Twin Lights at Navesink

Highlands, New Jersey

On a foggy May afternoon we reached the New Jersey Highlands and after some searching (remember, it was foggy, and we couldn't see more than a quarter mile at most) we found the sign directing us up the hill to the Twin Lights of Navesink.

The two towers were not always connected, as they are now. In fact, looking closely at the details of the north and south towers [below], it is easy to discern unique architectural features: the north tower is hexagonal, and the south tower is square!

This is the sight of the first primary seacoast electrified lighthouse in the United States (25,000,000 candlepower) as well as where the first Fresnel lens was used in US. This structure was built in 1862, on the site of the original structures of 1828.

The towers rise 250 feet above the bay; this area was particularly troublesome for navigation, and if the fog we saw here was any indication, we'd have to agree. As a matter of fact, the panorama above is a composite of several photos from close range. From any distance at all, visibility was too poor for photography. (In the photos here, the fog can be seen partially obscuring the most distant of the two towers.)

In 1883, the first kerosene lighthouse lamps were used here. The wireless telegraph was demonstrated here by Marconi in 1899.

The structure was decommissioned in 1949.

There is a museum located here open daily in the summer. Lighthouse Road leads to the site from Route 36.

The site is on the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail.

© copyright 2004 Kenneth M. Moffett. All rights reserved.