Waves on Outer Banks reveal lost part of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse complex from 1871

Storm-driven waves frequently uncover shipwrecks on Outer Banks beaches, but severe erosion near Buxton found something completely unexpected days ago: A lost part of the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse complex.

Sections of the 150-year-old brick fence that once surrounded the lighthouse were exposed when waves carved a three-foot scarp (cliff) into the sand, the National Park Service says.

The once-elaborate fence was finished in 1871 when the lighthouse was a year old, as part of an elaborate complex that included a home for the lighthouse keeper. The wall was left behind when the lighthouse was moved inland in 1999 to protect it from sea level rise.

“The fence foundation was buried at the time of the lighthouse move,” park spokesman Michael Barber told McClatchy News in an email.

“A portion was removed to make room for the move path, but it was deemed unnecessary to remove the remainder of the foundation. Digging up and removing the fence foundation was not an easy task,” he said.

Remnants of the fence have rarely been seen in the years since, the park said. Photos taken this week show some parts remain intact, while wave action has broken other areas into large pieces.

The sections are protected by the federal government as “exposed cultural debris” and must be left in place, the park service warns. That means collecting pieces as souvenirs is illegal.

The fence originally extended 45 feet from the base of the lighthouse and now stands as a reminder of what experts feared would happen if the lighthouse had not been moved. (It sits 1,500 feet from the shore thanks to the move.)

“The old lighthouse site has been inundated with water during severe weather events,” Barber told McClatchy News. “It is estimated that the original lighthouse foundation would now be 20-30 feet from the water at high tide.”

A plan to recreate the original Victorian iron fence that surrounded the lighthouse is “under consideration as part of a Cape Hatteras Lighthouse repair design project,” Barber said.

Those repairs may happen as early as next summer, he said. However, the idea does not include using the bricks and stone that were exposed this week, he said.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, with its unique black and white stripes, is among the nation’s most iconic East Coast lighthouses and is operated and protected by the National Park Service.

Two lighthouses were built at the site over the past two centuries, to watch over a section coast known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The dangerous current is due largely to the Gulf Stream colliding with a branch of the Labrador Current off the North Carolina coast, the National Park Service reports.

The first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was finished in 1803 and replaced in 1870 with a tower that rises 198.49 feet, park historians report.

A winter storm in March 1980 is credited with sweeping away the remains of the original 1803 lighthouse, according to a park service report.

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Waves on Outer Banks reveal lost part of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse complex from 1871."