Cape May Light
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The Cape May Lighthouse is a
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...
located in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
at the tip of
Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...
, in Lower Township's
Cape May Point State Park Cape May Point State Park is a state park located in Lower Township, New Jersey, with a Cape May Point postal address. The park offers walking, hiking and nature trails as well as beaches, an exhibit gallery, a ranger office and is the site of ...
. It was built in 1859 under the supervision of U.S. Army
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...
William F. Raynolds, was automated in 1946, and continues operation to this day. Cape May Lighthouse is the third fully documented lighthouse to be built at Cape May Point. The first was built in 1823 and the second in 1847. The exact locations of the first two lighthouses are now underwater due to erosion. There are 199 steps to the top of the Lighthouse. The view from the top extends to Cape May City and Wildwood to the north, Cape May Point to the south, and, on a clear day,
Cape Henlopen Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are t ...
, Delaware, to the west. Within immediate view are Cape May Cove and
Battery 223 Battery 223 is in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, south ...
, a harbor defense battery originally built during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Cape May Lighthouse was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on November 12, 1973. With The Cape May Light is located in Lower Township, but is also a point of identity for
Cape May Point Cape May Point is a borough located at the tip of the Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey and is the southernmost point in the state. It is part of the Ocean City Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 United States census ...
as it uses the lighthouse as a logo for municipal-owned vehicles. Mayors of the two municipalities previously had a conflict over in which municipality it was located.


Operation

The lighthouse is owned by the state of New Jersey after ownership was transferred from the Coast Guard in 1992, which maintains it as an active aid to maritime navigation. The State of New Jersey leases the structure and grounds to the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). MAC raises funds for the restoration and upkeep of the structure and opens the lighthouse to the public for climbs to the top. MAC has installed interpretive exhibits about the lighthouse's history, the lives of the former lighthouse keepers, and other maritime history of the Jersey Cape for visitors who climb. In 2013, MAC celebrated the 25th anniversary of the opening of the lighthouse to the public for climbs. From its opening in May 1988, over 2.1 million people have paid to climb to the top. Every October, the Cape May Lighthouse is a participant in the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge, a statewide event.


Design

The tower is tall, from the ground to the tower's cast iron spiral staircase. There are 217 steps from the ground to the top, with 199 steps in the tower's cast iron spiral staircase. The lighthouse has two separate walls. The outside wall is cone-shaped, and is thick at the bottom, and thick at the top. The inside wall is a cylinder with walls which support the spiral staircase. The walls were designed to withstand winds several times above hurricane force. The original revolving lens was manufactured by Henry Lepaute in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and has a inside diameter. This first-order Fresnel lens was moved to the Cape May County Courthouse.


Gallery

File:Cape May Lighthouse September 2020 002.jpg, View from the beach at sunset File:Cape May Lighthouse (Early Evening) in Cape May, New Jersey, USA.jpg, Cape May Lighthouse (early evening) Image:CMLight-top.jpg, The top of the Cape May Lighthouse on July 4, 2005 Image:Lighthouseflags.jpg, The US and NJ flags at Cape May Lighthouse Image:Camp May Light.jpg, The lighthouse seen from the Cape May cove Image:Lighthouse4.jpg, September sunset from Cape May cove Image:CMLight-view.jpg, The view from the top of the Cape May Lighthouse on July 4, 2005 File:Cape May Lighthouse from the Delaware Bay.jpg, View from the
Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inland ...


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape May County, New Jersey List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape May County, New Jersey. __NOTOC__ This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Cape May County, New ...


References


External links


Cape May Lighthouse - Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities
- Inventory of Historic Light Stations
Lighthousefriends.com
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1859 Transportation buildings and structures in Cape May County, New Jersey Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Lower Township, New Jersey Tourist attractions in Cape May County, New Jersey 1859 establishments in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places