| This astonishing view of the dilapidated Keepers' House taken in 1980 helped persuade state officials to lease the structure to a nonprofit group, Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc., for purposes of historic preservation. Led by John Wilson, a Manteo architect and the great grandson of former keeper, Homer Treadwell Austin, OBC raised mostly private funds to begin preservation of the duplex keeper's residence. Ten years later, OBC arranged to lease the lighthouse tower from the Coast Guard and opened the compound to the public. Funds from the modest fee to climb the tower support continued restoration and maintenance of the historic buildings and grounds of the compound. |
![[photo 10]](photo10b.jpg)