Lighting the Way

Lighting the Way. Gateway National Recreational Area, Sandy Hook. , When the Sandy Hook Lighthouse was built in 1764, ships entered New York Harbor through a natural channel that ran close to the Sandy Hook shore. Sandbars were a constant danger and the merchants of New York built the Lighthouse to protect their shipping interests. Today, the Light remains a part of the system of navigational aids that guide ships through the harbor., Lighting the Tower , In early years, the tower was lighted by whale oil lamps and by mirrors that reflected the lamps' light. Kerosene later replaced the whale oil and in the 1920s the tower was electrified. The mirrors were replaced in 1857 with the Fresnel lens still in use today., [Captions:] , The glass prisms of the beehive-shaped Fresnel lens magnify the light into a powerful beam that can be seen for 19 miles on a clear night., The Sandy Hook Lighthouse was among the first lights built in America and today is the nation's oldest lighthouse tower. This 1790 view shows the original lens house, before the Fresnel lens was installed., The passenger ship Rusland wrecked off Long Branch in 1877 Shifting sand shoals off the New Jersey coast were a constant hazard., The longshore current along this part of the New Jersey shore drives sand to the north. The Lighthouse was originally 500 feet (152 m) from the tip of Sandy Hook. Today it is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the tip and the Lighthouse is landlocked., Sandy Hook and the Highlands are visible in the distance in this 1872 view of the New York harbor.