Growing More Resilient

Originally constructed in 1823 and expanded in 1929, the Ocracoke Keepers’ Quarters serves as the heart of the Ocracoke Light Station. The Ocracoke Lighthouse keepers lived there with their families while stationed at the light station. For 200 years, the building has survived dozens of hurricanes and Nor’easters. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian brought record-setting storm surge to Ocracoke Island and flooded the entire light station grounds, sending 18 inches of water into the Keepers’ Quarters and damaging much of the interior. Flooding is expected to become more frequent over the coming decades, occurring ten times as often as it does today, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has projected 10-14 inches of sea level rise along the east coast in the next 30 years. In 2020, the United States Congress provided funding through the 2022 Disaster Supplement to restore damage caused by Hurricane Dorian. To help preserve the Ocracoke Light Station, the building will be raised about four feet and its interior restored as living quarters and a visitor contact station, with work scheduled to begin in winter 2023 and be completed by 2025.

Ocracoke, North Carolina · United States