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Outer Banks Lighthouses - Hatteras Lighthouse
2008.06.19
View of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the beach.
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View of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the beach.
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Looking up into the tower. The vertical rails are part of the old weight mechanism (similar to a grandfather clock) that turned the light.
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Looking up into the tower. The vertical rails are part of the old weight mechanism (similar to a grandfather clock) that turned the light.
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Climbing the stairs. Note the dirty wall from visitors' handprints.
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Climbing the stairs. Note the dirty wall from visitors' handprints.
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View of the assistant keepers' quarters (left, now the visitor's center) and the principal keeper's house (right) from the top of the tower.
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View of the assistant keepers' quarters (left, now the visitor's center) and the principal keeper's house (right) from the top of the tower.
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The view from the top of the tower, looking over to the orginal site of the lighthouse. You can see just how much the coastline had eroded since the lighthouse was built, and why it had to be moved.
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The view from the top of the tower, looking over to the orginal site of the lighthouse. You can see just how much the coastline had eroded since the lighthouse was built, and why it had to be moved.
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Note the paint peeling off the brick next to the window. There were many places where the paint was peeling. Apparently, the brick sweats from humidity and temperature changes, and the paint peels off. A ranger told me it's painted every seven years - as funds permit.
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Note the paint peeling off the brick next to the window. There were many places where the paint was peeling. Apparently, the brick sweats from humidity and temperature changes, and the paint peels off. A ranger told me it's painted every seven years - as funds permit.
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How times have changed.... The original location sign in the lighthouse, with the new sign marking its current location next to it.
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How times have changed.... The original location sign in the lighthouse, with the new sign marking its current location next to it.
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The left sign marks the addition of the lighthouse to the National Historic Register, the two on the right are awards given for the project to move the lighthouse to its current location.Sorry, they're easily read on my original image, but even enlarged they're tough to read on PB.
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The left sign marks the addition of the lighthouse to the National Historic Register, the two on the right are awards given for the project to move the lighthouse to its current location.Sorry, they're easily read on my original image, but even enlarged they're tough to read on PB.
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The original location of the lighthouse, it is marked by this ring of granite foundation stones that was left behind when the lighthouse was moved. The beach cuts inward on the right just outside the edge of this photo, so the water is much closer to this site than it appears here.
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The original location of the lighthouse, it is marked by this ring of granite foundation stones that was left behind when the lighthouse was moved. The beach cuts inward on the right just outside the edge of this photo, so the water is much closer to this site than it appears here.
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A tribute to all the keepers who manned the lighthouse over the years, their names are carved on the rest of the granite blocks in the circle.
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A tribute to all the keepers who manned the lighthouse over the years, their names are carved on the rest of the granite blocks in the circle.
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Probably the most famous and recognizable of the North Carolina lighthouses, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands 208 feet tall and is the tallest brick lighthouse in the US. It's purpose is to warn mariners away from the Diamond Shoals, shallow sandbars that extend some 14 miles out into in the ocean off Cape Hatteras. There's an anecdotal story that says an engineer mixed up the plans, and painted the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in the diamond pattern that Hatteras was supposed to get, so instead Hatteras received the "barber pole" black and white spiral.
It's open seasonally, and 257 of its 268 steps can be climbed to the observation deck. It's a lovely if somewhat windy view from the top.
Interestingly, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved from its original location in 1999-2000, as the shoreline had eroded and the ocean waves nearly reached the base. As the lighthouse weighs over 6,000 TONS, it was no small feat, but amazingly it was successfully moved 2,870 feet back from shore. Incredibly, the lighthouse's original foundation was nothing more than granite blocks sitting on timber and rubble in the sand, it was given a much sturdier concrete foundation when it was moved. The whole process was the subject of a televised documentary.
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Comments
nice serie ! my father worked in a lighthouse 30 years
Wow! I can't beleive that they moved this whole thing successfully.I am enjoying this lighthouse series a lot...and your great historical commentary is wonderful.Fantastic photos..I have a fascination with the stairwell ones.
