Visiting
The original Barnegat Lighthouse was a forty-foot brick tower constructed in 1834. Due to storm erosion the lighthouse toppled into the sea in 1856. A temporary wooden structure was built and was replaced by the present lighthouse in 1858. The lighthouse, “Old Barney”, was lit on January1, 1859 and performed its duties for 69 years until its retirement in 1927.
Although decommissioned in 1927, the Coast Guard used the lighthouse as a lookout tower during the second World War. With the conclusion of the war, the lighthouse and its property were turned over to the state and opened as a park in 1958.
The red and white marvel is 165 feet tall and includes 217 steps. Its twin walls of brick go from twenty-seven feet in diameter at the base to less than fifteen feet at the top. The cast iron spiral stairway fits the inner wall like a jacket and the two re-enforce and support each other.
The lighthouse contains informational exhibits that can be read along the climb to the top. At the top, visitors are welcome to step outside the lighthouse for a walk onto the gallery around the watch room. The Lighthouse offers spectacular views of Barnegat Inlet, the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding communities. With the additional evening hours, visitors will be able to view the sunset over the Barnegat Bay, or the moonrise over the Atlantic Ocean.
Barnegat Lighthouse in 1920. The keeper's house was lost to erosion.
