Old Baldy
Two centuries of storms have mottled the stucco into something like camouflage. It has earned the nickname.
Old Baldy has stood at the mouth of the Cape Fear River since 1817, which makes it the oldest lighthouse still standing in North Carolina. It stopped guiding ships long ago; now it collects visitors, 108 steps at a time, and pays them back with the best view on the island: marsh, maritime forest, harbor, and ocean in one slow turn.
The Smith Island Museum of History sits in the keeper's cottage beside the tower, along with the ticket desk and the gift shop. Kids handle the stairs fine; the last stretch is a ladder with a grin at the top.
It's an easy first stop on a day trip: the lighthouse is about a five-minute walk from the ferry landing along Lighthouse Wynd. For the whole story, the Old Baldy Foundation also runs a guided history tour of the island by golf cart.
Hours and admission change with the seasons. Check current details with the Old Baldy Foundation before you cart over.
Two hundred years of weather
Old Baldy from every angle the marsh and the boardwalks allow.