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We have devoted much of this issue to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Hatteras Keepers Descendants Homecoming.

We have done this because some of the most historic events in modern lighthouse history have taken place at North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. But before they were able to take place there were years of controversy on whether these historic dates would ever be entered into the history books.

There was the debate on whether the lighthouse should be moved back from the eroding shores of the Outer Banks or if it should be saved right where it stood. Then there were the debates on whether the lighthouse could actually be moved! Sure, lighthouses had been moved before, but no lighthouse this tall had ever been moved. Would it topple over during the move? Would it lose its historical significance if it were moved? Would it ever be re-lighted?

All those worries have long since been displaced. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved in 1999, and it was saved.

It was saved because it was the right thing to do.

Why was it the right thing to do? Because it is the tallest lighthouse in the United States? Because it is a monument to American ingenuity? Because it is a historical landmark? The answer to all those questions is, yes. However, more importantly it was saved because it is a monument to the men, women and children who served not only at Cape Hatteras, but at all American lighthouses.

One of the most important events in modern lighthouse history has now taken place again at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse with the Hatteras Keepers Descendants Homecoming; the largest gathering of the descendants of lighthouse keeper families in world history.

None of this would have happened if it were not for the people, mostly volunteers, who worked so hard and for so long to see all of this come true - people who care about history, people who care about our country, people who care about our monuments, people who care about our future, and, people who care about people. This is what the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is all about, and, this is what America, is all about.

Timothy Harrison

Editor

Lighthouse Digest

This story appeared in the May 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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