Digest>Archives> March 1998

America's tallest light in imminent danger of being lost

Powerful Group tries to stop planned move.

By Timothy Harrison

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While the National Park Service is finalizing its plans to save America's tallest lighthouse by moving it back from the eroding sea, a small but influential group of North Carolina bigshots are trying to stop them.

The group under the leadership of Hugh Morton claim they have enough power to stop the governments planned move of the lighthouse. What he means is that he has promissed to block federal funding by using his political connections to do so. Morton, who owns Grandfather Mountain, claims that if the lighthouse is moved it will not only lose its historical signifigance but more likely, he claims, it will not survive the move.

Morton claims he has the same backing he had back in the 80's when there really wasn't any controversy about moving the lighthouse. The delay game, as we shall call it, wasn't as harmful as it is today. Morton's artificial seaweed project did not work, his support of the Michigan sandman was misplaced in a technique that almost wrecked Michigan shores, his plan of a fourth groin at Cape Hatters is too little, too late and environmentally unsound and even violates North Carolina's Coastal Management Act prohibiting hardened structures on the states coastline.

The facts are plain and simple - Morton's claim that the lighthouse will lose its historical significance if moved is simply wrong. Southeast Lighthouuse on Block Island Rhode Island was moved several years ago. Not only did the lighthouse survive the move, which the naysayers said it wouldn't, it has maintained its historical signifigance. Those that said if it was moved, tourists would stop coming were also wrong, more tourists than the area could handle flocked to see the move and move than ever have ben coming to the area to see the now moved lighthouse than ever before. The same is true with the recently moved Nauset Light and Cape Cod Lighthouses in Massachusetts.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is only one storm away from being lost forever. The National Park Service has scheduled the move of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse for May of 1999. We would suggest that you make your motel reservations now by contacting the Dare County Tourism Bureau, P.O. Box 399, Manteo, NC 27954. Tell them you want a list of motels so you can make a reservation to watch the lighthouse being moved. Tell them that you will be cancelling your reservation if the lighthouse should fall in the ocean before then, or if the lighthouse is not moved.

If Cape Hatteras Lighthouse should be hit head on by a Category 3 huuricane or a series of strong storms in succession the above could come true. Meterologists say the area may feel the effect this summer or next winter of the weird weather of late.

This story appeared in the March 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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