Notes:
(1) Cape Hatteras Light was built to mark the hazardous Diamond Shoals.  Numerous shipwrecks occurred as ships circumnavigated the Diamond Shoals nicknamed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Diamond Shoals extends 14-miles out from the Outer Banks and over 600 ships were shattered to pieces by the shallow shifting sand bars and strong currents.  The Lighthouse also provided a visible landmark to guide mariners near the low-lying Outer Banks.

In 1794, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who reputedly dubbed Diamond Shoals, the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” recommended establishing a lighthouse on the Hatteras Sand Banks to Congress.  On July 10, 1797, Congress authorized $44,000 for constructing a lighthouse at Cape Hatteras.

Hamilton’s Light was built by Henry Dearborn, a Boston collector of customs who later became the secretary of war under President Thomas Jefferson, between 1799 and 1803.  On December 29, 1802, Adam Gaskin was appointed as the first Light-Keeper receiving a yearly wage of $333.  In 1803, the 90-feet hight dressed brown sandstone Octagonal Tower and 12-feet tall birdcage style Lantern exhibited a Fixed White Light illuminated by 18 Argand lamps and 14-inch parabolic reflectors 112-feet above sea level to visible range of 15.5 nautical miles at sea in clear weather.

The 18 sperm Whale oil lamps produced a unbearable heat, birds flew into and cracked the glass of the Lantern Room, and sea captains frequently complained about the Light's “wretched” dimness and no visibility of the Light during haze or low fog.  Mariners joked about being shipwrecked at Diamond Shoals because they were trying to FIND the Light!

      As important aids to transatlantic commerce, the Light House Board determined that first-class Coastal Lights built on low-lying coastlines required additional height to extend the Light’s range to a maximum of 24 nautical miles (28 miles)* in 1852.  In comparison, Northeast Primary Seacoast Lights only needed short Towers due to the elevated landmarks.  For example, Cape Cod Light’s Tower was 45-feet high built on a 125-foot cliff exhibiting a light visible from 160-feet above sea level in 1797.

      In 1824, a lightship, named CAPE HATTERAS, was anchored at the outer edge of Diamond Shoals about 13 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras Light which was damaged by British attacks during the War of 1812 and the tower height wasn’t tall enough for its light to be seen far out at sea.  CAPE HATTERAS Lightship was retired in 1827.

      On March 3, 1853, Congress authorized raising the Tower with a first-order Fresnel lens and the original Tower was increased to 150 feet.  The rebuilt tower, completed in 1854, became the First “Tall Tower” Lighthouse.  During the Civil War, Confederate forces removed the new lens from the lighthouse and Union forces prevented a Confederate plan to destroy the lighthouse.  The Lighthouse was restored to operation in 1862.

      On March 2, 1867, Congress authorized a new Lighthouse using a 150-foot Tower yet the Light House Board determine 180-foot would serve maritime commerce better.  The current 2,800-ton brick Lighthouse was constructed from 1868 to 1870 to replace the earlier Tower severely damaged during the Civil War.  Dexter Stetson, Engineer and the Superintendent of construction, used 1.25 million bricks to erect the present tower.
On December 16th 1870, the 198-foot high, tallest Lighthouse in the nation was first lit after 25 months of construction exhibiting a Flashing White Light every 5-seconds illuminated by a First-order Fresnel lens 191-feet above sea level to a visible range of 16 nautical miles.

      In 1871, the original tower was demolished and new Head keeper’s house was completed.
In 1873, the tower was painted in spiral bands of alternating black and white; a total of four bands, two white, two black, each one making 1.5 revolutions about the tower to improve the daymark.

      In 1892, Congress redirected $79,000 of the appropriation for a failed Diamond Shoals Lighthouse whose caisson foundation was destroyed by sinking caused by the swift scouring action of the currents around Diamond Shoals on July 8, 1891 to build a new Light Vessel to assist Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the marking the treacherous shifting shoals.
From 1897 to 1966, 6 Diamond Shoal Lightships were On Station at Diamond Shoal (NC) 14 5/8 mi. SE 3/8 E from Cape Hatteras Light:

LV69: Sep 30,1897-1901: LV71 was placed there March 9, 1898 and alternately relieved LV 69 on Diamond Shoal every 3 months.  LV71 was destroyed by German submarine U-104 on Aug 6, 1918 for warning American ships of the presence of the U-boat which had sunk a passing freighter.

LV72: 1900-1922
LV 105 (WAL 527): 1922-1942;
During WWII, the station was marked by a buoy
LV 114 (WAL 536): 1945-1947
WLV 189: 1947-1966; WLV 189 was replaced when Diamond Shoals Light Tower was activated (see Note 4)

      In 1913, the illuminant was changed to incandescent oil vapor increasing the Light’s intensity from 27,000 to 80,000 candlepower.  In 1934, the illuminant was converted to electric power and the Light was automated.

Since 1870, the barrier island and tallest brick beacon has been threatened by beach erosion and rising sea levels.  The sentinel of the shoals was originally 1,600-feet away from shoreline in 1870.  The gradual encroachment of the sea became serious in 1920 when the high tide mark was 300-feet from the base of the tower.  Cape Hatteras Light was abandoned from 1936 to 1950 when the sea washed around the base of the tower.  A replacement skeleton tower was built a mile northwest of the Lighthouse in Buxton Woods.

Vandals stole many of the Lens prisms in 1949 forcing the National Park Service to install a modern rotating Aerobeacon when the Lighthouse was reactivated in 1950 after erosion control measures saved the tower.  The famous Lighthouse became endangered again in 1987 when the relentless sea was only 120-feet away the tower.

In 1999, the endangered "Barber Pole" Lighthouse was temporarily extinguished March 1st to move the endangered tower 2,900-feet inland placing the Lighthouse 1,600-feet from the shoreline at the colossal cost of $9.8 million.  From June 17 to July 9, 1999, the International Chimney Corporation and Movers used hydraulic jacks on rollers to gradually push the Lighthouse on track beams 2,900-feet inland.  The slow locomotion effect moved the Lighthouse an average of 126-feet every day.  On November 13, 1999, the relocated Tower was relighted.

Four years later, Hurricane Isabel cut a new 2,000-feet long inlet about 9-miles Southwest of Cape Hatteras Light severing the towns of Hatteras and Frisco for two months.  The Category 2 hurricane also carved away 770-feet of land protecting the Lighthouse when the storm swept ashore on September 18, 2003.  Fortunately, the Lighthouse Locomotion of 1999 saved Cape Hatteras Light from the the encroaching sea!

*Due to the curvature of the Earth’s surface, a Light’s visible range is limited to 24 nautical miles for observers at sea.  A range of 50 to 70 miles for coastal Lights can only be observed from the air!

(2) Due to coastal erosion, the light was temporarily relocated atop a steel skeletal tower about 1 mile northwest and Cape Hatteras Light was abandoned.
On January 23, 1950, Cape Hatteras Light was returned and reactivated after beach erosion control measures took effect.

(3) Original 1803 Optic: 18 Lamps with 14" Reflectors

1815 Optic: 18 Lewis Patent Lamps with Reflectors,
1854 Optic: First-order Fresnel Lens
1862 Optic: Temporary Second-order Fresnel Lens was exhibited June 1, 1862
1863 Optic: First-order Fresnel Lens, Revolving
1870 Optic: First-order Fresnel Lens

(4) Diamond Shoals Light Tower, 13 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was erected in 1966 to mark the outer edge of Diamond Shoals.

On March 28, 2003, Diamond Shoal Lighted Buoy was deployed to mark remaining structure of Diamond Shoal Light.  The Coast Guard has plans to demolish the Light Tower in 2004 and the corroded structure will serve as an artificial reef for marine life.  Afterwards, the Lighted Buoy will remain to mark the dangerous shoals.

(5) Directions to North Carolina Lighthouses:
      Along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, there are five Lighthouses, listed from North to South:

      Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is 45-miles south of Bodie Island Light Station by driving NC-12.  Cheryl Shelton-Roberts, Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, has a web-site driving tour guide from north to south along coastal North Carolina.  For driving directions to Outer Banks Lighthouses, visit Lighthouse Tour and Directions