Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
2021 Lighthouse Challenge►
Lifesaving Station 30 was the first stop for us on Day 2 during 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 began Day 2 bright and early at Lifesaving Station 30 in Ocean City. The volunteer at the entrance told us they’d be hosting the National Lifesaving Station Convention in 2022.
The US Life Saving Station 30 was built in 1885 to save seamen from the many shipwrecks that were then common on the Jersey Shore. It was active until 1936 and then again during WWII as a Coast Guard base to patrol for German submarines. Originally right on the beach, gradual sand accumulation now puts it a quarter mile from the shore.
The Coast Guard sold the station in 1945 and it was a private home for over 50 years. After a legal battle with a real estate developer, Ocean City purchased the property in 2010. After being damaged by Hurricane Sandy, it underwent a $1.5 million renovation and reopened as a museum in 2017.
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: 801 E 4th St, Ocean City, NJ 08226
Designation: National Register of Historic Places
Date designated/established: June 14, 2013
Date of my visit: October 17, 2021
How great that they still have a mechanical music playing machine using perforated metal disks, such as were common on the 1890s. Does that machine still work, do you know? https://operasandcycling.com/look-ma-no-electrons/
Ah you answered Ken’s question! There weren’t any volunteers in this room to tell us about these things and we were curious about them.
What is the box next to the bookcase that looks like an old record player?
I believe it’s a music box. The discs next to it don’t look the same as the one that’s in it.
I’m guessing it is part of the Lighthouse Traveling Library. https://equipsblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/22/taking-books-to-the-people-part-2-lighthouse-traveling-libraries/
Interesting tidbit about the traveling library!