Press & media

Approved facts, naming guidance, and imagery.

Everything on this page is cleared for publication and carries a date. Enquiries not answered here may be directed to the station's press address.

Fact sheet

Cleared for publication.

Accurate as of July 21, 2026

Official name: Frying Pan Shoals Light Station. 'Light Station' is two words.
Location: Frying Pan Shoals, approximately 32 miles off Cape Fear, North Carolina, in federal waters. 33°29′N · 77°35′W.
Type: Offshore 'Texas Tower' light station — a steel platform on four legs driven into the seabed, a design adapted from offshore drilling platforms. One of seven built along the U.S. Atlantic coast in the 1960s.
Operational: November 24, 1964, replacing the lightship station established at Frying Pan Shoals in 1854.
Automated: 1979. The resident Coast Guard watch stood down.
Retired: 2004, from active U.S. Coast Guard service. The station is not a federal aid to navigation.
Height: Light approximately 135 feet above the Atlantic; main deck approximately 80 feet above the water.
Ownership: Privately owned continuously since the federal government sold the station at public auction in 2010. In July 2026 stewardship consolidated among the station's existing co-owners; no new outside owners entered.
Current status: Condition assessment and restoration planning are underway. A visitor program is in preparation, in support of that work; no dates have been announced.
Affiliation: Not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard. Not a nonprofit organization, and no contribution made through this site is tax-deductible.

Naming guidance

How to refer to the station.

Use Frying Pan Shoals Light Station, with 'Light Station' as two words. On second reference, 'the station' or 'the light station' is appropriate. The abbreviation FPSLS is acceptable after a first full mention.

The structure has also been widely known by another name, which is used by a separate organization not affiliated with this website or with the station's current stewardship. Where that name is needed for reader recognition, please distinguish the two rather than treating them as interchangeable.

The station wordmark and tower mark carry the common-law trademark symbol, ™. No federal registration has issued, so the registered-trademark symbol must not be used with them.

Imagery

What may be used, and how to credit it.

The archival photographs on this site — the 1929 launch of LV-115, the lightship on station in 1949, the tower under tow in 1964, and the 1965 aerial of the station relieving the lightship — are U.S. Coast Guard photographs. As works of the United States federal government they are in the public domain. Credit them as 'U.S. Coast Guard photograph'.

The structural linework and title block are from U.S. Coast Guard civil engineering drawing 107911, dated May 16, 1963, likewise public domain. Credit as 'U.S. Coast Guard engineering drawing 107911'.

The station wordmark, tower mark and brand assets are not public domain. Permission should be sought before use, and the marks should not be modified, recoloured or cropped.

Scope

Matters outside this page.

Individual owners are not identified, and ownership percentages, transaction terms and the particulars of any transfer are not published. This site does not comment on the affairs, statements or legal matters of any other organization. The station's position on the July 2026 transition is as stated above: privately owned continuously since 2010, consolidated among existing co-owners, with no new outside owners.

Visit dates, pricing and capacity will not be confirmed before they are set.

Timeline

Dated record, cleared for publication.

1854: The first lightship. Federal authorities establish a floating light at Frying Pan Shoals. (The U.S. Coast Guard did not yet exist.)
1930: LV-115 takes station. The final Frying Pan lightship—LV-115, later WAL-537—begins the last generation of the floating watch.
Nov 24, 1964: The station goes operational. The permanent Texas Tower light station—modeled on an offshore drilling platform, on four steel legs driven deep into the seabed—replaces LV-115.
1979: Automation. The resident Coast Guard watch gives way to automated operation.
2004: Active service ends. Modern navigation makes the station redundant as a federal aid to navigation; it is retired from active Coast Guard service and faces an uncertain future.
2010: A private preservation chapter. The federal government sells the station at public auction to a private buyer. It has been privately owned ever since. Years of difficult offshore restoration and volunteer work follow.
July 2026: Stewardship renewed. Ownership consolidates within the station's existing co-owners — no new outside buyers — and a renewed program of urgent stabilization and long-range planning begins.

Media enquiries

Enquiries may be directed to station@fpsls.com. Please state the subject of your enquiry and your deadline. Requests for high-resolution archival files, and for permission to reproduce the station’s marks, are handled at the same address.

This page is maintained as the station’s primary source of accurate information and is kept current.