Perhaps none is better known or more popular than the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. At more than two hundred feet high, it is the tallest lighthouse in America and has stood near the point at Cape Hatteras since shortly after the Civil War.

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse was built to warn ships away from Diamond Shoals, the most hazardous part of the region some have labeled the Graveyard of the Atlantic. It is a scary place, in which major shipping lanes, merging warm and cold currents, and shifting underwater shoals converge with disastrous results, and it is known worldwide for its perils. Often shrouded in fog and mist, the low trees and dunes of Hatteras Island offer few visual landmarks to warn crews of their proximity to the shoals, and ships can slip all too easily into the shallows. Barnacle-encrusted skeletons of wrecked ships still rest there, attesting to the fact that, once trapped, there is little chance of escape.