2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Tinicum

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2021 Lighthouse Challenge

Tinicum Light was the first stop for us on the Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey. Every October the NJ Lighthouse Society runs the challenge in order to raise funds for the state’s historic lighthouses and maritime sites. In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was mostly virtual. In 2021, it was back on. My friend and I decided to spend the full weekend, stopping at every site on the list and collecting the souvenir piece. In previous years, I’d only finished sections of the course.

Patty and I had lived through some tough times in 2021 and were ready for the brief respite afforded by Lighthouse Challenge weekend. I would also be reporting on our odyssey for my week-long takeover of the Jersey Collective. We hit the road early and headed for our starting point on the Delaware River: Tinicum Light. We picked up our souvenir poster and the first sticker. We’d collect a different sticker at each of the 14 stops. We climbed to the top and spoke to the volunteer a little before heading on to the next stop.

Tinicum is in Paulsboro, NJ and is one of a pair of lights marking a section of the Delaware River. It is still an active navigational aid. By aligning the front and rear range lights and aiming for the center, ships avoid Little Tinicum Island as they travel up the Delaware.

The light was first activated on December 31, 1880 and had keeper’s quarters. The Coast Guard automated the signal in 1933. The Keeper’s homes were demolished in the 1950s, leaving just the steel frame towers.

2021 Lighthouse Challenge posts

  • Tinicum Light
  • Finn’s Point
  • Fort Mott
  • East Point Light
  • Cape May Point
  • Cape May NWR
  • Tatham
  • Ocean City
  • Absecon Lighthouse
  • Tuckerton Seaport
  • Barnegat Museum
  • Barnegat Lighthouse
  • Squan
  • Sea Girt Lighthouse
  • Navesink Twin Lights
  • Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Location: 70 Second Street, Paulsboro, NJ 08066
Designation: National Register of Historic Places
Date designated/established: September 15, 2005
Date of my visit: October 16, 2021

Virtual Tour of Tinicum Lighthouse from 2020

27 thoughts on “2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Tinicum

  1. It’s interesting to imagine the area when the lighthouse first opened. There are so many buildings nearby now, and I wonder if it was standing out on its own in the 1880s or if the neighborhood was already built-up then.

  2. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Finn's Point - National Parks With T

  3. Dear Teresa,

    What an inspiring blog! I have been wanting to do this for a couple of years, but I was busy in the Hudson River Valley visiting homes that weekend for my blog last year. COVID stopped it the year before. I want to do the challenge this year so I can see more of these lighthouses.

    Great Blog!

    Sincerely,

    Justin Watrel, Blogger
    VisitingaMuseum/MywalkinManhattan.com

  4. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Fort Mott - National Parks With T

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  10. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Absecon - National Parks With T

  11. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Tuckerton Seaport - National Parks With T

  12. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Barnegat Museum - National Parks With T

  13. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Barnegat Lighthouse - National Parks With T

  14. Pingback: 2021 Lighthouse Challenge: Squan - National Parks With T

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