Taking a Peek at Price’s Creek
Taking a Peek at Price's Creek
by Liz Fuller, SHS President
Recently SHS VP Bob Surridge and I had the rare opportunity to visit Price’s Creek “Lighthouse” in person. Although commonly referred to as a lighthouse, it is actually a River Light. Built in 1849 or 1850, it stands 20 feet tall, with walls ranging from 3 feet thick at the base to 2 feet thick at the top. The base is 17 feet wide and narrows to 9 feet wide at the top.
The light worked in tandem with a second light on top of the nearby keeper’s cottage. River Pilots could determine their position in the river by lining up the two lights. There were originally seven lights and a lightship stationed along the 25-mile stretch of the river leading to Wilmington.
The Cape Fear River Lights were decommissioned sometime after the Civil War. Price’s Creek is the only structure that still exists. Left to the elements, it has fallen into a state of disrepair. The land on which the lighthouse sits is owned by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and is not open to the public. Normally, the only way to see the tower is from the deck of a ferry boat or from the ferry landing.
But in March of this year, Henry Stogner, ADM Plant Manager, invited John Moseley and Shannon Walker of the Maritime Museum in Southport, Jake Grossman of the Old Baldy Foundation, and Bob and me, to a meeting to discuss the possibility of repairing and preserving the tower.
We joined a group of seven ADM employees eager to see the Lighthouse saved. At the end of the meeting, we were permitted to inspect the Lighthouse firsthand.
Restoration ventures like this are never quick or easy. There is a lot of work to be done to assess the current state of the structure and to determine what needs to be done to repair the tower while maintaining its historical integrity. Once that is done, funding will need to be secured and qualified restorationists hired.
The meeting was a promising first step in the lengthy process. It appears that the historic tower may be able to be saved. In future publications, we will provide more history of the river light and updates on the project’s progress.
We are also interested in hearing your stories of Price’s Creek Light. The land was accessible to the public until the middle of the last century when it was sold to Pfizer Corporation. We know that many people who grew up here have memories of visiting the light, the surrounding grounds, and the “Robin’s Nest” house that sat on the property. If you have stories to share, please get in touch with us at info@southporthistoricalsociety.org or 910-477-3461.
