Nautical Attractions of New Jersey: Tuckerton Seaport & Sandy Hook Lighthouse

There's something about the sea--it can entice us yet frighten us. We can quietly watch the waves or splash in it for hours. New Jersey may be known as the Garden State but it's also home to over 120 miles of seashore.

Sea Sentinel

We visited Sandy Hook lighthouse on a gray-white, misty morning. What better time to visit a working lighthouse? Whether darkness or inclement weather, mariners count on her beacon and signature paint job to show them the way. People are fascinated by lighthouses, me included.

Sandy Hook is a barrier beach peninsula at the northern tip of the New Jersey Shore. A quick check of the map shows its strategic position at the entrance of New York Harbor. This location secured Sandy Hook's role in coastal and harbor defense. For more than 200 years most of the peninsula has been a federal reserve.

Sandy Hook lighthouse, constructed in 1764, is part of a bigger complex called the Fort Hancock Historical District. Both are part of the National Gateway Recreation Area.

Although I had sore calf muscles the next day, I climbed the entire circular stairway and the narrow metal ladder to reach the light. It was worth the effort.

Up top, our guide pointed out the sights and discussed the history of Sandy Hook light. The bulb in use today is smaller than you might imagine, but the Fresnel lens does most of the work.

This type of lens is more efficient at collecting and directing the light rays and can produce a beam five times more powerful than the system used previously. I've run into Mr. Fresnel's famous invention many times in Michigan, Florida and Maine.

The shoreline of this region is an ever-changing thing; proving time and sand stand still for no man. Ocean currents have continued to move sand up the coast, extending the tip further into the harbor. Thus by 1864, the lighthouse stood about 4000 feet from the tip. The lighthouse now stands one and half miles from the northern end of Sandy Hook.

You'll find other sites to see within the Historic District, in addition to the lighthouse. A small museum and a restored officer's house are two options. The proximity to the water and ocean breeze makes it a great place to walk.