These tall cliffs seemed like solid ground when President Washington authorized the construction of Cape Cod’s first lighthouse here in 1797, but over the years the waves of powerful winter storms battered the base of the cliff. From time to time the upper part of the cliff falls in large chunks to the beach below. Of the ten acres bought to build the 1797 lighthouse, fewer than four acres remain. In 1996 the threat of erosion forced the relocation of the light 450 feet back from its original location.