Tucker's Beach Lighthouse in 1895

Sometime around 1800, the ocean cut an inlet between Holgate and Tucker’s Beach, and Tucker’s Beach was now also Tucker’s Island. A lighthouse was added to the island in 1848 to guide traffic into Little Egg Harbor, located west of the barrier island. The beacon, known both as Little Egg Harbor Lighthouse and Tucker’s Beach Lighthouse, was a short brick tower displaying an array of fifteen lamps set in 15-inch reflectors. The lighthouse had a poor reputation as exemplified by this 1852 report by Captain H. K. Davenport, skipper of the U.S. Mail Steamer Cherokee: "As for Egg Harbor Light, that had better be put out than kept as it is now, a decoy to draw vessels into difficulty looking for it. It is not as bright as the light I carry at my masthead."

In 1855, the lighthouse was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens fabricated by Henry Lepaute of Paris, but the Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board for that same year indicated potential changes at the station. “When the first class light is lit at Absecum, the Tucker’s Beach light will be unnecessary and inconvenient for purposes of general navigation. Indeed it will be of small local importance, as vessels cannot safely enter Little Egg Harbor at night. It will be quite sufficient to reduce it to a small harbor light, perhaps distinguished by a red or green color.” The Absecon Lighthouse commenced operation in 1857, and two years later the Tucker’s Beach Lighthouse was discontinued.

Rethinking its drastic move, the Lighthouse Board decided to reestablish Tucker’s Beach Lighthouse in 1867. In 1879, the original lighthouse was converted into an oil shed, and a square tower supporting a lantern room was fitted to the roof of the new, two-story keeper’s dwelling. Eber Rider was the first keeper assigned to the lighthouse after it was reestablished, and a string of six other Riders would serve as keeper or assistant keeper after Eber.

Tucker's Beach Lighthouse

The inlet north of Tucker’s Island was fickle. At times Tucker’s Island was attached to the larger Long Beach Island, while at other times it stood alone. During a blizzard in 1920, the inlet broke through and started to move south. Foot by foot, Tucker’s Island was being erased. One by one, hotels and houses were washed away, and on October 12, 1927 the lighthouse toppled into the water. Paul Rider, nephew of keeper Arthur Rider, was at the lighthouse when it fell and captured the lighthouse’s final moments in this sequence of photographs. Of that final visit, he stated: “I slept in the old lighthouse…, camera in hand, the night before she toppled. The government had officially abandoned her some weeks before and we knew she could go any minute. Earlier storms had broken and undermined the foundation and the sands around it were constantly being washed away.” The remains of the lighthouse were burned on October 14.

Eight years after the lighthouse was lost, the Coast Guard station was claimed by the sea. The schoolhouse followed in 1938, and by 1940 shorebirds were the only residents of the small patch of remaining land. The entire island had disappeared by 1952.

In the 1980s, a group of southern Ocean County sportsmen expressed concern that the old ways of bay life were in danger of extinction. This group’s vision led to the eventual creation of Tuckerton Seaport, where the area’s rich maritime heritage is captured through displays and demonstrations of boat building, decoy carving, and basket weaving. One of the many buildings at the seaport is a re-creation of Tucker’s Island Lighthouse. Located some six miles west of its original location, the lighthouse should be quite safe from the sea. The replica lighthouse looks quite authentic and even houses a Fresnel lens, though not in the lantern room.

References

1. Informational display at Barnegat Lighthouse.
2. Guarding New Jersey’s Shore: Lighthouses and Life-Saving Stations, David Veasey, 2001.
3. Sentinels of the Shore, Bill Gately, 1998.