Finns Point Rear Range Light

The Finns Point Range lights served as a point of entry and exit for maritime traffic between the Delaware Bay and River. Erected in 1876 for the U.S. Lighthouse Service at a cost of $1200, the Finns Point Rear Range Light was built of wrought iron rather than the cast iron typically used in similar towers, because wrought iron was considered ideal for a tall structure exposed to high winds and the elements due to its resistance to corrosion and stress fractures. Before the lamp was automated in 1939, the lighthouse keeper climbed 130 steps to the top twice each day, once at night to light the lamp and again in the morning to extinguish the flame. In 1950, after the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the channel to 800 feet wide and 40 feet deep, the range lights became obsolete. In the years after decommissioning, the light went through a period of neglect, the lighthouse keeper's home burned to the ground, and the toolshed is believed to be all that remains. Through the efforts of the local Save the Lighthouse Committee and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Finns Point Rear Range Light was restored in 1983, and today it is part of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

New Jersey · United States