Did moving the famous OBX beacon really save it?
Twenty years after the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved away from the sea, the move seems to have saved the iconic beacon of the Outer Banks. Mark Price, writing for the Charlotte Observer has the story.
“When experts decided in 1999 that the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse had to be moved to survive, Dare County officials sued to stop the risky relocation.
They lost, however, and the nation’s tallest brick lighthouse — built in 1870 at 198.49 feet — was put on rails and rolled to a new home on Hatteras Island.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the colossal effort and Charlotte Observer reader Phil Hildebran, 57, of Taylorsville wondered if the encroaching Atlantic had finally reached the spot where the lighthouse once stood.
Curious NC, a joint venture between The Charlotte Observer, The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun, got the answer.
David Hallac, superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told the Charlotte Observer the short answer is “No,” but he says that’s misleading.
“If we hadn’t moved the (Cape Hatteras) lighthouse, we’d be regularly dealing with the wrath of the ocean pounding that lighthouse in tropical storms and hurricanes,” Hallac said. “We’re talking about waves smacking against the lighthouse.”
Read the rest of this story in the Charlotte Observer.