Sandy Hook Lighthouse
Our country's fifth built lighthouse is oldest operating lighthouse in the United States.
It stands not far from where it is believed that Penelope's ship wrecked in about 1640.
The Sandy Hook Lighthouse is our country’s fifth built lighthouse and has been in service since June 11, 1764. It has the distinction of being the oldest operating lighthouse in the United States. Except for being darkened during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the beacon has been operating ever since.
Sandy Hook Lighthouse was made of irregular shaped rubble stone. This structure, was undertaken by Isaac Conro, a stonesman from New York City. It is of such solid construction, eighty-eight years later, that an 1852 Congressional inquiry determined Sandy Hook one of the three best-built lighthouses in the country. The whole construction of the lanthorn is iron; the top covered with copper. There are 48 oil blazes. The building from the surface is nine stories; the whole from bottom to top is 103 feet.
According to records, a lighthouse had been suggested for the tip of Sandy Hook as early as 1679; eighty-two years earlier. However, action wasn’t taken to build a lighthouse on the site until a number of shipwrecks occurred during the first three months of 1761.
Sandy Hook Lighthouse was so impressive at the time, that one week after it was first lit, The New York Mercury ran a notice about the opening of the lighthouse. The notice goes into great detail about the size and dimensions of the lighthouse, as this must have been particularly impressive at the time. Keep in mind this, that this notice was written over a century before anyone had ever seen a skyscraper, and when most commercial buildings were only a few stories high, which gives a feeling for how impressive a structure this must have been to someone seeing it in 1764:
"On Monday Evening last, the New-York Light House, erected at Sandy Hook, was lighted for the first Time. The House is of an Octagon Figure, having eight equal Sides; the Diameter at the Base 29 Feet ; and at the Top of the Wall, 15 Feet. The Lanthorn [Lantern] is 7 Feet high; the Circumference 33 Feet."
On June 11, 1964, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse was declared a National Historic Landmark on the 200th anniversary of its first lighting. This faithful sentinel by the sea still continues its original function. The light is currently an automated 3rd order Fresnel lens, fixed white light, visible for nineteen miles on clear nights. The light is maintained by the United States Coast Guard and is kept on 24 hours a day.
Sandy Hook Lighthouse was made of irregular shaped rubble stone. This structure, was undertaken by Isaac Conro, a stonesman from New York City. It is of such solid construction, eighty-eight years later, that an 1852 Congressional inquiry determined Sandy Hook one of the three best-built lighthouses in the country. The whole construction of the lanthorn is iron; the top covered with copper. There are 48 oil blazes. The building from the surface is nine stories; the whole from bottom to top is 103 feet.
According to records, a lighthouse had been suggested for the tip of Sandy Hook as early as 1679; eighty-two years earlier. However, action wasn’t taken to build a lighthouse on the site until a number of shipwrecks occurred during the first three months of 1761.
Sandy Hook Lighthouse was so impressive at the time, that one week after it was first lit, The New York Mercury ran a notice about the opening of the lighthouse. The notice goes into great detail about the size and dimensions of the lighthouse, as this must have been particularly impressive at the time. Keep in mind this, that this notice was written over a century before anyone had ever seen a skyscraper, and when most commercial buildings were only a few stories high, which gives a feeling for how impressive a structure this must have been to someone seeing it in 1764:
"On Monday Evening last, the New-York Light House, erected at Sandy Hook, was lighted for the first Time. The House is of an Octagon Figure, having eight equal Sides; the Diameter at the Base 29 Feet ; and at the Top of the Wall, 15 Feet. The Lanthorn [Lantern] is 7 Feet high; the Circumference 33 Feet."
On June 11, 1964, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse was declared a National Historic Landmark on the 200th anniversary of its first lighting. This faithful sentinel by the sea still continues its original function. The light is currently an automated 3rd order Fresnel lens, fixed white light, visible for nineteen miles on clear nights. The light is maintained by the United States Coast Guard and is kept on 24 hours a day.
In the past they there was a life-saving station (USLSS) near Sandy Hook Lighthouse, with another at Spermaceti Cove, and another somewhere in Sea Bright. The USLSS surfmen had horse-drawn wagons they used on the beaches to haul boats and rescue people from ships that foundered trying to get into New York harbors before there were radios and navigation aids.
The photo to the right is a courtesy of Michael Wilcox*. His great-grandfather Joseph Riddle is featured on the right end. Wilcox and Riddle are descendants of Penelope, whose ship is reported to have crashed around 1640, not far from where Sandy Hook Lighthouse stands today. Sandy Hook Lighthouse was declared a National Historic Landmark on June 11, 1964, the 200th anniversary of its first lighting. On October 15, 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance in commerce and transportation. Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which was restored in spring 2000, is part of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service. It still serves its original function as a light house for ships coming in and out of New York harbor. It is now lit 24 hours a day with a powerful modern light maintained by the United States Coast Guard that is visible for nineteen miles on a clear night. Vertical Divider
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Galilee Life Saving StationGalilee Life-Saving Station (GLSS) was #4 along the coast starting with Sandy Hook Lighthouse #1, Spermaceti Cove #2 (currently operating as a museum), Sea Bright #3 and Galilee #4. GLSS is in present day Monmouth Beach and exists today as the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center.
To learn more the beginning of U.S. Life Saving Service and Galilee, USLSS #4, click here. |
A Personal Recommendation for Visiting Guests.
Bahrs Landing, 2 Bay Ave, Highlands, NJ 07732
Contributing author, and Penelope descendant, Michael Wilcox recommends that when visiting the area of Sandy Hook, have dinner at Bahrs Landing In Atlantic Highlights. It's just north of the Highlands Bridge. When looking east from Bahrs Landing s the Sandy Hook Peninsula. Bahrs may be best know for serving the best seafood cuisine in New Jersey. What it is less well known is that Bahrs is a massive preserver of maritime heritage. It has been an institution since 1917.