Completed in 1870, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the world. In 1999 the lighthouse was moved further inland to protect it from beach erosion.

With Hurricane Irene battering the coast of North Carolina it brings to mind The Gray Man of Hatteras, a ghost that is said to appear foreshadowing approaching hurricanes.  The legend is that a man dressed in grey clothes walks along the Cape Hatteras shore between Cape Point and the Hatteras Lighthouse warning of approaching hurricanes.   It is uncertain of when the Gray Man made his first appearance but sightings of the Gray Man go back to the early 1900s.   Accounts of the Gray Man are sketchy; some speak only of seeing the Gray Man and upon approaching he starts to blur and dissapears.  Other accounts speak of a verbal warning from the Gray Man before he disappears.

It is uncertain of who the Gray Man was in life but past accounts speaks of a man named Gray who lived not far from Cape Point in the late 1800s.  Before modern weather statellites, hurricanes often caught people unaware.  The legend goes that Gray went out to sea not knowing that a hurricane was approaching and drown during the storm.  Since his death, Gray appears before an approaching hurricane to give out his warnings to allow others the chance to reach safe haven from the storm.