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The Bergen Point Lighthouse was built in
1849 at the junction of Newark Bay and the Kill Van Kull, about 50 feet from the New
Jersey/New York border. It was a dwelling on a 60 foot diameter caisson. The tower was 54
feet high. The dwelling had 6 rooms and was 2 1/2 stories high. By 1855 the lighthouse had
fallen into disrepair and work began on the rebuilding of the lighthouse in 1857. By 1859
work had been completed. The station was discontinued in 1949 due to a widening of the
Kill Van Kill, and the point of land on which it stood was to be cut off from the point.
Eventually the lighthouse was torn down and replaced by a skeleton tower. |
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The Egg Island Lighthouse was built in
1838 at the northwestern end of the Maurice River Cove on an island and reachable only by
boat. The light was believed automated around 1935. It was destroyed by fire on August 20,
1950. |
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The Sandy Hook Light tower was built in
1764 by New Yorkers who wanted a light to guide ships into the New York harbor. This is
the northern-most lighthouse in New Jersey. The original tower is the oldest original,
active lighthouse in America. |
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The Ludlum Beach Lighthouse was erected
on Ludlum Beach in 1885 and had an elevation of 36 feet above sea level, with a white
fourth-order light. In 1923, after a fire in the lighthouse caused the lighthouse to be
replaced by an automatic steel tower. The lighthouse was sold and moved to the corner of
31st Street and the beach. In the 1940's it was again moved to 3414 Landis Avenue, Sea
Isle City. It is a private residence today. |
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The East Point Lighthouse is loacated at
the mouth of the Maurice River and is currently being restored. New updated pictures and
information will be posted as they become available. |
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The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse was
completed on April 16, 1874, and equipped with a fourth order Fresnel lens. It was first
lit on May 11, 1874. It is built in a style known as . It is the only Swiss Gothic type on
the East Coast. Its foundation was damaged in a severe storm on August, 1913 and was later
moved inland 150 feet to the west. The lighthouse was extensively damaged by a fire in
May, 1938. It was discontinued and superceded by a nearby iron tower in 1964. The City of
North Wildwood began restoration, operation and maintenance of the lighthouse about 1982
and the lighthouse was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places on September 20,
1977. In 1986, the light was relighted and is still maintained by the Coast Guard.
Restoration is on-going and involves restoring the lantern room's origiinal copper, glass
and steel look; in addition to resurfacing and re-sloping the desk of the lantern room.
The restoration work is expected to be completed by July 1999. |
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Point Comfort Lighthouse (a.k.a. Bayside
Beacon or Waakaack Front Range Light) was
constructed in 1856 and was the front light in the in range with Waackaack. |
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The Waackaack Rear Range Light was built
in 1856. It stood about 96 foot tall. Although it stood near the waters edge it was the
rear range light in conjunction with the Point Comfort Light on the beach. The light's
main purpose was to guide vessels coming into the Raritan Bay. It was initially made of
wood but was replaced in the 1860's by an iron tower. In 1883 a high powered electric lamp
was installed that was magnified by a glass lens. Preparations were made to replace the
light-tower beginning in 1891. The tower built for use at the Waackaack Rear Range Light
Station was part of the United States Lighthouse Board's exhibit at the World's Columbian
Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. This lighthouse was built of iron rings, and as the
site for the lighthouse was not ready for its erection at the time the light tower was
completed, it became possible for the lighthouse to become an exhibit at the Exposition.
When the town of Keansburg officially incorporated as a Borough in 1917, it adopted the
outline of the Waackaack Range Light as its seal. By the end of the 1950's the lighthouse
was dismantled and sold for scrap. |
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The Elbow of Cross Ledge light was
completed in 1910. It was constructed because it was believed that this location would
better serve shipping interest than the Cross Ledge Lighthouse site. A hurricane damaged
this structure so badly that the keepers had to be removed. On October 20, 1953, the
lighthouse was rammed by a freighter as it traveled up the Delaware Bay. The upper portion
of the brick structure were knocked into the bay. In 1954, an automated lighthouse was
installed on the original base. |
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The Barnegat Light, known as "Old
Barney", is located 45 miles south of the Sandy Hook Light. It is located at the
north end of Long Beach Island at Barnegat Inlet. Original 40 foot tower was built in
1834. The present tower was completed in 1859 and is 165 feet tall. Because migrating
birds crashed into the glass, the dome was reinforced with wire mesh. The State of New
Jersey acquired the lighthouse in 1926. In 1944 the US Coast Guard decommissioned Old
Barney, and the lens was replaced with a gas blinker. Today the source of the lighthouse's
light is a 250 watt electric bulb. The Barnegat Light is a state landmark and is used on
some of the state's automobile license plates to represent shore conservation. Even though
the lighthouse almost fell victim to erosion in the 1960's, the tower is now
well-maintianed and open for climbing. |
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The original lighthouse on this site was first lit in 1850. The Brandywine
Shoal Lighthouse replaced a lightship that had marked the shoal since 1823.
The lighthouse is the first screwpile-type lighthouse to be constructed in the United
States. In 1914 it was replaced by the current lighthouse (a caisson-type). The light was
automated in 1974. |
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At the southern-most point of the state is the 157 foot tower at Cape
May Lighthouse. Since 1859 the lighthouse has been
used to has been guiding ships along the coast and into Delaware Bay. Tours up the tower
are operated by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, even though the light is still
operated by the US Coast Guard. The Cape May Light is located in the Victorian-styled City
of Cape May, that is off the normal tourist track. |
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Ship John Shoal Lighthouse is the most
northerly of the Delaware Bay Lighthouses. It was named after a ship, the Ship John that
ran aground on a shoal near the mouth of the Cohansey Creek in December,1797. The ship had
been cut through by heavy ice and storms and gradually it settled into the sand. Drifting
sand accumulated around the wreckage increasing the area of the shoal. A wooden lighthouse
was originally placed there to mark the shoal, but this lighthouse was destroyed by ice in
1876. In 1877 a lighthouse was built on a caisson foundation. |
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Absecon Island Lighthouse is located in
Atlantic City, NJ. As soon as it's completed, I will have the picture of the new
lighthouse that is being rebuilt in Atlantic City. It is about about a block away from the
Boardwalk. |
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Cross Ledge was completed in 1875. The
new lighthouse was described as a black lantern on a white two-story wood framed
structure. The lighthouse was built atop a granite pier. Due to deteriorating condition of
the foundation and the erection of the nearby Elbow of Cross Ledge Lighthouse, Cross Ledge
was decommissioned in 1907. Today only the granite foundation remains, it is known to as
"the rockpile." |
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The Fort Miffin Front Range Light was
located south of Billingsport, New Jersey, just below Lincoln Park. It was first lighted
December 31, 1880 and was equipped with a fifth order lens. The front range light had the
unusual distinction of serving as the front range for two ranges - The Mifflin Range
pointing upriver (towards Trenton) and the Tinicum Range pointing downriver. It was
automated in 1938. The wooden tower was replaced by a steel skeleton tower sometime in the
late 1970's or early 1980's.
The Fort Mifflin Rear Range Lighthouse was located about 1/2 mile behind the front range
light. The tower was not attached to the keepers house. The rear range light was
originally equipped with a fifth order lens. It was automated in 1938. Eventually the site
became part of the Mobil Oil Refinery complex and the lighthouse was torn down. |
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The Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse was
constructed in 1909 on the Miah Maull Shoal in the Delaware Bay. It is an automated light,
maintained by the USCG ANT (Aids to Navigation)Team in Cape May. The "skirt"
that covered the walkway was removed a few years ago. |
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The Passaic Lighthouse was originally
built in 1849 and rebuilt in 1859. It was located in Newark bay and remained a manned
lighthouse until it was abandoned in 1914. The lighthouse was believed to have been torn
down in the 1930's. |
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This very unique structure is the Twin Lights at
Navesink, NJ. It is also known as the Highlands Lighthouse which overlooks
the Lower Bay. It was built on 1828 and the lighthouse was purposely built with the twin
lights in order for mariners to be able to distinguish it from the Sandy Hook Light. The
Twin Lights are located just south of Sandy Hook Light. |
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New Jersey Linghthouses
