Wilson, North Carolina - World's Tallest Replica of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

This lighthouse looks as out-of-place as the whale on top of the building next to it. The lighthouse sits in the middle of town in a parking lot. Right next to the parking lot is a fish restaurant with a huge whale on top of the building, and a shark cage next to it. There is also a life-size fisherman and a huge pink flamingo in front of the restaurant.

This one area is a treasure trove for the offbeat attraction seeker. [Woody Sinkko, 08/28/2008]

The "World's Largest Replica Lighthouse of the World's Largest Lighthouse" is on the same street as one of the Wilson Muffler Men. The lighthouse stands in the parking lot of Worrell's Seafood Restaurant, which is worth seeing in itself, especially for the big whale on the side of the building.

Worrell's opened in 1929. In Feb. 2000, it was completely gutted by fire. All that was left standing were the walls. By August, it had reopened, looking inside and out almost exactly the same as it had before the fire. [Dean Jeffrey, 04/22/2001]

[RA: June 2009: Michael Unruh writes: "Cape Hatteras is not the world's tallest lighthouse. That honor is currently disputed between the Yokohama Marine Tower in Yokohama, Japan (348 ft) and the Perry Victory and International Peace Memorial in Put-In-Bay, Ohio, USA (351 ft). Either way, they are both much taller than Cape Hatteras, which stands 193 feet tall."]

This is a functional replica lighthouse! There is a light in the top and a mirror rotates around the light which is more or less how the big lighthouse operates. The paintjob and base of the lighthouse are also fairly faithful representations of the original. [Greg Brown, 08/23/2000]