The Ocracoke Keepers Quarters was built with the lighthouse in 1823 to support the work and family life of those who maintained one of North Carolina's most important lighthouses. The house was enlarged into a double keepers quarters in 1929 to provide living space for two separate families. Under the U.S. Lighthouse Service and later the U.S. Coast Guard, individuals were stationed there to keep the light operating effectively, and this often became family work, with husbands, wives, and children living and working together. Keepers and their families maintained the buildings, hauled oil, trimmed wicks, and polished the lens as part of a regulated life. When the light was fully automated in 1954, the need for an onsite keeper greatly declined, and later that year the final Ocracoke lightkeeper, Clyde Farrow, retired, ending the era of lighthouse keepers on Ocracoke Island.