Sea Girt Lighthouse

Oct. 15, 2019
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Sea Girt Lighthouse, Sea Girt, New Jersey

SEA GIRT LIGHT

RELOCATED FROM SEA GIRT INLET
Station Established: 1896
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1896
Operational? NO
Automated? YES 1945
Deactivated: 1977
Foundation Materials: BRICK
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Height: 44 feet; focal plane 60 feet
Tower Shape: SQUARE
Markings/Pattern: RED BRICK W/BLACK & WHITE LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Characteristics: Flashing red light for 2 seconds out of every 6 seconds (1896); white light with 1 flash per second (1912)
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1896

Chronology:

  • 1889:  Congress appropriated $20,000 for a lighthouse near Squan Inlet.  Before the sale of land picked out for the lighthouse was completed, the site was determined to be unfit for a lighthouse.
  • 1894-1895:  A new site was selected and the title to the land was transferred.
  • 1896:  Construction of the lighthouse was completed.
  • 1896, 10 December:  The lighthouse was first lit.
  • 1900:  A 240 foot sand fence was installed to protect the lighthouse from erosion.
  • 1912, May:  The kerosene wick lamp was replaced with an incandescent oil vapor lamp.  The light characteristic was changed to a white light with 1 flash per second.
  • By the 1920s:  The ocean lapped at the lighthouse foundation.  Interlocking steel pilings were installed around the seaward side of the light.
  • 1921:  Sea Girt became the first shore light station with a radio fog signal.
  • 1924, November:  The light was electrified and changed to a 300-watt lamp.
  • 1941:  The light was shut down and the Fresnel lens was removed.  At the end of World War II a new light was instated on top of the lantern room. It was similar to an airport beacon.
  • 1955:  The lighthouse discontinued.  The property was offered to the state but it was declined.  The light from the top of the lantern room was moved to a tower on the lighthouse property.
  • 1956:  The lighthouse was sold to the Borough of Sea Girt for $11,000.  The building was used as a meeting place for town activities.
  • 1980:  The Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee was formed to restore the lighthouse.  They leased the property from the town for 25 years at a rate of $1 per year.  The lease was later extended to the year 2056.
  • 1982:  The light from the tower was removed and placed in the lantern room.
  • 2002:  Tours are available of the lighthouse.

Chronology was researched and written by Diane Hackney.
Land Asset Lighthouse