27 July 2003, 05:15 - 07:30
Another insanely early morning for us -- we woke up at 3:30am, in order to drive an hour south of Nags Head, down to Hatteras, to see the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at sunrise. At 208 feet, the Hatteras lighthouse is the tallest and probably the most famous of all five North Carolina lighthouses, and is one of the most famous lighthouses in the world. When the lighthouse was built in 1870, it stood 1500 feet away from the ocean, to be better protected from the pounding surf. By 1987, though, the shoreline had eroded to within only 160 feet of the lighthouse. In 1999, the National Park Service allocated $9.8 million to move the lighthouse -- completely intact -- 2900 feet further inland, a tremendous feat of engineering. The move was successfully completed and the lighthouse reopened to the public on May 26, 2000.
Another insanely early morning for us -- we woke up at 3:30am, in order to drive an hour south of Nags Head, down to Hatteras, to see the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at sunrise. At 208 feet, the Hatteras lighthouse is the tallest and probably the most famous of all five North Carolina lighthouses, and is one of the most famous lighthouses in the world. When the lighthouse was built in 1870, it stood 1500 feet away from the ocean, to be better protected from the pounding surf. By 1987, though, the shoreline had eroded to within only 160 feet of the lighthouse. In 1999, the National Park Service allocated $9.8 million to move the lighthouse -- completely intact -- 2900 feet further inland, a tremendous feat of engineering. The move was successfully completed and the lighthouse reopened to the public on May 26, 2000.
