The Waackaack Rear Range Light was built in 1856 off the shore of
Keansburg, in
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. It stood about tall. Although it stood near the water's edge, it was the rear range light in conjunction with the Point Comfort Light on the beach. The light's main purpose was to guide vessels coming into the Raritan Bay. It was initially made of wood, but was replaced in the 1860s by an iron tower.
History
In 1883 a high-powered electric lamp was installed that was magnified by a glass lens. Preparations were made to replace the light-tower beginning in 1891. The tower built for use at the Waackaack Rear Range Light Station was part of the United States Lighthouse Board's exhibit at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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held in Chicago in 1893. This lighthouse was built of iron rings, and as the site for the lighthouse was not ready for its erection at the time the light tower was completed, it became possible for the lighthouse to become an exhibit at the Exposition.
When the
Borough of Keansburg officially incorporated as a Borough in 1917, it adopted the outline of the Waackaack Range Light as its seal. By the end of the 1950s the lighthouse was dismantled and sold for scrap.
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Lighthouses completed in 1856
Lighthouses completed in 1894
Lighthouses in New Jersey
1856 establishments in New Jersey
Transportation buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey