Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Newspaper Articles

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

November 13, 1999

The News & Observer

Saved, yet lost

By CHUCK LIDDY

Page: A23

The incessant waves pound the shore as they did long before the place was ever called Buxton. Underfoot, the sand still feels like so much granulated sugar and a constant gentle breeze blows from whichever direction it chooses. But something is different - it's missing.

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is gone.

No, the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. wasn't devoured by the hungry sea as so many feared. And it didn't succumb to a monstrous hurricane roaring in off the Atlantic.

The brick and stone Cape Light lost its battle with those who built it. Us.

Yes, the lighthouse still stands majestically over the island of Hatteras. It survived; indeed, the monumental project to relocate the lighthouse proved that if man can build it, he can move it. Those who said the structure would crumble and crash into the dunes were proven wrong.

But in all the political jockeying and second-guessing something was lost.

The Light.

Physically the Cape Light is still around, about 2,900 feet south to be exact. What has been lost is the soul of the Cape Hatteras Light. No longer can you walk out on the beach and see the lighthouse bravely face the pounding waves of the Atlantic. Children won't stand in awe at the base of the black and white spiral with the sound of the sea crashing around them - at least not for quite a while to come.

Safe from the sea, in the midst of the maritime forest, propped up 1,600 feet away from the waves, the light should be there for our children's children to see.

But now it's just another lighthouse, joining the less exceptional ranks of Bodie Island, Currituck and Cape Lookout.

Sentinels all, but none with the stature of the old Cape Light, hard up against the very shore it marked.

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(Chuck Liddy is an N&O photographer.)

Section: Editorial/Opinion
Edition: Final
Estimated Printed Pages: 2

Index Terms:
coast
NC
environment
water
Cape Hatteras

Caption:
photo

Where the lighthouse long took its stand; later today a relighting ceremony will be held at the relocated beacon.

Photo illustration by Chuck Liddy

Copyright 1999 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.

Record Number: fl6uyn89