Samsworld of Intrigue

Continued from Pervious page

    As commercial ship traffic in and out of the harbor increased tremendously after 1800, so did the need to better mark the sea approaches leading  to the Port of New York. To better aid navigation, the government deiced to take full advantage of the Navesink Highlands by building two identical octagonal stone towers there in 1827-28. High above the sea, these "twin" lights were visible before the sandy Hook Lighthouse, located at sea level. Two Lighthouses were built, so approaching ships would not confuse them with the Sandy Hook Lighthouse located over five miles to the north. The Twin Lights were further identified by fixed (non-blinking) and rotating (blinking) whit lights, while the Sandy Hook light was a fixed white light. In 1861-62, the twin lights were replaced with new brownstone towers connected to a brownstone keepers dwelling. Today, the lights are preserved as Twin Lights State Historic Site, Highlands, NJ,07732

    Originally, the keeper was responsible for only the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. After 1817, when two additional beacons were erected on Sandy Hook, the keeper had quite a chore tending three lights with a total of 32 lamps and reflectors. finally, in1857 three assistants were assigned to work for the  Sandy Hook keeper. The historic image of the old-time American lighthouse keeper is of a very dedicated and heroic individual who maintained a light at lonely and isolated locations, all night long, through all kinds of weather, year after year. The Lighthouse Board created a service of dedicated and professional keepers that often included their wives who could also have a government career serving as a paid assistant keeper.

    For many years, early American Lighthouses burned whale oil as an illuminant in metal lamps and later, lamps with mirror-like reflectors.

In 1822, Augustin Fresnel of France introduced a glass lens that revolutionized the lighting of Lighthouses. The Fresnel Lens resembled a giant old-fashioned beehive, inside of which was a single lamp. The Lens' thick glass prisms bent the lamp's light to the center of the lens, which greatly magnified the light into a powerful beam that could be seen for many miles at night. Fresnel made his lenses in six different sizes, or "orders." the 1st, 2nd and 3rd order lenses were usually installed in seacoast lighthouses to warn ships that they were approaching land. The 4th, 5th and 6th order lenses were used in harbor and sound lighthouses. A Fresnel lens was shipped to America in 1840, destined for the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, but it was slightly too large to fit inside the lens house. It and a second lens were transferred over to the Twin Lights thus making them the first American lighthouses to use the Fresnel Lenses. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse was refitted with a 3rd order Fresnel lens in 1857.

    In 1863, the Lighthouse Board reported that the lighthouse tower was "thoroughly renovated." The work included the addition of a red brick interior lining to increase the thickness and add reinforcement to the original stone tower wall, and a new iron spiral staircase to replace an older wooden one. The present iron lens house (lanthorn) was added to the tower in 1857.

    In the late 1879's the Lighthouse Board introduced kerosene as an illuminant. In 1890 the board began experimenting with electricity, and by the 1930's most of America Lighthouses used this light source. In 1930, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished, and it's duties were transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard. The wide-spread use of electricity eventually lead to the automation of Lighthouses and the elimination of lighthouse keepers.

The Lighthouse has witnessed many changes over the years, but the greatest change has been to the Sandy Hook peninsula itself. In 1764, the lighthouse stood just 500 feet from the tip of Sandy Hook. Ocean currents continued to move sand up the coast, extending the tip further out into the harbor, so that by 1864, the lighthouse stood about 4,000 feet from the tip. The Lighthouse now stands about one and one-half miles from the northern end of Sandy Hook.

    On June 11, 1964, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse was declared a National Historic Landmark on the 200th anniversary of it's first lighting. This faithful sentinel by the sea still continues it's 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 Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station and is kept on 24 hours a day.

    Today the Sandy Hook Lighthouse is administered by the National Park Service as part of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. 

    The New Jersey Lighthouse Society is a partner with the National Park Service in the preservation and interpretation of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. For more information about the Society, Write:

         New Jersey Lighthouse Society, Inc

             PO Box 4228, Brick NJ 08723

Or visit them at there web site link below

The New Jersey Lighthouse Society

This article is used with the Permission of

Park Ranger and Historian Thomas J. Hoffman