Barnegat Lighthouse was built in 1857 - 1858 by the Federal Lighthouse Board and was first lighted on January 1, 1859. The present lighthouse replaced an earlier lighthouse built in 1835. The plane of the light is 172 feet above sea level. Barnegat Lighthouse was built as a first-order light and was originally equipped with a Fresnel lens. The original light was extinguished in 1927, and ownership of the lighthouse was transferred to the State of New Jersey in 1927. A modern Fresnel lens was purchased by the Friends of Barnegat Lighthouse State Park and lit on January 1, 2009, exactly 150 years after the first light was lit. The new lens maintains the original flash pattern and is visible up to 22 nautical miles. Barnegat Lighthouse was placed on the New Jersey State Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1970, and on the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 1971.
