Whether one considers the SOL as a lighthouse or not is irrelevant for it was ordered by President Grover Cleveland that it be turned over to the U.S. Lighthouse Board in Nov. 1886 to be operated as a real lighthouse which was the case until Mar. 1902 when it was turned over to the War Department and no longer operated as a real lighthouse.

Thus Hatteras is today's tallest U.S. lighthouse, but the SOL at about 300' would have been the tallest during its period of operation.

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