Cape Hatteras Light

“Buxton, North Carolina”

Built: 1870

“This distinctive ‘candy cane’ lighthouse towers 208 feet – the tallest in America. It stands as part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore at the southern elbow of Hatteras Island warning seafarers of the shallow Diamond Shoals which jut almost 14 miles into the Atlantic from the Cape. This light is the second of three lights that have shown from this location. From 1936 until 1950 the light was temporarily located atop a steel skeletal tower about 2 miles northeast of the present site. Shore erosion continues to plague the structure and debate ensues as to whether or not the tower should be relocated to safer ground. (Photo 1993, Trip #17) [Update: The lighthouse was relocated 2900 feet further from the shore in June & July of 1999. It was relit on November 13, 1999.]”

Navigational Options

Return to Tenth Lighthouse Expedition

Return to Seventeenth Lighthouse Expedition

Go to Alphabetical Listing

Go to Geographical Listing

Return to Lighthouse Home Page

Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey
Conceived and Developed by David S. Carter
Photographs by Donald W. Carter
Text by Diana K. Carter, Donald W. Carter & David S. Carter

Copyright © 1995-2006 David S. Carter, Donald W. Carter, & Diana K. Carter. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means, physical or electronic, in part or in full, without the express permission of the authors, is strictly prohibited.