{"id":3341,"slug":"old-baldy-bald-head-island-north-carolina","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Old Baldy is the '17 — the 'oldest' that's the NC, the '110 feet' that's the octagonal. The '60,000 bricks' is the moved — the '1794' that's the original, the 'erosion' that's the forced. The 'patchwork' is the stucco — the 'different' that's the repaired, the 'whitewash' that's the stopped.","The 'Civil War' is the dark — the 'Fort Holmes' that's the earthworks, the '1,100' that's the stationed. The '1935' is the decommissioned — the '1988' that's the relit, the 'radio beacon' that's the WWII. Old Baldy is the kept — the 'Old Baldy Foundation' that's the '85, the 'keeper's cottage' that's the reproduced.","The file keeps Old Baldy: the 1817 lighthouse, the 60,000 bricks, the Civil War darkening, and the patchwork stucco.","Old Baldy is the archive's North Carolina file — the oldest light."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Old Baldy is the archive's North Carolina file — the lighthouse's survival.","A tower keeps its patchwork — the file's suggestion being that Baldy's hold is the oldest: the '1817' that's the standing, the 'patchwork' that's the stucco, and the 'Civil War' that's the darkened."]}],"name":"Old Baldy","aliases":[],"type":"LIGHTHOUSE","type_label":"Lighthouse","cats":["LOCAL_FOLKLORE","HAUNTED_PLACE","MARITIME"],"groups":["hauntings","legends","maritime"],"desc":"The oldest lighthouse in North Carolina—1817, still standing.","full_desc":"A lighthouse in Bald Head Island, North Carolina, Old Baldy is filed here for what the record attaches to it. The oldest lighthouse in North Carolina—1817, still standing. HauntHunt files it with maritime history, local folklore and haunted places. The presences in its file go unnamed: the keeper, the record says. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend and 1 documented fact, with the verified spine filed separately from the lore. The site welcomes visitors.","address":null,"city":"Bald Head Island","county":null,"state":"North Carolina","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":33.866343,"lon":-77.980854,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site","research_notes":"NC2 batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":3472,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"The keeper is reportedly seen. A vessel with Old Baldy's service record gives the reports an unusually crowded roster to draw on. The account has a collector's pedigree — written down as legend, which is the most honest status it can hold. 'Old Baldy' carries the account. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"The keeper","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":3473,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported figures at the light. Maritime lore is the oldest ghost file there is; Old Baldy in Bald Head Island, North Carolina is a fully credentialed entry. The reports are anecdotal — consistent enough to record, thin enough to stay unproven. The figure remains the site's most-repeated sighting. The claim holds its place in the ledger.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The 1817 lighthouse is documented. The vessel's documented service record is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. 'Old Baldy' documents the entry. It is the kind of fact the rest of the dossier leans on. The lore keeps its witness. The telling survives; the proof stays folklore.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":"1817","date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The keeper is reportedly seen. Crews leave marks on vessels long after they muster out, and Old Baldy in Bald Head Island, North Carolina had crews enough. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. The tale is the site's other archive — oral, embroidered, and outlasting the documents.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The keeper","claimed_identity":"The keeper","verified":null,"summary":"The keeper is reportedly seen. Crews leave marks on vessels long after they muster out, and Old Baldy in Bald Head Island, North Carolina had crews enough. The account appears in 'Old Baldy'. A named spirit outlasts an anonymous one; the file's name is The keeper. The claim holds its place in the ledger.","behavior":"The keeper is reportedly seen.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Lighthouse site; tower climbs, if offered, are usually seasonal and may require tickets.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Old Baldy","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Baldy_Lighthouse","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}