Big celebration set for Barnegat Light's 150th anniversary

BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. - When Barnegat Lighthouse was lit for the first time, on Jan. 1, 1859, it was a momentous event.

Hundreds of people braved the cold and traveled from cities and farms, by horse and buggy, in boats and on foot to marvel at the beacon, which commanded the northern tip of Long Beach Island like a brick giant.

At nightfall, they stood mesmerized by the tower's bright beam, sent 20 miles out to sea by a newfangled $15,000 Fresnel lens.

Exactly 150 years later, when the 165-foot-high landmark is relit at dusk Jan. 1, that, too, will be a momentous event.

Although GPS and other technologies far exceed the capabilities of Old Barney to guide mariners through the rocky shoals of Barnegat Inlet, the relighting is more than a quaint exercise in historic preservation.

"When we come into port and see this light, we'll know we're home," said Daniel Friel, 47, of Barnegat Township, whose family has fished Barnegat Bay for four generations.

"I'll know the feeling my great-granddaddy had when he guided his boat in," Friel said. "It will be a good feeling."

A new Fresnel lens - a smaller but equally powerful version that, remarkably, costs about what the federal government paid in 1859 - will light the night sky as an aid to navigation for the first time in 82 years.

The run-up to the sesquicentennial of what may be New Jersey's most-beloved lighthouse - a red-and-white landmark visited by a half-million people annually - will begin Saturday. The daylong event will feature a Coast Guard flyover, historical lectures, marching bands and musicians, and awards to the winners of children's poster and essay contests.

But the real celebration will take place New Year's Day, when a compact motor will shine 100 watts through the 42-pound VRB-25 light, according to Vega Industries Ltd., which is making the six-sided lens in New Zealand.

When Frenchman Augustin Fresnel introduced his lens in 1822, it was high technology. Old Barney's original multifaceted, beehive-shaped Fresnel lens was 8 feet in diameter and 15 feet tall. It weighed three tons.

The light was nearly 100 percent more intense than lanterns filled with whale oil, which previously allowed mariners to see lighthouses just a couple of miles off their bows.

The Fresnel's focus and timing capabilities led to the development of a system of light flash and rotation characteristics so that ship captains could identify which lighthouse they were near.

"The first question people always ask when they come to see the lighthouse is whether or not the light works. Now we'll be able to proudly say that it does," said Angelo Rinaldi, president of the nonprofit Friends of Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.

After the beacon went dark in 1927 and Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1944, the Navy used it as a WWII submarine lookout. The property later became a state park, and the lighthouse was opened to the public in 1957.

A 250-watt bulb, like those used in homes, was installed "just to give the effect" of a lit lighthouse, Rinaldi said.

Barnegat Lighthouse State Park is New Jersey's most visited state park, making it the most popular of the state's 10 original lighthouses, including Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City and Cape May Lighthouse. An 11th lighthouse, Tucker's Island, is a re-creation of one that toppled into the sea in 1927.

"It's long been the dream of a lot of people to see it actually relit with the proper light," Rinaldi said. The beam will again be seen up to 20 miles off the coast.

But if the friends of the lighthouse wanted it to function again, they knew they would have to raise the money themselves.

Dollar by dollar, through donations from civic groups and individuals and sales of $1 "I Survived Climbing Old Barney" certificates to tourists, the group's 136 members collected enough for the lens.

Preservationists hope the relighting will spur the public to get involved in similar restoration efforts, said Robert Wogan, a renowned New York lighting artist.

"Light draws important attention to a building or a landmark and changes how people perceive it. Light allows people viewing an old structure to see and appreciate aspects of it that may have been forgotten and overlooked for a long time," said Wogan, who has worked on lighting installations around the globe.

Last year, Wogan lit the SS United States for a documentary about efforts to preserve the historic ocean liner, which sits rusting at Pier 82 in South Philadelphia.

His exterior lighting of the Milwaukee County Historical Society's Beaux Arts museum building inspired a movement to light other derelict historic buildings downtown and spawned a city revitalization effort, Wogan said.

Relighting historic landmarks such as Barnegat Lighthouse restores their pulse. It is "breathing new life into that which has been forgotten," Wogan said.

Barnegat Lighthouse, its interpretive center, and the Barnegat Light Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. All events will be at the lighthouse, on the northern tip of Long Beach Island. Information: 609-494-2016.

11 a.m.: "Birds of Barnegat Lighthouse" lecture.

Noon: Bird watch and Connelly Family Bagpipes performance.

1 p.m.: "Lighthouses of New Jersey" lecture.

2 p.m.: Southern Regional High School vocal ensemble and string ensemble performances. Coast Guard flyover.

3 p.m.: "Fresnel Lens" lecture.

4 p.m.: Coast Guard Color Guard and talk. Awards to poster and essay contest winners.

5 p.m.: Basement Musicians Guild Band concert.

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