The Currituck Beach Lighthouse began operating on December 1, 1875, filling the remaining dark space on the North Carolina coast between Cape Henry Lighthouse and Bodie Island Lighthouse. Its 162-foot tower was left unpainted to distinguish it from other regional lighthouses, and its beacon shines from 158 feet above sea level. Automated in 1939, it still serves as an aid to navigation, turning on at dusk and off at dawn; with a 20-second flash cycle of 3 seconds on and 17 seconds off, its light is visible for 18 nautical miles and helps mariners identify their location. Before electricity, a weight suspended from a cable powered a clockwork mechanism that rotated the huge lenses, and the keeper raised the weights by hand every 2½ hours. The lighthouse has a first-order Fresnel lens, the largest of the seven sizes, and today uses one 1,000-watt bulb. In 1876, three keepers and their families moved into a Victorian stick-style duplex built from pre-cut and labeled materials shipped by barge and assembled on site, and in 1920 the Little Keeper's House was moved there from the Long Point Light Station on Currituck Sound. After automation, the keepers were no longer needed, and by the 1970s the houses had deteriorated badly. In 1980, Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc. leased the property from the State of North Carolina and began a phased restoration. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the lighthouse was opened to the public in 1990, major restoration took place in 1999-2000, and ownership was transferred to Outer Banks Conservationists in 2003 under the National Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.