Finns Point Rear Range Light
by Joan Carroll
Title
Finns Point Rear Range Light
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
It's a bit sad to see lighthouses no longer in use, after they have served so well for so long. This is the Finns Point Rear Range Light near Pennsville Township NJ. When you drive to it, you are seemingly nowhere near any water, yet it must have played a vital role in its day. Range lights, as opposed to lighthouses, consist of two structures. Two lights associated to form a range often, but not necessarily, indicate a channel centerline. The front range light is the lower of the two, and nearer to the mariner using the range. The rear range light is higher and further from the mariner. When you have the two lined up in your sight, you are in the channel and protected from obstructions. The Finns Point Front and Rear Range lights served as a point of entry and exit between the Delaware Bay and River for maritime traffic moving up and down the river. In 1950, after the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the river channel to 800 feet wide and 40 feet deep, the Finns Point range lights became obsolete. The light was restored in 1983 through the efforts of the "Save the Lighthouse Committee," a local citizen's group, and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Interpretive exhibits demonstrate how range lights were used by mariners navigating the river channel. Today the lighthouse is part of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and is open the third Sunday of each month, April to October, from 12 to 4pm.
Uploaded
March 22nd, 2014
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