Absecon Lighthouse first cast its light across the Atlantic Ocean in 1857, when the station consisted of the original keeper’s dwelling, a thirty-foot connecting passageway, and the tower. In 1903 the keeper’s dwelling was expanded by a two-story front addition, removal of the attic, and a changed roofline. By 1933 Atlantic City’s bright lights and rising skyline had reduced the beam’s effectiveness, and the light was decommissioned. The keeper’s dwelling was demolished in the 1940’s, leaving the tower and little else on the site. The State of New Jersey has owned the site since 1966. The keeper’s dwelling was later reconstructed on its original foundations, with an exterior replicating the enlarged post-1903 dwelling, though the interior and some exterior features were adapted for current visitors and staff, and it reopened to the public in October 2002. Principal lighthouse keepers were Daniel Scull in 1856, William Bartlett in 1861, John S. Nixon in 1865, Abraham G. Wolf in 1873, Thomas Bills in 1896, and Knud Hansen in 1914. A keeper’s life demanded strict routine and responsibility, including neatness, sobriety, continuous attention to the light while on duty, never leaving the lighthouse wholly unattended, visiting the light at least twice each night between 8pm and sunrise, giving constant attention on stormy nights, and finding a competent family member or other responsible person to remain at the station if a lone keeper had to leave. The keeper was responsible for the care and management of the light and the station in general, and for enforcing careful attention to duty by assistants, whose disobedience could be grounds for discharge.