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      • Baker Island Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Blue Hill Bay Light, Maine
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      • Browns Head Lighthouse, Vinalhaven, Maine
      • Burnt Coat Harbor Lighthouse, Swans Island, Maine
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      • Cape Elizabeth Light, Maine
      • Cape Neddick (the Nubble) Light, Maine
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      • Eagle Island Light, Maine
      • Egg Rock Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Franklin Island Light, Maine
      • Goat Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Goose Rocks Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Indian Island Light, Maine
      • Kennebec River Range Lights, Maine
      • Libby Island Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Moose Peak Lighthouse, Maine
      • Mount Desert Rock Lighthouse, Maine
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      • Nash Island Light, Maine
      • Owls Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Perkins Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Petit Manan Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pond Island Light, Maine
      • Popham Beach Life Saving Station
      • Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, Maine
      • Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Prospect Harbor Lighthouse, Maine
      • Pumpkin Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Ram Island Ledge Light, Maine
      • Ram Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Robinson Point Lighthouse on Isle Au Haut, Maine
      • Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, Maine
      • Rockland Harbor Southwest Light, Maine
      • Saddleback Ledge Light, Maine
      • Seguin Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Southern Island Light, Maine
      • Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, Maine
      • Squirrel Point Lighthouse, Maine
      • Two Bush Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Maine
      • Whaleback Light, Maine
      • Whitehead Island Lighthouse, Maine
      • Winter Harbor Lighthouse, Maine
      • Wood Island Lighthouse, Maine
    • California Lighthouses
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      • Five Mile Point Light, Connecticut
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      • Lynde Point Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Morgan Point Lighthouse, Connectitcut
      • Mystic Seaport Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • New London Harbor Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • New London Ledge Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Penfield Reef Lighthouse
      • Race Rock Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Sheffield Island Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stamford Harbor Lighthouse
      • Stonington Harbor Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stratford Point Lighthouse, Connecticut
      • Stratford Shoal Lighthouse
      • Tongue Point Lighthouse
    • Delaware Lighthouses
      • Harbor of Refuge Light, Delaware
      • Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse, Delaware
      • Fenwick Island Lighthouse
      • Liston Rear Range Light
      • Overfalls Lightship, Delaware
      • Mispillion Lighthouse, Delaware
      • Reedy Island Rear Range Light
      • Marcus Hook Rear Range Light
    • Florida Lighthouses
      • Amelia Island Lighthouse, Florida
      • American Shoal Lighthouse, Florida
      • Cape Canaveral Light, Florida
      • Cape Florida Lighthouse, Florida
      • Crooked River Lighthouse
      • Faro Blanco Light, Florida
      • Garden Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Gasparilla Island Lights, Florida
      • Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, Florida
      • Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
      • Key West Lighthouse, Florida
      • Loggerhead Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Pensacola Lighthouse
      • Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sand Key Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sanibel Island Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. John's River Lighthouse, Florida
      • St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida
      • Sombrero Key Lighthouse
    • Georgia Lighthouses
      • St. Simons Island Lighthouse, Georgia
      • Tybee Island Lighthouse, Georgia
    • Hawai'i Lighthouses
      • Diamond Head Lighthouse, O'ahu, Hawai'i
      • Kilauea Point Lighthouse, Kaua'i, Hawai'i
      • Lahaina Harbor Lighthouse, Mau'i, Hawai'i
      • Makapu'u Light, Oahu, Hawai'i
      • Moloka'i Lighthouse, Moloka'i, Hawai'i
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      • Point Lookout Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Sandy Point Light, Maryland
      • Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, Maryland
      • Turkey Point Lighthouse, Maryland
    • Massachusetts Lighthouses
      • Annisquam Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Baker's Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Bass River Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Bird Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket
      • Butler Flats Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Boston Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Cape Poge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
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      • Clark's Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Deer Island Light, Massachusetts
      • Derby Wharf Light, Massachusetts
      • Dog Bar Breakwater Lighthouse, Massachusetts
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      • East Chop Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Eastern Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Gay Head Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Graves Light, Massachusetts
      • Great Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, Massachusetts
      • Highland Lighthouse, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
      • Hospital Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Lewis Bay Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Marblehead Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Mayo's Beach Lighthouse
      • Minots Ledge Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Monomoy Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Nantucket Lightship, Massachusetts
      • Nauset Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Ned's Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Newburyport Harbor Range Lights, Massachusetts
      • Nobska Point Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Palmer Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plum Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Plymouth Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Race Point Lighthouse, Cape Cod Massachusetts
      • Sandy Neck Lighthouse
      • Sankaty Head Lighthouse
      • Scituate Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Stage Harbor Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Straitsmouth Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Tarpaulin Cove Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Ten Pound Island Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Thacher Island Twin Lights, Massachusetts
      • Three Sisters of Nauset Lighthouses, Massachusetts
      • West Chop Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Wings Neck Lighthouse, Massachusetts
      • Winter Island Lighthouse
      • Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket MA
    • New Hampshire Lighthouses
      • Isles of Shoals Light, New Hampshire
      • Portsmouth Harbor Light, New Hampshire
    • New Jersey Lighthouses
      • Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Brandywine Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Chapel Hill Rear Range Light, New Jersey
      • Conover Beacon Front Range Light, New Jersey
      • East Point Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Finns Point Lighthouse
      • Fourteen Foot Bank Light, New Jersey
      • Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, North Wildwood, New Jersey
      • Miah Maull Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Sandy Hook Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Sea Girt Lighthouse, New Jersey
      • Ship John Shoal Light, New Jersey
      • Twin Lights of Navesink, New Jersey
      • Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse, New Jersey
    • New York Lighthouses
      • Ambrose Lightship, New York
      • Big Sodus Light, New York
      • Blackswell Island Light, New York
      • Buffalo Main Lighthouse, New York
      • Cape Vincent Breakwater Lighthouse, New York
      • Clayton Memorial Lighthouse, New Yrok
      • Coney Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Crossover Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Dunkirk Light, New York
      • Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, New York
      • Execution Rocks Lighthouse, New York
      • Fire Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Horton Point Light, New York
      • Montauk Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Ogdensburg Harbor Lighthouse, New York
      • Old Field Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Rock Island Lighthouse, New York
      • Rondout Creek Lighthouse, New York
      • Saugerties Lighthouse, New York
      • Selkirk Lighthouse, New York
      • Sister Islands Lighthouse, New York
      • Staten Island Light, New York
      • Stepping Stones Lighthouse
      • Stony Point Lighthouse, New York
      • Sunken Rock Lighthouse, New York
      • Tarrytown Lighthouse, New York
      • Tibbetts Point Lighthouse, New York
    • North Carolina Lighthouses
      • Bodie Island Light, North Carolina
      • Ocracoke Light, North Carolina
      • Cape Hatteras Light, North Carolina
    • Ohio Lighthouses
      • Fairport Harbor Light, Ohio
      • Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light, Ohio
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      • Cape Meares Light, Oregon
      • Cleft of the Rock Light, Oregon
      • Coquille River Lighthouse, Oregon
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      • Umpqua River Light, Oregon
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      • Presque Isle Lighthouse, Pennsylvania
      • Presque Isle North Pierhead Light, Pennsylvania
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      • Beavertail Lighthouse, Rhode Island
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      • Admiralty Head Lighthouse, Washington
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      • Gannet Rock Lighthouse, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
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      • Cape Forchu Light, Nova Scotia
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    • Lighthouse Trips
      • 2012-06-22 Penobscot Bay Cruise, Maine
      • 2011-09-10 Boothbay Lighthouse Cruise with NELL
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Sandy Hook Lighthouse, New Jersey

Sandy Hook is the grand-daddy of all U.S. lighthouses - it is the oldest lighthouse tower and was built under British rule in 1764. A lighthouse at the entrance to New York harbor was suggested as early as 1679, but several shipwrecks which occurred in 1761 led to action by NY merchants. 43 merchants signed a petition to the Crown to have a light built and suggested a lottery as the means to raise the necessary funds.
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In 1856 a Third Order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern which remains in service to this day.
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In 1856 a Third Order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern which remains in service to this day.

SAndyHook3rdOrderlens1006934

  • In 1761 the Colony of New York sold lottery tickets and raised £750. This was used to secure 4 acres of land on a sandy spit (the Hook) which extended from New Jersey out into the Atlantic.
  • A second lottery was held in 1763 to raise monies for the construction of the light. Originally the light was referred to as the 'New York Light' since New York raised the funds for its construction and the Port of New York would collect dues from ships passing the light.
  • With the monies from the second lottery, work proceeded on the construction of the light by Isaac Conro, a mason from New York. He built a tower of rubblestone that was 103 feet high, 29 feet in diameter at the base and 15 feet at the top of the tower.
  • An 1852 Congressional Report noted Sandy Hook as one of the 3 best built lighthouses in the U.S.
  • The light was originally built only 500 feet from the end of the Hook. However, due to littoral drift the lighthouse is now 1½ miles from the tip.
  • The source of the light was 48 oil blazes in the lantern. The light was first lit on June 11, 1764.
  • During the American Revolution when the attack of New York by the British was eminent, rebels were instructed to remove the works from the light to render it useless. However, the light was recaptured and repaired by the British and put back in use.
  • The Americans attempted to put the light out of commission by firing on it with a pair of six pounder cannons, but the light was so well built it had no effect and it remained in British hands throughout the war.
  • After the war, there was contention between New York and New Jersey over the ownership of the lighthouse. The dispute ended when the Federal government assumed ownership of all existing lighthouses in the United States.
  • Two wooden beacons acting as a range with the main light were built and tended by the Keeper of the Sandy Hook Light. In an 1852 Light House Board report to Congress it was noted that Sandy Hook had one Keeper for three lights while the nearby Navesink Twin Lights were maintained by five Keepers.
  • In 1856 a Third Order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern which remains in service to this day.
  • The view from the lantern towards New York City overlooking Raritan Bay.
  • The most important part of the lighthouse, the 'On-Off' switch
  • In 1857 a major tower renovation took place and the interior was lined with brick.
  • A new Keepers dwelling was built in 1883. There is a tale that when the old dwelling was razed, a room was found under the floor which had a skeleton seated in front of a fireplace.
  • In 1890 Fort Hancock was erected on the Hook complete with gun emplacements. Gone were the days of quiet and solitude for the Keepers.
  • In 1964 as part of its 200th birthday celebration, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark.
  • In 1996, the ownership of the lighthouse was transferred from the Coast Guard to the National Park Service.
  • Although currently closed due to COVID-19, the lighthouse and keepers' dwelling are normally open weekends from April through October and tours are run by the National Park Service.  See www.nps.gov/gate/planyourvisit/sandy-hook.htm for more information.
  • An old postcard view of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse
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