TUCKER'S ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
Tuckerton, New Jersey
I wouldn't have known about this one if I hadn't taken the time to tour the Absecon Lighthouse. They told me about it as I was leaving. Easy to find, just take Exit 58 off the GS Pkwy and go south until you hit Hwy 9. Turn right and it's there on your left. This is actually a replica of the original lighthouse built here before 1900. I picked up a little brochure on New Jersey lighthouses and it says 1848 while the Tuckerton Seaport website states that it was in 1868 that Tucker's Island Lighthouse was first constructed. The original light emitted a series of 6 red flashes followed by 1 white flash which mariners could see from 12 miles out. But like at several other lighthouses, the land gave way to the ever encroaching sea and finally in 1927, Tucker's Island Lighthouse fell unceremoniously into the ocean. Actually the whole island became a small sandbar, thus ending a short history that began as New Jersey's first coastal resort. Once known as Sea Haven, this little town has rebuilt the whole seaport village which has the lighthouse as its centerpiece.
OF THE MOUNTAINS
John B Caddell
Copyright 2001