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Primary seacoast lights warned mariners of their proximity to land, the presence of navigational dangers, and helped them set their course. By 1852, however, lighthouses and lightships often looked so much alike that it was difficult to distinguish one from another. Today, each lighthouse has a characteristic, a coded sequence of light flashes that makes it possible for a mariner to identify the light and its location along the coast. Barnegat Light, for example, had a flash every ten seconds at each point of the compass. Each lighthouse tower also has a daymark, a distinctive design and paint pattern, such as the yellow-black-yellow pattern on Absecon Lighthouse that helped mariners distinguish it from others. Some lighthouses, especially those on dangerous shoals in harbors and bays, are also equipped with fog signals to warn mariners of potential danger. New Jersey’s lighthouses included Sandy Hook Lighthouse, Robbins Reef Lighthouse, Romer Shoal Lighthouse, Twin Lights of Navesink, Conover Beacon, Great Beds Lighthouse, Chapel Hill Lighthouse, Sea Girt Lighthouse, Barnegat Lighthouse, Absecon Lighthouse, Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, Cape May Point Lighthouse, East Point Lighthouse, Finns Point Rear Range Lighthouse, Brandywine Shoal Lighthouse, Elbow of Cross Ledge Lighthouse, Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse, Ship John Shoal Lighthouse, and Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse.

Perth Amboy, New Jersey · United States