Delaware, Sussex County, Fenwick Island
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On December 29, 1858, the Lighthouse Board issued the following announcement:
“Notice to Mariners
New Light-House
at
Fenwicks Island, Delaware”
Notice is hereby given that the new tower at Fenwicks Island, Delaware, is finished, and that a light will be exhibited therefrom for the first day of August next, and will be kept burning during that night, and every night thereafter, from sunset to sunrise. The tower is built of brick, is 75 feet high and is surmounted by a lantern 10 feet high. The watch room and lantern are painted black, the lower and keeper’s dwelling white. The illuminating apparatus is of the third order of the system of Fresnel and will show a fixed white light varied by a bright flash every two minutes. The focal plane is 86 feet above the level of the sea, and the light should be visible in ordinary states of the atmosphere 15 nautical miles.
The approximate position of the light-house, as deduced from the Coast Survey charts, is –
Latitude, 38° 27’ 00” North
Longitude, 75° 03’ 30” West…”
The lighthouse cost $23,748.96 to build in 1858.
The light was first fueled by whale oil, then kerosene and was magnified by a lens, (Fresnel lens), imported from France.
The two houses flanking the lighthouse were the homes of the lighthouse keeper and his assistant.
These are now Privately owned.
(Man-Made Features • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
On December 29, 1858, the Lighthouse Board issued the following announcement:“Notice to Mariners
New Light-House
at
Fenwicks Island, Delaware”
Notice is hereby given that the new tower at Fenwicks Island, Delaware, is finished, and that a light will be exhibited therefrom for the first day of August next, and will be kept burning during that night, and every night thereafter, from sunset to sunrise. The tower is built of brick, is 75 feet high and is surmounted by a lantern 10 feet high. The watch room and lantern are painted black, the lower and keeper’s dwelling white. The illuminating apparatus is of the third order of the system of Fresnel and will show a fixed white light varied by a bright flash every two minutes. The focal plane is 86 feet above the level of the sea, and the light should be visible in ordinary states of the atmosphere 15 nautical miles.
The approximate position of the light-house, as deduced from the Coast Survey charts, is –
Latitude, 38° 27’ 00” North
Longitude, 75° 03’ 30” West…”
The lighthouse cost $23,748.96 to build in 1858.
The light was first fueled by whale oil, then kerosene and was magnified by a lens, (Fresnel lens), imported from France.
The two houses flanking the lighthouse were the homes of the lighthouse keeper and his assistant.
These are now Privately owned.
(Man-Made Features • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 10 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
