Navesink Twin Lighthouses
Twin Lights, a New Jersey State Historic Site situated 200 feet above sea level atop the Navesink Highlands and located five miles south of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, has stood as a sentinel over the treacherous coastal waters of northern New Jersey since 1828. Named Navesink Lightstation, it became known as the "Twin Lights of Highlands" to those who used its mighty beacons to navigate. As the primary seacoast light for New York Harbor, it was the best and brightest light on the Atlantic Coast for generations of seafarers. The current lighthouse built, in 1862 of local brownstone, cost $74,000 and replaced the earlier buildings that had fallen into disrepair. Architect Joseph Lederle designed the new structure with two non-identical towers linked by keepers' quarters and storage rooms. This unique design made it easy to distinguish Twin Lights from other nearby lighthouses. With the development of automated lights, offshore light towers, radar and other sophisticated navigational equipment in the 20th century, manned lighthouses gradually became obsolete. The State of New Jersey acquired Twin Lights from the Borough of Highlands in 1962 and opened it as a museum. Today visitors can tour the lighthouse, climb the North Tower for a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean, visit the exhibit gallery, and see the 9-foot bivalve lens on display in the generator building.
|
|