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Photo from National Archives
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History
There is some evidence that a lighthouse near the mouth of the Cohansey
Creek in 1816, but to date, no drawings or depictions of it have been
found. It is not known who constructed the lighthouse, or maintained
it. An appropriations of $1,000 to
purchase additional land for the site at this station was made by the
act approved August 7, 1882. The ten acres selected were purchased and
the title-papers were approved January 24, 1883. Plans for the new
structure were made, and the building is now under contract.The first
lighthouse built by the Lighthouse Service was constructed in 1838 and
described as being built near the mouth of the Cohansey Creek at "
39° 20' 19" north latitude and 75° 21' 38" west longitude,
Cumberland County, New Jersey." "The light is exhibited from lantern on
top of dwelling, and illuminated 270° of the horizon; it is of the
5th order, fixed white, and is 45 feet above mean high water." An 1838
report by William D. Porter, Lieutenant, U.S.N., describes the
lighthouse as:
Cohansey light.–Light on keeper's dwelling; burns eleven lamps with
spherical reflectors. The house badly built; walls crumbling; cistern
leaks. Badly kept.
No photographs of the lighthouse are known to exist, but two engravings
by W. H. Rease of Philadelphia, exist and were reproduced in the
Spring, 1973 issue of South Jersey Magazine. On October 23, 1879 a
storm damaged the lighthouse so badly that a the process of replacing
it began. In the meantime emergency repairs were made to the existing
lighthouse to make it habitable.
By 1883, the new Cohansey Lighthouse was completed and the remains of
the 1838 lighthouse were sold for salvage. It was constructed at
39° 20' 33" north latitude by 75° 21' 44" west longitude. The
lighthouse was a white frame structure with green shutters, topped by a
black square tower. The lighthouse contained 6 rooms. Water was
supplied from four storage tanks, two of iron and two of wood) which
collected rain water from the roof. The lighthouse was constructed upon
wooden beams which rested upon cast iron piles. It was equipped with a
5th order Frensel lens built by L. Sautter & Cie, of Paris, France.
It's light showed 42 feet above mean high water. The 1883 lighthouse
was destroyed by a mysterious fire on July 21, 1933.
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