeper since 1892, and Robert B. Hopkins briefly filled the position before Cox assumed command in September 1900. His annual salary increased from $440 to $560 with the promotion.
Cox relocated his family to the town of Columbia, about ten miles from the Laurel Point Lighthouse by boat. Unlike many isolated lighthouse keepers, Cox was able to maintain a relatively active connection with the community. He operated a general store in Columbia and alternated watches with his assistant so he could spend time with his family and attend to business affairs.
Yet lighthouse life remained demanding. Winter often presented the greatest challenges. When ice closed navigation, stations could temporarily cease operation, but keepers remained responsible for maintaining the light whenever vessels might benefit from it.
One winter, Cox experienced the dangers firsthand. A sudden blizzard stranded him alone at the station. The sound and nearby river froze solid, cutting off communication and preventing resupply. As his provisions dwindled, he realized he could not wait indefinitely for rescue.
An unpublished account preserved in the Columbia library recounts his remarkable journey:
For one full day, a night, and part of another day, without allowing himself the luxury of resting even a little, lest he freeze to death, he continuously trudged on, following the western shore line of the Scuppernong River, until he reached an open space he knew, just across the river from Columbia. Fortunately, after some necessary rest, he was found to have suffered no physical damage from his icy trek.
The episode became one of the most memorable stories associated with Laurel Point Lighthouse and illustrated the endurance expected of keepers stationed on North Carolina’s inland waters.
Cox’s service extended far beyond tending the light. In 1926 he and assistant keeper William A. Bateman rescued two men adrift in a small boat near the station. One of the men had severely mangled his foot in the boat's machinery, and the lighthouse keepers provided assistance and care. Later that year they also aided another mariner whose gas boat had become disabled near the station.
Cox’s personal life also saw significant changes. Margarette died in February 1919 after more than three decades of marriage. Later that year he married Mary Swain. Following her death, he married a third time to Winnie. He raised four children, though one son died in infancy.
By the 1920s advances in lighthouse technology were reducing the need for resident keepers. On December 28, 1926, the lighthouse tender Laurel departed Norfolk carrying equipment for the installation of an acetylene lighting system at Laurel Point.
The conversion marked the end of the station's staffed era. Effective January 1, 1927, the light became automated. Its characteristic was changed to a white flash every six seconds, and the fog signal was discontinued. Assistant keeper Bateman A. Williams was transferred to Wade Point Light, while Benjamin F. Cox retired at age sixty-five after roughly thirty years in lighthouse service and more than twenty-six years as keeper of Laurel Point—by far the longest tenure of any keeper at the station.
The old screw-pile lighthouse was subsequently removed. In 1929 mariners were informed that the light would be exhibited from a white skeleton tower standing on brown piles, with a reduced intensity of 230 candlepower.
Retirement did not diminish Cox’s influence in the community. He was a founding member of the Columbia Christian Church and became a leading advocate for improved transportation in the region. Ironically, after spending much of his life guiding marine traffic, his obituary noted that he was “the first promoter of building a highway between Hyde and Tyrrell Counties, and worked tirelessly to get it done when most people thought it impossible to accomplish.”
Benjamin F. Cox died in June 1945 at the age of eighty-four. His daughter, Cora Alexander, helped preserve his legacy, safeguarding family memories and donating his sea chest—the trunk he used during his lighthouse years—to the Columbia Theater Museum, where it remains on display.
Though the original screw-pile lighthouse no longer stands above Albemarle Sound, Laurel Point Light served mariners for nearly half a century and remains remembered through the remarkable career of Benjamin F. Cox, whose steadfast service embodied the dedication of North Carolina’s lighthouse keepers.
