The Cape Hatteras Light Station is the most sight in the Outer Banks. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse towers 196 feet (60 m) from its base, making it the tallest lighthouse in the United States. The conical brick shaft is painted in a distinctive black and white striped spiral pattern (daymark). It was built in 1870, as the second lighthouse on the site. Due to beach erosion, the entire lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet (884 m) inland in 1999. It is still in operation as an aid to navigation.
Arriving here, we went first to the visitor center where several park ranger programs were in progress. On the park grounds are the lighthouse and two other building. The brick principal keepers quarters, built in 1871, is used for park offices. The nearby wood frame double keepers quarters, built in 1854, housed two families. It is open to visitors as the Museum of the Sea. Exhibits recount the history of Cape Hatteras and the lighthouse, notable shipwrecks in the treacherous waters around the cape and document the moving of the lighthouse in 1999. After our visit to the lighthouse and grounds, we returned to Nags Head the way we had come.
