Great Beds Lighthouse

Year Built

1880

Cost

$34,000

Type

Conical

Height

61 feet

Location

Raritan Bay, South Amboy

Automated Year

1945

First Lit

1880

Lens Type

Fourth order Fresnel 1880

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

White w/black lantern

Last Keeper - Date

Thomas F. Walker (1935 – 1941)

Description

The tower has a single-flashing red light and not open to the public.

Brief History

•  Named Great Beds Lighthouse after the oyster beds on which it stands, the tower is composed of five iron sections and has a height of forty-two feet.
•  David C. Johnson was hired as the first keeper of Great Beds Lighthouse and served for just under two years before resigning.
•  Just over a decade later, a keeper with the same last name, David C. Johnson, was placed in charge of the lighthouse. This Keeper Johnson, a native of Philadelphia, was a veteran of the Civil War.
•  Keepers left the tower for good in 1945, three years after the Fresnel lens had been replaced with an electric beacon.
•  In 2008, Great Beds Lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.