Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
lighthouse in North Carolina, United States
Cape Hatteras Light is a lighthouse located on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks in the town of Buxton, North Carolina originally built in 1802 and relocated twice due to coastal erosion. It is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It is the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. from base to tip at 210 feet. The lighthouse's semi-unique pattern makes it easy to recognize and famous. It is often ranked high on lists of most beautiful, and famous lighthouses in the US.
Geography
The Outer Banks are a group of barrier islands on the North Carolina coast that separate the Atlantic Ocean from the coastal sounds and inlets. Atlantic currents in this area made for excellent travel for ships, except in the area of Diamond Shoals, just offshore at Cape Hatteras. Nearby, the warm Gulf Stream ocean current collides with the colder Labrador Current, creating ideal conditions for powerful ocean storms and sea swells. The large number of ships that ran aground because of these shifting sandbars gave this area the nickname "Graveyard of the Atlantic."
History
Original lighthouse
On July 10, 1794, after Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton requested that they make a lighthouse on this location after his ship almost crashed and sank on its to way to The New World, giving it the nickname "Hamilton's light." U.S. Congress appropriated $44,000 "for erecting a lighthouse on the headland of Cape Hatteras and a lighted beacon on Shell Castle Island, in the harbor of Ocracoke in the State of North Carolina." Its 198-foot height makes it the tallest brick lighthouse structure in the United States and 2nd in the world. Since its base is almost at sea level, it is only the 15th highest light in the United States, the first 14 being built on higher ground. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was constructed in 1802.
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