The Father of Atlantic City, Dr. Jonathan Pitney, loved his new home in the Absecon area. He enjoyed it so much that he invited all his friends to come and visit. But this former country physician feared for those loved ones arriving by sea, because he’d witnessed numerous shipwrecks in the short amount of time he’d lived there. Sailors called this area, near the Absecon and Brigantine Shoals, the “Graveyard Inlet” because it was so treacherous.

Concern prompted Pitney to petition for a lighthouse, but victory did not come easily. He was turned down for twenty years, but Jonathan simply didn’t have “no” in his vocabulary. 

In the early 1840’s, the Lighthouse Service agreed to survey Absecon Beach to decide for themselves whether a lighthouse was needed or not. To placate the ever insistent Dr. Pitney, Congress appropriated $5,000 for a report on the situation. Amazingly, officials recommended against a lighthouse and the request was denied. On the heels of that decision came 64 more shipwrecks occurring between 1847 and 1856, all within sight of the spot where the Absecon Lighthouse would later stand. After a particularly disastrous shipwreck, when the Powhatan sank taking over 300 passengers and crew with it, officials reconsidered.

The Lighthouse Service received $52,000 from Congress and selected a spot 700 feet from mean high water. Workers erected the lighthouse without a hitch and finally, on January 15, 1857, Dr. Pitney’s wish came true as the First Order Fresnel lens was lit for the first time.

The 170-foot tower was erected with nearly 600,000 bricks, boasting 228 steps to the top. The complete light station included two keeper’s dwellings, outhouses, an oil house, a small barn, and even a greenhouse. Not twenty years later, the lighthouse would be threatened by waves at high tide. Erosion had erased all but 75-feet of the shoreline, prompting proposals for the relocation of the tower. But the situation resolved itself when jetties successfully collected sand deposits and returned the beaches to their original configuration.

The Absecon tower remained unpainted until August 14, 1871 when painters added three bands of color - white, red, and white. At one time, the sentinel sported a blue and white design, but was eventually painted yellow, black, and yellow in 1897, like it appears today. 

The Inlet Public/Private Association is restoring the lighthouse, adding safety improvements to the tower and reconstructing the original Keeper’s Dwelling, which will serve as a museum and visitor center. Absecon is the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey, the third tallest in the U.S. For more information, please contact the Inlet Public/Private Association at 300 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 102, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 08401 or call (609) 449-1360.