The Lighthouses Of Monmouth County

One's less a lighthouse and more a beacon. Another's built into a brick house.

The Conover beacon in Middletown NJ is on a township beach and was recently restored and rededicated by the township. When it was originally lit in 1856 it was made of wood. It was reconstructed with steel in 1941 and guided sailors until it was deactivated in 1988.

The beacon is practically in the backyard of the closest home. The stones and wood pilings you see on the left form the property line. It technically overlooks the Chapel Hill Channel which flows into the Raritan Bay and then into the waters off lower Manhattan.

The Navesink Twin Lights are located at a New Jersey state historic site in Highlands, so named because much of the town, including the lighthouse, is built on one of the highest points along the east coast. They overlook Sandy Hook Bay, which is the entrance to New York Harbor. The lights are 246 feet above sea level, and if you visit you can climb up one of the towers for, on a clear day, a great view of the Manhattan skyline.

The Twin Lights were constructed in 1862 and were powered by lard, kerosene and, finally, electricity. They are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

If you drive four miles into Sandy Hook National Park, past the beaches (including one that’s clothing optional), past the heavily wooded area where one can find all kinds of wildlife (both feathered and on four legs), past the fishing areas, past the organizational camping area and even past an historic battery that once guarded the United States from British invasion from the sea, you get to the beloved Sandy Hook lighthouse. Designed in 1764, it is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States. It is also listed as a National Historic Landmark.

The Sandy Hook lighthouse stands 103 feet tall. Its foundation is stone and it was otherwise constructed with rubble, which is broken stone of irregular size and shape. The lighthouse was automated in 1965.

I particularly like the Sea Girt lighthouse because it’s not a freestanding tower but built into a building. It went to work in 1896 to eliminate a dark spot with no light guiding mariners along the coast. Its welcoming beacon could be seen 15 miles at sea. Like the Twin Lights and the Sandy Hook lighthouse, the Sea Girt lighthouse is open to the public.

I mentioned that the Sea Girt lighthouse is built into a house. Well, it is the last live-in lighthouse to be built on the Atlantic Coast. While last in that category, it was a first in another, becoming, in 1921, the first land-based light station equipped with a radio beacon navigation system.

All photos copyright Gary Baumgarten

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