The Keeper's Climb is a photograph by Marty Fancy which was uploaded on August 10th, 2014.
The Keeper's Climb
Looking down the stairs of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Showing the orignal black and white tiles made of slate and marble. The slate tiles are... more
by Marty Fancy
Title
The Keeper's Climb
Artist
Marty Fancy
Medium
Photograph
Description
Looking down the stairs of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Showing the orignal black and white tiles made of slate and marble. The slate tiles are softer and show more wear.
Since the 1800's, a lighthouse at Cape Hatteras has marked the twelve-mile long sandbar that lies just offshore, called Diamond Shoals. Cape Hatteras sits on a narrow strip of sand on the eastern most point of the United States.
Diamond Shoals is the meeting place of two great ocean currents: the cold Labrador and the warm Northbound Gulf Stream. When these waters collide, it creates ever-changing sandbars just beneath the water surface. This has resulted in many shipwrecks over the years. A lighthouse would have to be built that could shine far beyond the treacherous shoals, to give mariners a warning of these dangerous ever-changing waters.
In 1793, funds for the first lighthouse were released to construct the first lighthouse for Diamond Shoals. Due to bad weather and illness among the building crew, the structure wasnft finished until 1802. Shortly after construction was completed, it was realized that the light would not be able to reach the treacherous shoals. Between 1845 and 1854, a series of repairs, modifications, and additions were made to the octagonal tower. These additions brought the height of the structure to 150 feet.
Work began, in 1868, on a new beacon and tower modeled after the light at Cape Lookout that would be located farther inland than the original lighthouse. This was done to protect the lighthouse from erosion that caused so many problems with the previous lighthouse. The new and current tower was an incredible 198 feet tall and needed a substantial foundation to support it. The octagonal base of brick and granite, measures twenty-four feet by forty-five feet six inches. Despite outbreaks of malaria among the building crew and the loss of some construction materials in a shipwreck, work continued at a rapid pace, and the $150,000 tower, equipped with a 1st-order Fresnel lens, made its debut on December 1, 1870. The black and white barber-pole paint, or candystriping was added in 1873 to make the lighthouse more distinctive during the day. Today, the beacon is automated, but at the time it was built, the keeper had to wind weights suspended by heavy cables in order to rotate the thousand-prism lens.
In the 1920s, erosion became a major problem to the new lighthouse. By 1936, the sea was lapping at the base of the tower, so the Coast Guard decided to build a frame tower farther inland, and to abandon the existing lighthouse. The light was moved to a steel skeletal structure erected one mile inland. On May 15, 1936, the last keeper of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Unaka B. Jennette, had the duty of shutting down the tower. He had served as the head keeper of the beacon since 1919 and had raised seven children during his service at the lighthouse. Efforts to preserve the lighthouse were put on hold until 1948 due to the War. The National Park Service leased the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to the Coast Guard so operations could resume. This resulted in that the light being moved from the steel tower back to the lighthouse, and has beamed its light from there ever since. The steel tower was dismantled at that time.
In the mid 1980s, heated discussions had begun over whether to move the lighthouse to a new location. Finally a decision was made to move the lighthouse to itfs new location. In the summer of 1999, the lighthouse was moved 2899.57 feet from its original location.
Uploaded
August 10th, 2014
