NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE DAY                                                                                  Artical by James A. Cope

Saturday 7 August 2021 is National Lighthouse Day. Many lighthouses will be open to the public in recognition of that day. The United States Postal Service will issue five new lighthouse stamps the day before on August 6^th.

THE DEDICATION CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE ON Friday August 6th at
NAVESINK -TWIN LIGHTS

 The Mid-Atlantic Lighthouses depicted are:

Montauk Point Lighthouse, Long Island, New York. Located on Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. This was the first lighthouse built in New York (1796) and is the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States. It is 110.5 feet tall with a focal height of 168 feet. It is open to the public as part of the Montauk Point State Park. It had a First Order Fresnel lens installed during renovations in 1860, which was replaced in 1903 with a 3 ½ order bivalve Fresnel lens which was replaced in 1987 with an airport beacon.

Thomas Shoal Point Light is in the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Maryland. The current screw-pile light was constructed in 1875 and first lit that year. Prior to that, in 1825, a stone tower was erected and then replaced by another stone tower in 1834. It stands 49 feet tall with a focal plane of 43 feet. Originally had a Fourth Order Fresnel lens, it now has a 250 mm solar powered lens that flashes white every five seconds with two red sectors. The Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society has worked countless hours maintaining and re-furbishing the structure.

Erie Harbor Pierhead, Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania. The current lighthouse was built in 1858. The wrought iron encased in steel lighthouse stands 34 feet tall. It was forged in France and assembled on site in Erie. It was moved in 1882 and again in 1940. The US Coast Guard operates the beacon, changed its fixed red beam to an automated red flashing light in 1995, at which time the 4^th order Fresnel lens was sent to the Erie Maritime Museum.

Harbor of Refuge Light at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, just off Cape Henlopen (Lewes, Delaware).

The wooden tower was 52 feet and had a Fourth Order Fresnel lens built in 1906. The current sparkplug style cast iron structure was constructed in 1926 at 76 feet tall.  Focal plane is 72 feet. From 1945 until 1997 it was fitted with a DCB-36 Aerobeacon. Today it has a Vega VRB-25 solar powered flashing white every five seconds visible up to 19 miles. It also has two red sectors which can be seen for 16 miles.

Twin Lights of the Navesink. Located in the Highlands, New Jersey, the current structure was built in 1862. Constructed on a bluff 200 feet above sea level, it has a focal plane of 246 feet. The North Tower is the site of the initial First Order Fresnel Lens in the USA in 1841. The South Tower is the site of the initial Second Order Fresnel Lens in the USA 1841. It was the first major coastal light to use electric in 1898. In 1931 it was recognized as the nation’s most powerful light, visibility at 22 miles. It was decommissioned in 1949.

The stamps will be the “Forever” type (valid for the current postage rate), 20 per sheet, (four of each), 55 cents each at time of issue.