Cape Fear Light, built on Bald Head Island in 1903, became the main navigation aid for Cape Fear and the dangerous Frying Pan Shoals, replacing the older Bald Head Lighthouse. A distinctive steel skeleton-frame tower painted in red and white bands, it later gained a black upper section for greater daytime visibility and carried a first-order Fresnel lens made in France. The lighthouse served this important coastal approach until Oak Island Lighthouse replaced it in 1958, after which it was demolished. Part of the station survives as Cap'n Charlie's Cottages, and the restored remains of its lens have been returned to Bald Head Island.

Bald Head Island, North Carolina · USA