When Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870, the Atlantic sat about 1,500 feet away, but by 1999 the ocean had crept to within 60 feet — engineers lifted the entire lighthouse and moved it 2,900 feet inland, five feet at a time

When Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870, the Atlantic sat about 1,500 feet away, but by 1999 the ocean had crept to within 60 feet — engineers lifted the entire lighthouse and moved it 2,900 feet inland, five feet at a time

A 4,680-ton sentinel to the sea had become a prisoner of it—until engineers discovered that moving an entire lighthouse five feet at a time required nothing more exotic than soap.