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The Lighthouse Challenge of NJ celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019. I visited about half of the participating sites, focusing on the ones I didn’t see in 2018.
I arrived at the first stop on my list, the Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse, right at dawn. After climbing to the top and taking some photos, I continued on to Finn’s Point in Pennsville. The Finn’s Point Light is also a rear range light, designed to work in tandem with a front range light.
Finn’s Point is the place where the Delaware River meets the Delaware Bay. It is named for the Finnish settlers who colonized the area in the 1600s. Today, it is part of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
The river was dredged and the channel widened in 1950, ending the need for the lighthouse. The keepers dwellings were demolished and the rear range iron tower fell into disrepair.
The department of US Fish and Wildlife restored the lighthouse and recreated the keepers’ house to serve as the visitor center for the National Wildlife Refuge. They reopened the tower for tours in 2013.
2019 Lighthouse Challenge Posts:
- Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse
- Finn’s Point Lighthouse
- Supawna Meadows NWR
- East Point Lighthouse
- Maurice River
- Cape May Lighthouse
- Cape May Point State Park
- Tatham Lifesaving Station
- Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary
- Lifesaving Station 30
Location: Fort Mott & Lighthouse Rds, Pennsville, NJ 08070
Designation: National Register of Historic Places
Date established/designated: 1876, added to NRHP August 30, 1978
Date of my visit: October 19, 2019
