Beloved East Point Lighthouse, NJ, is finally reopening- but the people who rescued it won't be there
East Point Lighthouse will reopen to visitors Friday after a two-year closure, but the volunteer group that restored the historic landmark and operated it for decades won't be part of its next chapter.
Cumberland County approved a five-year agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the property's owner, to assume day-to-day operations of the lighthouse.
Click here to see more of East Point on the USLHS Research Catalog
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76,000 lighthouses shine in interactive atlas
While the earliest lighthouses were little more than large bonfires on hilltops, their underlying principle has always been the same for thousands of years.
These towering coastal sentinels have helped sailors from around the world navigate vast oceans, avoid dangerous shoals, and sometimes simply find their way home.
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Maine paddleboarder's 5-mile trip to photograph seals ends with rare view of Halfway Rock Lighthouse
Karl Ramsdell regularly paddles the ocean to photograph wildlife. A processional, he especially enjoys capturing seals, which he affectionally calls "chubmarines."
Recently, Ramsdell paddled about five miles on his paddle board from Harpswell to Halfway Rock Lighthouse in Casco Bay.
Click here to see more of Halfway Rock on the USLHS Research Catalog
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15 oldest lighthouses in America you can still climb
A lighthouse in New Jersey was already guiding ships before the Declaration of Independence was signed. It still works today.
Even better, regular people can walk inside and look out from the top. That detail caught my attention. Many old towers along out coasts are locked up or too fragile for visitors.
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Lighthouse Challenge of NJ 2026: 16 Sites, One Weekend
Once a year, every lighthouse site on the New Jersey coast opens on the same weekend and dares you to see them all.
The Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey is Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, 2026.
Click here to see more of New Jersey's Lighthouses on the USLHS Research Catalog
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The tallest lighthouses in the United States
The Atlantic coast of America is home to some of the tallest light towers in the country, many reaching at least 163 feet. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse located in North Carolina leads the list at 198 feet.
By "tallest," this means the height of the tower itself, from the ground to the top of the structure, as published by its owner or operator, or by the US Coast Guard Historian's Office for towers the Coast Guard Owens and no, it doesn't mean the height of the light above sea level. Only surviving towers built as lighthouses are ranked (sorry, Statue of Liberty!), lit or not.
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Proud to Serve: Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse
This is a WBOC CBS news video
Click here to see the 1:10 video
Click here to see more of Delaware Breakwater East End on the USLHS Research Catalog
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Agreement reached to maintain Round Island Lighthouse, MI
The Hiawatha National Forest has partnered with the Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society in an agreement that supports preservative maintenance work on the Round Island Lighthouse.
This agreement brings a new partner organization to the forest, while aligning priorities, sharing resources, accelerating work and delivering results on the ground.
Click here to see more of Round Island on the USLHS Research Catalog
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Remembering Ida Lewis
If you haven't spent much time in Newport, then the name Ida Lewis may not ring a bell. As a young woman in the late 1860's, though, this lifesaving heroine was a national celebrity.
Brian Wallin is a citizen historian who became something of an expert on Lewis, a lighthouse keeper who rescued at least 18 people during her decades of time as keeper of Lime Rock Light, a small outcrop of rocks in Newport Harbor.
Click here to see more of Ida Lewis on the USLHS Research Catalog
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Sankaty Head Lighthouse, MA, Restoration work underway
The Sankaty Head Lighthouse is getting a touch-up.
Crews from Finkle Preservation & Construction have been performing restoration work on the iconic lighthouse in Sconset in recent weeks.
Click here to see more of Sankaty Head on the USLHS Research Catalog
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10 most breathtaking lighthouses on the West Coast
Lighthouses hold a special place in my heart. In the 1980s, my best friend lived in a small, decommissioned lighthouse in Key West, and I visited often, sleeping in a Murphy bed at the top of a spiral staircase.
Later, as a sailor traveling up and down the coast of California by boat, I prided myself on learning to navigate without GPS, using beacons and lighthouses and plotting my route on paper charts under lamplight.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research.
If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Ralph Krugler at ralph@uslhs.org