Sea Girt Lighthouse
PO Box 83
Sea Girt, NJ 08750
(732) 974-0514
www.seagirtlighthouse.com

This beautiful Light, its tower nestled within an L-shaped Victorian building, first lighted the seafarer's way on December 10, 1896. The structure had been more than six years in the making, with its initial financing appropriated in 1889.

Sea Girt did its job with a 4th order Fresnel lens with a red French chimney. It flashed its revolving red light for two seconds out of six. Like most lights of the era, Sea Girt's turned on ball bearings and was driven by clockworks. One winding ran the light for seven and one-half hours.

In 1921 Sea Girt was one of three area Lights -- and the only land-based installation at the time, the others being Lightships -- to emit radio beacons, pioneering the use of the radio compass as a navigational aid. During World War II the Coast Guard used the tower to scan for enemy ships as well as U.S. ships in distress. The beaches were patrolled with guard dogs protecting against saboteurs, and a detail of Army troops camped on the north lawn also patrolled the beaches.

Sea Girt was decommissioned in 1945 and today the Light is operated by the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee and is the meeting place for a host of local organizations. Sea Girt is open for educational Guided Tours for individuals, families and groups.