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Congress approved $25,000 for the light on June 10, 1872, and just over a year later a one-and-a-half-acre site on a dune overlooking the inlet was purchased from Humphrey S. Cresse for $150. Lt. Col. William F. Raynolds of the Army Corps of Engineers contracted with Hurst & Marshall of Philadelphia on October 8, 1873 “to furnish the materials and labor necessary to completely construct and deliver (except the lantern, the parapet, the glass for the lantern, the lens, lamps, & furniture belonging thereto) a 4th Order Light House at Hereford Inlet,” for the sum of $14,740.93. According to the contract, Hurst & Marshall would forfeit $10 for each day of delay beyond the target completion date of July 30, 1874. The motivated contractors completed the lighthouse on April 16, 1874, well before the deadline.

A “Notice to Mariners,” dated May 11, 1874, announced the activation of the light stating, “The tower height is 49 ½ feet with the light elevation rising to 57 feet above sea level. The light is visible at a distance of at least 13 nautical miles.”

Described as Carpenter Gothic and Stick-Style Victorian, the lighthouse was designed by the Lighthouse Board’s Chief Draftsman Paul J. Pelz, who was also responsible for the St. Augustine and East Brother Lighthouses and the impressive Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is quite similar to the Point Fermin Lighthouse in California, and boasting five fireplaces, provided comfortable accommodations for the keeper and his family.

The first keeper to move into the livable lighthouse was John Marche, but after having served only three months, he drowned when his boat capsized on a return trip from the mainland. John Nick followed Marche in the list of Hereford Inlet keepers, serving from 1874 to 1878, when Captain Freeling H. Hewitt, a veteran of the Civil War, became guardian of the light. Captain Hewitt invited the local fishermen and their families to the lighthouse for Baptist services, the first formal religious services held on Five Mile Beach Island. The Sunday gatherings continued until a church was built.

During Keeper Hewitt’s extended career at the lighthouse, he witnessed a hurricane and several storms of almost equal power. Storm surge accompanying the “Gale of 1878” forced Hewitt and his frightened family to abandon the lighthouse, when the frothing sea lifted the structure from its block foundation. During a tropical storm that struck the island in September of 1889, several Anglesea residents sought refuge in the lighthouse. Neighboring homes were destroyed or severely damaged, but the lighthouse stood resolute.

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Besides affecting the nerves of the island residents, the powerful storms were also affecting the land around the lighthouse. A severe storm in August of 1913 brought the sea right up to the lighthouse. A photograph taken at the time shows that mere inches separated the lighthouse from the water. In fact, the foundation of the lighthouse was undermined, and plans were hurriedly made to move the entire structure roughly 150 feet westward. This relocation was accomplished in 1914.

In 1924, the original fourth-order fixed Fresnel lens used in the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse was replaced by a revolving lens of the same order that produced a distinctive signal known as a “group flash.” The following year, Captain Hewitt retired. When he passed away three years later, he was interred at the First Baptist Cemetery in Cape May Court House.

Water wasn’t the only element that threatened the lighthouse over the years. Being constructed of wood, the keepers had to be always vigilant for fire. Keeper Ferdinand Heinzman was busy painting the exterior of the lighthouse in 1938 when his task was interrupted by calls of “Fire!” from his wife Anna. A coastguardsman, likely from the station next door, noticed thick smoke emanating from one of the upstairs windows, called the fire department, and then alerted the occupants of the lighthouse to the imminent danger. Heinzman grabbed an extinguisher and rushed upstairs to the burning bedroom only to be driven back by the extreme heat and thick smoke. Undaunted, he procured a ladder and equipped with a garden hose climbed to the second story and fought the fire through a window.

Thanks to the alert coastguardsman, Keeper Heinzman was able to save the lighthouse and his family, though his hair was singed by the fire and the lighthouse sustained significant damage. An investigation determined that spontaneous combustion had started the fire in the bedroom closet.

In 1964, the Coast Guard erected a skeletal metal tower seaward of the lighthouse to display a navigational beacon. No longer needed, the lighthouse and adjacent Coast Guard Station were turned over to the New Jersey Marine Police. The Coast Guard buildings were used by the Marine Police, but the lighthouse was boarded up and remained vacant for almost two decades.

The city of North Wildwood, which is still called Anglesea by some locals, signed a lease for the lighthouse on September 2, 1982, and immediately began restoring the building. The following summer, a portion of the lighthouse opened as the North Wildwood Tourist Information Center. The modern beacon was transferred from the metal tower to the lighthouse’s lantern room in 1986, and the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse was once again performing its intended function.

The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Commission, composed of volunteers appointed by the mayor and town council, now operate the lighthouse as a museum and gift shop. The second fourth-order Fresnel lens used at the station is on display in the lighthouse. In 2003, the lighthouse, which had previously been white with a reddish-brown trim, was painted a buff color. Some lighthouse enthusiasts were a bit appalled at the change, but when they learn that the color is historically accurate, they are usually appeased.

Thanks to the efforts of Steve Murray, Superintendent of Parks for North Wildwood, beautiful English cottage style gardens surround the lighthouse. The gardens, which have won awards and been featured in numerous publications, provide a tranquil setting for the historic lighthouse.

The Lighthouse Commission has ambitious plans for the area. They would like to lease the adjacent Coast Guard Station and develop a Historic Maritime Village. Given the wonderful job they have done with the lighthouse, one hopes the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, who owns the property, will have the foresight to support the plans.

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References

1. Hereford Inlet Lighthouse website.
2. Lighthouses of New Jersey and Delaware, Bob Trapani Jr., 2005.