Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
2021 Lighthouse Challenge►
The Barnegat Museum was a 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. After leaving Tuckerton Seaport, we headed to the Barnegat Museum.
The Barnegat Light Historical Society operates the Barnegat Museum a few blocks away from Barnegat Light State Park. The museum is a designated stop on the challenge, so we made sure to stop in and get our sticker.
The museum is housed in the old one-room schoolhouse from 1903. It served as the town’s school until 1951 and was converted into a museum in 1954. It showcases the light’s original first-order Fresnel lens, as well as other lighthouse related exhibits. This lens nearly takes up the whole room, it’s so big.
The schoolhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The grounds are maintained by the local garden club.
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: 208 Broadway, Barnegat Light, NJ 08006
Designation: National Register of Historic Places
Date designated/established: June 6, 1976
Date of my visit: October 17, 2021
