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Brandywine Shoal Light, New Jersey

Brandywine Shoal Light in Delaware Bay is one of the most historic lighthouses ever built in the United States. It is the site of one of the breakthroughs in lighthouse technology and one of the first U.S. lights to use a Fresnel lens. As one of the maritime obstructions along the shipping route to the port of Philadelphia, marking the shoal became an important goal for lighthouse authorities. As early as 1823 one of the first lightships was stationed at the shoal.
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The light was first lit on October 31, 1850.  Over time it became apparent that light could not stand up against the ice floes in Delaware Bay, so a network of 68 interconnected pilings was erected to act as an icebreaker.  A wooden platform was built atop the icebreaker and provided additional space for outbuildings.
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The light was first lit on October 31, 1850. Over time it became apparent that light could not stand up against the ice floes in Delaware Bay, so a network of 68 interconnected pilings was erected to act as an icebreaker. A wooden platform was built atop the icebreaker and provided additional space for outbuildings.

BrandywineShoalLight010

  • In 1827 an attempt was made to erect a wooden pile lighthouse on Brandywine Shoal.  The structure was seriously damaged before it was completed which required repairs; however the aid only lasted for 12 months before succumbing to the sea.  The lightship continued on station at the shoal until the second attempt to erect a lighthouse.
  • In 1835 the area was once again surveyed and an estimate to build a stone pier on the site with a lighthouse came to $124,000, so the project was postponed.  In 1838 a new type of lighthouse was built in England at Maplin Sands, an offshore site.  The design used a foundation of iron piles each with a screw flange on the end.  The piles would be screwed into the soft ground underwater deep enough to bear the weight of a superstructure built on top.  Engineers in the U.S. became intrigued by the design and thought about ways to utilize it in the U.S., Brandywine Shoal was an obvious choice.
  • Congress appropriated $30,000 towards the project in 1847 and construction began in May 1848 under the supervision of Major Hartman Bache and his assistant Lt. George Meade.  Meade would later draw upon his experience at Brandywine Shoal in building pile lighthouses along the Florida reef.  A conical iron tower with a wooden interior was completed atop 9 iron piles in 1850.
  • The light was first lit on October 31, 1850.  Over time it became apparent that light could not stand up against the ice floes in Delaware Bay, so a network of 68 interconnected pilings was erected to act as an icebreaker.  A wooden platform was built atop the icebreaker and provided additional space for outbuildings.
  • In 1851 the Brandywine Shoal Light lantern was fitted with a 3rd Order Fresnel lens making it the third lighthouse in the U.S. to receive such a lens after Navesink Light and Sankaty Light.  The newly formed Lighthouse Board installed the lens to conduct an experiment on the visibility of the Fresnel lens.  The new light outshone the coastal 1st Order lights at Cape Henlopen and Cape May proving the superiority of the Fresnel lens.  Shortly thereafter the Lighthouse Board embarked on a plan to install Fresnel lenses in all U.S. lighthouses.
  • The pile light survived into the 20th century, however due to its cramped accommodations and erosion of the piles plans were drawn up to replace the venerable light with a new caisson structure.  A caisson was sunk next to the old structure and a new 45 foot concrete reinforced superstructure was built upon it.  On October 20, 1914 the lens was moved from the pile tower to the lantern of the new tower.  A wall of rip rap was built around the light in the 40’s & 50’s to create an artificial harbor around the light.
  • In 1974 the light was the last to be automated in Delaware Bay and the personnel were removed. In 1997 the light was converted to solar power and a modern optic was installed in the lantern. The Fresnel lens was removed and has since been placed on permanent loan to the Baymen’s Museum in Tuckerton Seaport, New Jersey for public display. Brandywine Shoal Lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. In June 2011 the Coast Guard announced that the lighthouse would be made available though the General Services Administration to an organization willing to preserve the structure.
  • A postcard view of the original pile lighthouse built on Brandywine Shoal.    The platform built atop the icebreakers provided additional space and outbuildings were built.
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