Road Work Ahead, N.C. Summer 2014 Trip-- Part 29: Oak Island, Lighthouse and Fort Caswell

I should mention that Fort Johnston in Southport, was "captured" by N.C. militia before the state seceded in the Civil War and the governor made them return it to federal authorities.

We next drove out to Oak Island to see the Oak Island Lighthouse, which can easily be seen from Southport.  It is an impressive light.  We then drove out to the remains of Fort Caswell at the tip of the island.  Unlike Fort Fisher, this was a masonry fort constructed prior to the Civil War and now is owned by the state Baptist Assembly.

Of interest, before the war it had just an ordnance sergeant in the fort, a Sgt. James O'Reily of the U.S. Army.  He later surrendered Fort Fisher as the highest-ranking unwounded officer on Jan. 15, 1864.  Much of the fort was destroyed by Confederates at the end of the war and other parts were heavily renovated for coastal artillery in the late 1800s.

Unfortunately, there was a conference going on at the fort and no visitors to the site were allowed in.

Two Forts, Two No-See's Today for Us (Fort Fisher Was Closed As Well).  -RoadDog