The Sea Girt Light is a lighthouse marking the inlet leading to the
Wreck Pond
Wreck Pond is a coastal freshwater tidal pond located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It is surrounded by Wall Township and the boroughs of Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, and Sea Girt. The p ...
in
Sea Girt
Sea Girt is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,828,Monmouth County,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It hosted the first radio beacon mounted in a shore installation in the United States.
History
The New Jersey shore between the Barnegat and Navesink lighthouses, a distance of nearly 40 miles, was unlit in the 1800s, and in 1888 the Lighthouse Board requested funds to establish a light in this area. The original site was to be at
Manasquan Inlet
The Manasquan Inlet is an inlet that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Manasquan River, dividing the counties of Ocean County and Monmouth County in the state of New Jersey. Passage to Bay Head Harbor and the Barnegat Bay is possible via t ...
, just to the south of Sea Girt; however, the site was found to be unsuitable and the present lot was obtained on the beach at Sea Girt, near Wreck Pond. An L-shaped brick house with an integral tower was constructed, and the light was first exhibited in December 1896. This was the last shore lighthouse with an integral keeper's residence built on the east coast of the United States. Moving sand and erosion were problems from early on, but fencing in 1900 and steel pilings in the 1920s arrested the threat.
In 1921 Sea Girt Light was equipped with a radio beacon, the first such installation on a shore-based light. It was installed in conjunction with transmitters on the Ambrose and Fire Island
lightships Lightship may refer to:
* Lightvessel, a moored ship that has light beacons mounted as navigational aids
* ''The Lightship'', a 1985 American drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski
*''The Lightship (novel)'', by Siegfried Lenz on which the film w ...
; with a radio direction finder, a ship could fix its position accurately through triangulation from the three sites.
At the outset of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the light was deactivated and the lens removed; the house was remodeled to serve as a dormitory for a Coast Guard observation post. After the war, an aerobeacon was mounted atop the tower; but in 1955 the light was decommissioned and a beacon on a steel tower was erected on the lawn. The lighthouse was offered to the state, but when they declined, the borough of Sea Girt purchased the lighthouse instead. It was used for the town library and for meeting space for many years, and in 1981 care of the building was taken over by the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee, an independent non-profit dedicated to restoring and maintaining the lighthouse. This restoration was accomplished, and the building is now available both for tours and for a variety of meetings; the beacon was removed from the external tower and placed in the old lantern, now operated as a private
aid to navigation
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
Ai ...
. In 2002 the committee purchased the fourth order
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."
The design allows the c ...
originally used in the
Crowdy Head Light
Crowdy Head Light is an active lighthouse located at Crowdy Head, a headland between Forster and Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. It is registered with the Register of the National Estate.
History
The first station in the ar ...
in
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia for $20,000, a sum equal to that originally appropriated for construction of the light station.