The original Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1803 of sandstone and stood 90-feet high near the shore line. Its light was provided by a series of lamps and reflectors. In 1852 that tower was raised to a height of 150-feet and a first-order Fresnel lens was installed in 1854 to replace the lamps and reflectors. During the civil war, the lighthouse was badly damaged, and authorities determined it would be less expensive in the long run to build a new lighthouse.
This lighthouse is built of brick and construction was completed in 1870. It towers 208-feet above the sand and is the tallest in the U.S. Its distinctive day-mark of four spirals, two black and two white, extend around the tower 1 and 1/2 times. This marking was first applied in 1873. The signal light is now provided by a duplex airport beacon. This is an active light and operates from dusk to dawn.
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was relocated 2900-feet inland during the summer of 1999 due to shoreline erosion. I was able to see a time elapsed movie of that very slow and difficult move. It was amazing to see how workers moved that huge towering lighthouse without allowing it to topple. At the time of my visit here in June 2000, the lighthouse was open to the public. However, the keeper's quarters which houses a museum, exhibit area, and gift shop was not yet open to the public. Some work was still in progress as a result of moving the lighthouse. Example is the orange fence around a portion of the lighthouse and the graded landscape in the foreground of my picture.
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