Absecon

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Absecon Light

(Atlantic City, New Jersey)

The Absecon Light was built in 1857 in Atlantic City, New Jersey which at that time was a small coastal village. The lighthouse was determined to be necessary to protect the ships from the dangerous Absecon Shoals. The Absecon Inlet was once called “Graveyard Inlet” because of the tremendous number of shipwrecks that occurred in the area. In the first ten months of operation, the lighthouse proved its worth -- not a single ship was wrecked.

In 1854, based on promptings by Jonathan Pitney, the U.S. Lighthouse Service requested and received an appropriation from Congress in the amount of $35,000 for a lighthouse on Absecon Island. The land was obtained and construction began in 1855 under the direction of Major Hartman Bache. Bache was later replaced by Lieutenant George Meade. In 1856 an additional $17,000 was appropriated and the work was completed at the end of 1856 under the direction of Lt. Col. William Reynolds. The final cost was $52,187.

The lighthouse consists of a 171-foot tall tower (similar in design to the Cape May and Barnegat lights) and was initially equipped with a first-order Fresnel lens that was made in Paris especially for the Absecon Light. It is the tallest tower on the New Jersey shore. The tower has a base diameter of 26-feet 4-inches and a 12-foot diameter at the top. Over half-a-million bricks were used during the initial construction. The internal iron staircase has 228 steps to the platform at the base of the lens, with 12 more to the lantern room for a total of 240 steps. The first keeper was Daniel Scull, appointed November 25, 1856 with an annual salary of $600.00.

The light tower has had many different color schemes over the years. In 1868 the lighthouses was brick color. In 1871 the tower was painted white with a 52 foot red band in the middle. In 1898 the tower was painted orange-black-orange. In 1907 it was painted with the lower third yellow, the middle black and the upper third and lantern room yellow. In 1948 it was painted white, blue, white. In the early 1970s the tower was returned to a white, red, white color scheme. Finally, in 1998 the tower was painted yellow with a black band, the same daymark used in 1933 prior to its deactivation.

The mineral oil (kerosene) light was first lit on January 15, 1857 and could be seen up to 19.5 nautical miles away. In 1910 the lamp was changed to an incandescent oil vapor light and became electrified on July 1, 1925.

During the 1870s beach erosion began to threaten the lighthouse. The building of four wood and stone jetties were sufficient to build the beach back up and the shoreline was restored.

The area was becoming more popular and the city was growing. By the 1930s large buildings had been built that obscured the light of the lighthouse. On July 11, 1933 the Absecon light was decommissioned and the light was extinguished.

During the late 1980s and 1990s the Inlet Public/Private Association (IPPA) (established 1988) has been raising funds and receiving grants for the restoration of the lighthouse tower and the rebuilding of the Keeper’s House. In 1999 the IPPA opened the historic tower to visitors. A few years later the Keeper's house was rebuilt as shown below.

The pictures below show the view from the top of the lighthouse looking to the north and to the south.

Directions:

The Lighthouse is located in the heart of Atlantic City, New Jersey just north of the many casinos located along the boardwalk. It is at the corner of Pacific and Rhode Island Avenues.

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All pictures are the original work of Rick Totton and are protected under copyright laws.

Do not reproduce any images from this website without permission of the author.