Sandy Hook Lighthouse - Highlands NJ
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 40° 27.702 W 074° 00.126
18T E 584604 N 4479481
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. The lighthouse now stands about one and one half miles from the northern end.
Waymark Code: WM179Z3
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2023
Views: 4
The Sandy Point Lighthouse is located on the grounds of the Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area.
From the National Park website:
"A LIGHTHOUSE IS BUILT
A committee of prominent New York citizens was authorized to establish the lottery and purchase “a small quantity of land” at the tip of Sandy Hook to build a lighthouse. Negotiations with Robert and Esek Hartshorne, the owners of Sandy Hook, resulted in the purchase, on May 16, 1762, of four acres of “barren, sandy soil… for the moderate price of 750 pounds.” The June 18, 1764 edition of the New York Mercury reported that: “On Monday Evening last June 11, 1764), the NEW-YORK LIGHT HOUSE erected at Sandy Hook was lighted for the first Time. The House is of an Octagonal Figure, having eight equal Sides; the diameter at the Base, 29 Feet; and at the Top of the Wall, 15 Feet. The Lanthorn (lantern house) is 7 Feet high; the Circumference 33 feet. The whole Construction of the Lanthorn is Iron; the Top covered with Copper. There are 48 Oil Blazes. The Building from the Surface is Nine Stories; the whole from Bottom to top, 103 feet.” To pay for the operation and maintenance of the new lighthouse, the Colony of New York authorized a tonnage tax of three pence per ton on ships sailing into the harbor. This enabled the Port of New York to maintain the tower, pay a keeper’s salary, and make a small profit from any surplus tax money.
A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK
The lighthouse has witness 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 its first lighting. This faithful sentinel by the sea still continues its 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 United States Coast Guard and is kept on 24 hours a day. The New Jersey Lighthouse Society is a partner with the National Park Service in the preservation and interpretation of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. For information about the Society, write: New Jersey Lighthouse Society, Inc., PO Box 332, Navesink, NJ 07752-0332"
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