October 8th, 2010
11:38 AM ET

Historic lighthouse closing to public, for now

Monday, Columbus Day, will be the last day tourists can climb the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse this year, the National Park Service announced.

The lighthouse, a prime destination on North Carolina's Outer Banks, has welcomed about 130,000 visitors since the season began in April, the service said. It will reopen next April.

The spiral-striped spire was built in 1870 to warn ships of a particularly dangerous spot along the Atlantic Coast. Hundreds of ships have met their doom on the cape's Diamond Shoals, a 12-mile-long sandbar where a branch of the Labrador Current from Canada collides with the Gulf Stream.

The lighthouse avoided doom itself when it was moved 2,900 feet to its current location in 1999. The National Park Service maintains the building and grounds, while the U.S. Coast Guard maintains the automated light.

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Filed under: North Carolina • Travel • U.S.
soundoff (7 Responses)
  1. stephen-nyc

    Ok, that headline is kind of confusing. It's just closing for the season. I was thinking it was closing for renovations and would be closed for a long time. The link indicates that it's just for the winter.

    October 8, 2010 at 11:58 am | Report abuse |
  2. crystal -AL

    Agree with the first comment. I got the idea that it was closing for good.

    October 8, 2010 at 2:59 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Three Dog Mama

    I got the impression also that it was closing for good. Please put all the info in that is necessary CNN that it is closing for the season and not for good.

    October 8, 2010 at 3:36 pm | Report abuse |
  4. patricia

    These places are cool! Definately hope that it is only for now...it is lovely.

    October 8, 2010 at 5:47 pm | Report abuse |
  5. William Leeper

    Agree with previous comments, fix the tagline. The link in the main page is fine. Further, this is news why??

    October 9, 2010 at 6:00 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Terry Liddy

    Impressive place to visit, worth the drive, and the wait

    October 12, 2010 at 12:04 am | Report abuse |
  7. gloria

    Yeah i believe it is only for the season. However i believe that it used to stay open all year long before, I grew up on Ocracoke next to Hatteras Island.

    October 12, 2010 at 6:42 pm | Report abuse |
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