cape Hatteras national seashore
Outer banks, NC
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, a national park spanning the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina, has been the site of several of our projects. Our long-term collaboration with the park began in 2005. Since then, we have worked extensively at several of the park’s most prominent historic sites, notably all three of the park’s iconic lighthouses.
Cape Hatteras lighthouse
Sentinels guiding centuries of sailors through the dangers of the Graveyard of the Atlantic, lighthouses served a pivotal role in the maritime history of North Carolina. Part of the Cape Lookout National Register Historic District, the 1859 Lighthouse stands with a complement of service buildings including an 1873 keepers’ quarters, a 1917 summer kitchen, and a ca. 1924 oil house. The light station complex is one of the most significant and popular tourist destinations of the Outer Banks.
In 2008, the National Park Service (NPS) closed the lighthouse to the public because of concerns over the structural integrity of its iron staircase. NPS commissioned JKOA to assess options for remediation, prepared as part of an Historic Structure Report (HSR). We tailored the expanded HSR to provide recommendations for specific repairs and modifications in order to once again allow visitation. Significant problems were uncovered during inspection of the lighthouse, including rusting of the tension ring at the top of the fulcrum causing cracking of the outer walls. In response, we prepared a comprehensive repair strategy. Our recommendations, analyses, and cost estimates prompted NPS to change management policies and long range planning. Later, JKOA completed an updated Condition Assessment Report (CAR) for the lighthouse.
JKOA was also commissioned to prepare an HSR and condition assessment with a cost estimate for the 1873 Keepers’ Quarters and its respective outbuildings, completing the historic documentation of the light station complex. Our knowledge and previous experience of the site streamlined our ability to complete this task.
PROJECT SERVICES
Architecture
Historic preservation
Condition assessment
Architectural conservation
Historical research
Building archaeology and forensics
Documentation drawings
Structural engineering
Climate change adaptation
Cost estimating
PUBLICATIONS
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Condition Assessment Report
Cape Hatteras Campgrounds
Preceded by a 1887 Life-Saving Station, the 1917 Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station building is based on the widely-used “Chatham” station prototype plan. Both the 1887 and 1917 station buildings had full compliments of support structures. Remaining on site today are a 1917 galley and mess hall, and a 1939 equipment building. These were working buildings, a fact reflected by and the large number of modifications made by the Coast Guard until the complex was decommissioned in 1984.
JKOA completed an HSR and condition assessment with a cost estimate for the remaining three buildings at the Coast Guard Station complex.
PROJECT SERVICES
Historic preservation
Condition assessment
Historic research
Bodie Island Life-Saving Station and Coast Guard Station
Preceded by a 1887 Life-Saving Station, the 1917 Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station building is based on the widely-used “Chatham” station prototype plan. Both the 1887 and 1917 station buildings had full compliments of support structures. Remaining on site today are a 1917 galley and mess hall, and a 1939 equipment building. These were working buildings, a fact reflected by and the large number of modifications made by the Coast Guard until the complex was decommissioned in 1984.
JKOA completed an HSR and condition assessment with a cost estimate for the remaining three buildings at the Coast Guard Station complex.
PROJECT SERVICES
Historic preservation
Condition assessment
Historic research
Building archeology and forensics
Documentation drawings
Cost estimating
Bodie Island Light Station
Preceded by a 1887 Life-Saving Station, the 1917 Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station building is based on the widely-used “Chatham” station prototype plan. Both the 1887 and 1917 station buildings had full compliments of support structures. Remaining on site today are a 1917 galley and mess hall, and a 1939 equipment building. These were working buildings, a fact reflected by and the large number of modifications made by the Coast Guard until the complex was decommissioned in 1984.
JKOA completed an HSR and condition assessment with a cost estimate for the remaining three buildings at the Coast Guard Station complex.
PROJECT SERVICES
Historic preservation
Condition assessment
Historic research
Ocracoke Light Station
Portsmouth Village, a historic settlement on the northern end of Core Banks, dates to the eighteenth century. The community flourished well into the nineteenth century with wharves, docks, warehouses, school, post office, houses and an assortment of outbuildings. After a slow decline, the last two citizens, both elderly, left in the 1970s. The remaining 26 building sites are within the Cape Lookout National Register Historic District, and are maintained by the park.
The first of three project phases, included the preparation of HSRs for the community’s church and three residential building complexes, entailing archival searches, interviews, field documentation, and physical building investigations. With hurricane season rapidly approaching and an expectation of stronger and more severe storms, NPS made the decision to put the HSRs on hold and asked JKOA to revise schedules to focus on the remaining 28 undocumented structures in the village. The short timeline prompted JKOA to devise an innovative prototype for historic structure documentation involving rapid field investigations combined with photogrammetric documentation drawings. This abbreviated HSR prototype proved highly effective, and has enormous potential for use in other at-risk areas. The third project phase included the design of the park’s new interpretive guides for Portsmouth Village. With no full-time park staff on the island, the interpretive guides serve as the primary source of information for park guests.
JKOA maintains an active relationship with the local community, and frequently provides advice and assistance with post-hurricane repair work.
PROJECT SERVICES
Historic preservation
Condition assessment
Historic research
Building archeology and forensics
Documentation drawings
Cost estimating