Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations
The northern Outer Banks · By Dirk Frankenberg and Blair Tormey
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Figure 18. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in its original location. (Photograph by Blair Tormey. More about the photograph)
No structure better symbolizes the human struggle to cope with natural processes of the Outer Banks than the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The first Cape Hatteras lighthouse was built in 1802, more than 3,000 feet from the coeval shoreline. The base of that first lighthouse succumbed to sea during a storm in March 1980. The present lighthouse was built in 1870, more than 1,500 feet from the coeval shoreline, and at 208 feet in height it has the distinction of being the tallest lighthouse in the United States.
Since the construction of the lighthouse, the shoreline has been retreating at an average rate of 15 feet per year. By 1935, the shoreline had retreated to the point where the base of the lighthouse was in the surf zone, forcing the lighthouse to be abandoned. This prompted the construction of a series of palisade dune ridges in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Park Service. By 1950 the lighthouse was deemed safe and returned to service. The palisade dunes protected the lighthouse well, so well that they encouraged the development of the surrounding area, with construction of the U.S. Naval facility, motels, and houses. This development increased the economic value of the lighthouse and the neighboring structures, which ultimately led to a series of extraordinary measures to save the lighthouse from destruction by the encroaching sea.
Figure 18 shows the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at its original location (1870-1999). This remnants of the palisade dune built in the late 1930s can be seen behind the lighthouse, stabilized by planted grasses and snow fencing.
