The journey of the Fresnel lens in the United States is a story of delayed adoption, war-time disruption, and eventual triumph that has shaped maritime safety and the history of Bald Head Island. Initially slow to embrace the technology, the U.S. eventually became home to over 500 Fresnel lenses by the mid-1800s, significantly enhancing navigation and saving countless lives.
 

Early Adoption Challenges
One of the primary reasons for the slow adoption of the Fresnel lens in the United States was Stephen Pleasonton, the Fifth Auditor of the U.S. who oversaw lighthouse management from 1820 to 1852. Pleasonton was infamous for his reluctance to spend money, often boasting about returning funds to the treasury rather than investing in lighthouse improvements. The Fresnel lens, while an expensive upfront cost, ultimately saved money due to its efficiency and reduced oil consumption. Despite the success of Fresnel lenses in Europe, American mariners increasingly demanded a more effective system. By 1852, proponents of the lens succeeded in pushing a bill through Congress to create the Lighthouse Board to oversee improvements in lighthouse technology.
 

The Lighthouse Board and the Civil War
The bill initially stalled in Congress until an event involving New York Harbor brought attention to the issue. When members of Congress were denied entry to the harbor due to heavy fog, they returned to Washington, D.C., where they swiftly passed the bill. Once the Lighthouse Board was established, they set to work quickly installing over 500 Fresnel lenses along U.S. coasts by 1860. Leonor Fresnel, the brother of the lens's inventor, was astounded by the rapid deployment of the technology in the U.S., noting, “the development of this service within so short a time under the Lighthouse Board has truly astonished me.”
However, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, many lighthouses were darkened or destroyed by the Confederacy to hinder Union efforts to blockade Southern ports. In total, 164 lighthouses were either destroyed or darkened during the war. Afterward, the Lighthouse Board scrambled to replace these lenses, sometimes acquiring “undesignated” lenses that had no immediate purpose. One of these lenses would eventually find its way to the Cape Fear Light Station on Bald Head Island.
 

The Lens on Display
Before the lens was installed atop Cape Fear Light Station, it was showcased at several prominent events. In 1876, the U.S. World's Fair in Philadelphia featured the Fresnel lens, among other technological marvels. Over 10 million people attended the fair, where they witnessed the brilliance of the Fresnel lens, the Statue of Liberty's torch, and groundbreaking inventions like the telephone. The lens was also displayed at expositions in Omaha and Buffalo, before being placed into service at Cape Fear in 1903.
 

The Mercury Float Lens and the End of the Cape Fear Light Station
By 1920, engineers realized the Fresnel lens needed a more stable pedestal. They replaced it with a “mercury float lighthouse lens,” which was the only such lens ever made in America. This 2,000 lb lens was floated in mercury to minimize friction, allowing it to rotate more smoothly. Although the lens system was state-of-the-art, the Cape Fear Light Station was eventually demolished in 1958 when the Oak Island Lighthouse was constructed. However, the Fresnel lens and mercury float mechanism were removed prior to demolition and sold to J.V. Tomberlin, the demolition company's owner, who later sold them to Labriola Antiques in 1968.
 

Preservation Efforts
The Fresnel lens and its mercury float mechanism were displayed outside the Labriola Antiques shop for many years until 2019, when the Old Baldy Foundation (OBF) successfully fundraised to purchase the remnants of the lens and float. The pieces were carefully packed and stored in the OBF warehouse, awaiting a new display.
 

Augustin Fresnel: The Man Behind the Lens
The story of the Fresnel lens begins with its inventor, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, a brilliant French physicist born in 1788. Fresnel's early life was shaped by the French Revolution, but his true passion lay in the study of physics. He became known for his work on the nature of light, proving that light was not composed of particles but, in fact, behaved as a wave.
 

In 1819, Fresnel began researching ways to improve lighthouse effectiveness. He realized that conventional reflector-based systems lost much of their light, while refraction could help direct light more efficiently into a beam. By 1821, Fresnel and French glassmaker François Soleil had crafted a lens made of multiple prisms that could capture and focus light more effectively than anything before it.
 

On April 13, 1821, Fresnel’s lens was tested against a traditional reflector. The results were undeniable—Fresnel’s lens outshone the reflector "like a bonfire compared to a match," according to one witness. The lens proved so effective that it was soon adopted in French lighthouses, beginning with the Cordouan Lighthouse in 1823. By 1827, the lens had garnered worldwide recognition, with other countries eager to adopt the technology.
Unfortunately, Fresnel’s success was marred by poor health, and he succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 39 in 1827. Despite his early death, his innovations would have a lasting impact on lighthouse technology and maritime safety for generations to come.
 

The Legacy of Fresnel and the Lens
The Fresnel lens revolutionized lighthouse technology, improving navigation safety and preventing countless shipwrecks. The legacy of Augustin Fresnel, the man who laid the foundation for much of our modern understanding of light, lives on not only in the lenses that illuminated the world's coasts but also in the preserved artifacts cared for by the Old Baldy Foundation. As the Foundation raises funds for a new interpretive center, visitors to Bald Head Island will have the opportunity to experience the brilliance of the Fresnel lens in a way that honors the vision of its creator and the safety it provided for mariners along the coast.