Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Newspaper Articles

Reprinted by permission of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina

June 22, 1999

The News & Observer

Drawn to the light

By Nell Joslin Medlin; Staff Writer

Page: E1

We have a star in the East.

Across the country, the eyes of many people are turned to the coast of North Carolina. After two decades of debate over its fate, the stately Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has begun to inch back from the spot on the Outer Banks where it has rested for 130 years.

But this peak of attention to one of the most famous landmarks in America rests upon a slower- swelling, yet broad and steadfast, interest in lighthouses in general, both in North Carolina and across the country.

Lighthouses have an uncanny ability to evoke deep emotions in all sorts of people. As our neighborhoods become more homogenized and our lifestyles more insular, people seem to be searching for symbols of security and ways to identify with their communities. For some, lighthouses fill both roles.

Considering their ties with the mystery and majesty of the sea, their unique architectural appeal, their association with a lost way of life and their role of offering help in time of trouble, it's no wonder that so many people love lighthouses.

### A surge of popularity James Hyland, president of the Lighthouse Preservation Society in Newburyport, Mass., says the surge in support for lighthouses began about 15 years ago.

"There's a close identity in each community with its lighthouse," Hyland says. "There's a very great beauty associated with them, plus the connotation of bravery and courage against all odds. They symbolize something that has been lost in our culture, a longing for the good old days when people acted as their brother's keepers, and communities were stronger."

Lighthouse societies and preservation groups have seen memberships and financial support grow steadily. The Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, for example, a group that promotes preservation, now numbers almost 800 members, with 209 people joining in the last few months.

In North Carolina, Hatteras has fueled the surge in lighthouse fascination. It's the most popular of the four backgrounds offered on a North Carolina driver's license. About 40 to 50 percent of people choose it when they get their licenses issued or renewed, estimates Joseph Jefferson, an examiner with the Division of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh.

Where there is a passion, there is money to be made. Though some dismiss lighthouses as a collecting fad, for now, at least, customers throng the shops, flea markets and Web sites where lighthouse replicas are sold.

Vannessa Brammer of Brammer's Hobby Co., which operates out of the weekend flea market at Raleigh's State Fairgrounds, says she can't keep the 3-foot Hatteras replicas she and her husband David design and sell in stock. A Cape Hatteras limited edition replica that sold for $60 when its mold was retired in 1993 now sells for up to $850, says Matt Rothman, owner of the Lighthouse Trading Co. in Pennsylvania.

### A potent symbol There seem to be almost as many reasons for this fascination with lighthouses as there are lighthouse buffs.

Photographer Roberts, who is founder and director of the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, believes the interest is rooted in the fact that many lighthouses, which saved the lives of countless seafarers, are themselves now threatened with extinction.

Roberts and his wife, Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, have authored several books about lighthouses in America, including the forthcoming "Cape Hatteras: America's Lighthouse." The use of auto-mation, computers and satellites, he says, eliminated the need for resident lighthouse keepers, signifying the end of a way of life for hundreds of families. Lighthouses have been threatened by vandalism, neglect - and beach erosion.

Roberts, who has been photographing the Hatteras Lighthouse move, says lighthouses also engender strong emotional attachment because they symbolize safety and security, constancy and fortitude in the face of stormy times. Many people, he says, make annual pilgrimages to Hatteras with their children, go to celebrate special events or even get engaged there.

Other North Carolina lighthouses are also getting more attention. Lloyd Childers, executive director and lighthouse keeper of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, says that tourists have been flocking there in record numbers: In the first part of this month, about 700 people per day climbed it.

Childers' job as site manager is the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream of renewed connection with the water and coastal environment, which she realized when she left her job in Raleigh to come to Corolla two years ago.

"Being out here, especially in the wintertime, in touch with wildlife and the environment, is soothing to the soul," she says.

Hyland, of the Lighthouse Preservation Society, has similar feelings.

"[The lighthouses] are standing there, on the edge of the Earth, looking out over the ocean, which is really the last frontier on this planet," he says. "They will always be symbols of security and light shining in the darkness."

### A beacon, a comfort Raleigh songwriter and guitar teacher Bett Padgett felt so moved by the history and uncertain fate of the Hatteras Lighthouse that she wrote seven songs and recorded them on a CD titled "Hatteras, If a Lighthouse Could Speak," set for release this week.

Padgett says that in researching her songs, she was amazed at the depth of emotion she elicited just by mentioning the word Hatteras.

"Total strangers would talk to me about this with tears in their eyes," she said. "I couldn't believe how many people wanted to save this lighthouse. ... Part of it, I believe, is that we're realizing as Americans how we need to save our culture, as they have always done in Europe."

Another local musician, Ardie Watkins of Apex, made a recording last year of lighthouse songs that focus on saving from a religious point of view. He called it "Rescue the Perishing." Watkins says that in many religious songs, the lighthouse serves as a metaphor for the love of Jesus, providing protection and guidance in good times and bad.

"This image is one that over the years has spoken to me and given me comfort," Watkins says.

Some have found that working with lighthouses in other ways can also be soothing to the soul.

After the death of his wife in 1997, Ralph Benson, 85, found comfort in designing and building lighthouse replicas. In his back yard in the town of Benson sit an 8-foot Hatteras lighthouse and a 6-foot Cape Lookout lighthouse, complete with electric beacons and rotating reflectors.

Benson, a mechanical wizard who, among other things, invented a machine for shelling butter beans, is a man of few words and deep feelings.

"I reckon that building those things helped me a lot," he says about his replicas.

A local lighthouse aficionado of some repute is Mary Earp, 74, the Oakwood homeowner who this year won her battle against the Raleigh Historic Districts Commission for the right to keep a 5-foot lighthouse replica in her front yard. Earp, owner of Earp's Seafood in Raleigh, says that the lighthouse not only represents her business, but has the symbolism of "keeping people safe."

"Lighthouses just bring people together," she declares, standing in her shop in front of a glistening row of fresh rockfish, flounder and red snapper. "You wouldn't believe the people who stood behind me during all of that mess. There were people I'd never even met, and neighbors I've since gotten to know. It was blacks and whites, poor and high-class people. All coming together over that lighthouse."

### For more information - The online version of this story includes an archive of stories from The N&O and links to several related Web sites. Find it at www.news-observer.com/nc/ - Outer Banks Lighthouse Society. Web site: www.outer-banks.com/lighthouse-society/index.cfm; e-mail to web3755@charweb.org.

- Lighthouse Preservation Society, 4 Middle St., Newburyport, Mass. 01950. (800) 727-2326. Web site: www.mayday.com/lps/index.htm.

- The Lighthouse Trading Co., Limerick, Pa. (888) 409-9336. Web site: www.lighthousetrading.com; e-mail to lhtrade1@aol.com.

- A directory of lighthouse-related organizations is located at www.lighthouse.cc/ links/organizations.html.

- Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Web site: www.outer-banks.nc.us/curritucklight; e-mail to cblight@interpath.com.

- Copies of "Hatteras: If a Lighthouse Could Speak" can be ordered through the Web site www.bettpadgett.com, or send e-mail to bett@bettpadgett.com. Phone: 834-4636.

- To obtain a copy of "Rescue the Perishing," call Ardie Watkins at 772-7071.

### CITYLINE To hear samples of 'Hatteras: If a Lighthouse Could Speak' and 'Rescue the Perishing,' dial 549-5100 on a touch-tone phone (residents of Wake Forest, Clayton, Fuquay-Varina and Smithfield, dial 836-2830) and enter category number 5483. This is a free call, except where long-distance fees apply.

Section: Day
Edition: Final
Estimated Printed Pages: 5

Index Terms:
NC
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
music
hotline
LEAD

Article Type: LEAD

Caption:
2 c photos; photo

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, shown before its relocation began, has stood sentinel over the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' for 130 years. Ralph Benson, 85, found comfort in designing and building lighthouse replicas after the death of his wife. As the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse begins its retreat from the encroaching Atlantic, spectators gather en masse for a glimpse of a 4,800-ton structure on the move.

Staff File Photo By Chuck Liddy Staff Photo By Mel Nathanson Staff Photo By Chuck Liddy

Copyright 1999 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.

Record Number: 1999172031