Lighthouse Trivia

Since I missed posting for several weeks, I feel I owe everyone a few extra posts. Today, I will test your knowledge of lighthouses with a little trivia. Most lighthouse enthusiasts will find this quiz to be fairly easy, but let's give it a try. Answers follow at the end of this post, so don't peek.

1. Who personally selected the site for the lighthouse at Montauk Point on Long Island?
2. Which state has more lighthouses than any other in the United States?
3. What object served as the first fog signal installed on a United States lighthouse at Little Brewsters Island?
4. What was the first Pacific coast lighthouse in the United States?
5. What is the oldest active lighthouse in America?
6. What is the newest lighthouse in the United States?
7. In 1929, the lighthouse in Vermilion, Ohio was dismantled and unbeknownst to the town's residents, rebuilt where?
8. What was the name given to lighthouse keepers in the days before electricity?
9. Who created the Argand Lamp system, a predecessor to the Fresnel Lens?
10. What was the first U.S. Lighthouse to use electricity?


1. George Washington while he was serving as Commander of the Continental Army thought the location of Montauk Point would make a good site for a lighthouse. As President, he signed the legislation establishing the Montauk Point Lighthouse.
2. Michigan
3. A cannon was installed as a fog signal in 1719.
4. Alcatraz Light in 1854
5. Sandy Hook, NJ was lit for the first time in 1764.
6. Sullivan's Island Lighthouse in Charleston, SC was completed in 1962.
7. The entrance to the St. Lawrence River seaway in New York. The lighthouse is now known as the East Charity Shoals Light.
8. Wickies
9. Aime Argand, a Swiss physicist
10. The Statue of Liberty

New Jersey Light to Celebrate 150th year

Well, I have to apologize for not keeping up on this blog. With finals, graduation and the holidays, I just couldn't find the time to write about the current happenings with lighthouses. But all of that is behind me now, so I hope to rededicate myself to this blog once a week as promised in my welcome messsage.

I am happy to report that my blog has picked up its first follower - christyzee. Thank you Christy. I hope that you enjoy following this blog as much as I enjoy writing it.

For this week's story, I would like to highlight the upcoming 150th anniversary of the lighting of the Barnegat Lighthouse in New Jeresy. Barnegat was first lit on January 1, 1859. It was designed by Lt. George G. Meade (the same General George Meade of the Union Army won fought victoriously at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 during the Civil War) three years prior to its lighting. The sixteen story, 162 foot lighthouse has 217 steps and is commonly known to local residents as "Ol' Barney". 675,000 bricks were used in the construction of the lighthouse. Ol' Barney's light flashed once every 10 seconds.

In 1927, Barnegat was decommissioned as a lighthouse and the Barnegat Lightship installed to replace it. The lighthouse was turned over to the state and now resides in Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.

What will make the 150th anniversary of the Barnegat Lighthouse's inaugural lighting is that local residents have recently completed the installation of a new light and new windows. On January 1, 2009, Ol' Barney will be relit. Refurbishing the lighthouse with new windows and a new light came at a cost of more than $35,000. Money for the project has been raised by local non-profit organizations.

More information on the community's resotration efforts can be found in the December 19, 2008 edition of the New York Times. The story, Refurbished Barnegat Lighthouse to Shine Out Once Again was written by Coleen Dee Berry.