{"id":538,"date":"2013-07-28T08:32:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T08:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=538"},"modified":"2013-10-07T03:45:07","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T03:45:07","slug":"great-beds-lighthouse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/near-by-morgan\/great-beds-lighthouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Beds Lighthouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morgan Landmarks \u2013 Great Beds Lighthouse<\/h3>\n
\"Great<\/a>

Great Beds Lighthouse in Raritan Bay Dwarfed by a Medium Sized Tanker Ship.<\/p><\/div>\n

What\u2019s in a Name?<\/b><\/p>\n

After having seen it from our living room couch through the bay facing windows all my life and water skiing around it as a kid, it didn\u2019t occur to me to ask if that white lighthouse with the black base in the bay had a name\u2026 until 2008.\u00a0 Just like the railroad tracks, the Cheesequake Creek jetty, and Coney Island across the bay, from my perspective in my youngest days, it had always been there.\u00a0 Well, of course it had not always been there but from the perspective of the 20th<\/sup> and 21st<\/sup> centuries, it had always been there.<\/p>\n

Upon learning its name a number of other questions instantly popped up, the resolution of which explained another curious childhood observation to be covered later.\u00a0 The name of the lighthouse is Great Beds Lighthouse.\u00a0 On the surface, it is a strange name for sure.\u00a0 Why \u201cGreat Beds\u201d?\u00a0 Makes you think of a mattress store.\u00a0 Why then \u201cGreat Beds\u201d?\u00a0 The short answer is that it has to do with oysters – the great beds of oysters which were located in that portion of Raritan Bay up until the early part of the 20th<\/sup> century when pollution from the industrialization of the Raritan River and the Arthur Kill (\u201cKille\u201d is middle Dutch meaning \u201criver bed\u201d) effectively ruined them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Story?<\/b><\/p>\n

So the story goes back to 1868, the latter part of the 19th<\/sup> century and just a few years after the end of the Civil War, when local ship owners and businessmen petitioned for the building of a lighthouse.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t however found the specifics of \u201cwhy\u201d yet.\u00a0 Perhaps the petitioners believed there needed to be some form of marker to warn mariners of the great beds of oysters near the confluence of the Raritan River and the Arthur Kill into Raritan Bay.\u00a0 Perhaps it was to protect the beds themselves, or maybe there was another reason.\u00a0 Hopefully we will all find out at some point and I\u2019ll modify this page accordingly.<\/p>\n

Lighthouse Characteristics<\/b><\/p>\n

Great Beds Lighthouse is of the type of lighthouse known as a \u201cCaisson<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0 The name stems from the method used for construction which has the lighthouse structure resting on top of a watertight structure known as a \u201ccaisson\u201d (Old French for \u201clarge box\u201d).\u00a0 This lighthouse type is also known by other names such as \u201cSparkplug<\/a>\u201d or, before the days of the automobile, \u201cCoffee Pot\u201d.\u00a0 Some places also call them \u201cBug lights\u201d because of their resemblance to a bug from a distance.\u00a0 Great Beds is one of the earliest lighthouses of this type.\u00a0 During the time Great Beds was built, many other caisson lighthouses were in the process of being planed or constructed.\u00a0 In fact, there were nearly 50 caisson lighthouses<\/a> built in the US, primarily in the northeastern states, between 1871 and 1926.<\/p>\n

Construction Delays<\/b><\/p>\n

There are reports that construction was delayed from the 1868 petition for at least a decade.\u00a0 Even worse, before the lighthouse was finished, a boundary dispute erupted between New Jersey and New York (the lighthouse apparently was on or near the state boundary).\u00a0 Progress was made when the state of New York ceded 8.83 acres underneath Raritan Bay for the building of the lighthouse.\u00a0 Click here<\/a> and scroll down to see the New York State Law which then made it all possible:<\/p>\n

Article 3 \u2013 Cessions to the United States
\nState Law 28 – Cession during use for purposes thereof, with reservation of right to serve process.
\nSection 5 \u2013 In Raritan Bay\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/a>

Great Beds is the Adopted Symbol for the City of South Amboy, New Jersey.<\/p><\/div>\n

Construction Aspects<\/b><\/p>\n

Again, I don\u2019t have any records \u2013 yet \u2013 discussing the details of when the construction actually started, how long it took, how many and what type of vessels were involved (ships were still primarily powered by the wind at this time), how many people worked on the project, where the lighthouse was fabricated, where the equipment was staged, what the name of the contractor was, etc.\u00a0 Some web sites indicate caisson lighthouses were prefabricated on land, barged to site and assembled using floating cranes.\u00a0 Perhaps that is what happed with Great Beds.\u00a0 Perhaps even, the now gone piers of South Amboy were utilized.<\/p>\n

Building and running of lighthouses at this time was handled through a United States Federal Agency, created in 1852, named The United Stated Lighthouse Board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lightship LV-15<\/b><\/p>\n

The one vessel which is documented as being part of the construction effort is a lightship which acted as a floating barracks to house the crew.\u00a0 Lightship LV-15 was a wooden, 73\u2019 long, 16\u2019 wide (at its widest), and 100 ton sailing vessel.\u00a0 It was constructed in Norfolk, Virginia and launched in 1837.\u00a0 It reportedly had a crew of 6 and an oil lantern atop each of its two masts.\u00a0 The 1889 book, \u201cThe Modern Light-house Service\u201d by Arnold Burges Johnson, Chief Clerk of the United States Lighthouse Board, describes the lights of light ships of the time:<\/p>\n

Each light is composed of eight reflectors, each 12 inches in diameter, set upon a ring which encircles the mast, and can be lighted and hoisted to the mast-head by night, and lowered and housed by day. These reflectors are illuminated by a kind or Argand lamp, in which the sperm oil formerly burned was succeeded by lard oil, and that is now superseded by mineral oil, burned in a lamp specially adapted to the purpose. The lighting apparatus is inclosed in a lantern, with large panes of glass which protect the light from the wind.<\/em><\/p>\n

The US Coast Guard web site further described LV-15\u2019s lighting apparatus<\/a>: 2 lanterns, each with 8 lard oil compass lamps having 10 wicks.<\/p>\n

From 1838 to 1877, prior to its service for Great Beds, this lightship was anchored at Stratford Shoal near Bridgeport, Connecticut<\/a> until the completion of the Stratford Shoal Lighthouse in 1877.\u00a0 Ironically New York also needed to cede land for this lighthouse.<\/p>\n

Sometime between 1877 through December 1880, LV-15 was moved into Raritan Bay for the construction of Great Beds Lighthouse.<\/p>\n

Actual Construction<\/b><\/p>\n

The bottom part of the lighthouse is a caisson most likely made out of cast iron and filled with rocks, sand or concrete.\u00a0 It was probably towed to the site and sunk.\u00a0 It is interesting to note that the primary method of ship propulsion in 1880 was via sail.\u00a0 The bay bottom was probably scooped out allowing the caisson to settle, the water pumped out then the rocks, sand or concrete loaded.\u00a0 On top of the caisson were stacked five conical shaped cast iron rings topped by a lantern room and surrounded by an observation platform.\u00a0 How the stacked rings are connected together is not clear from photos of the lighthouse.\u00a0 Possibly they are bolted together on the inside?\u00a0 Can cast iron be welded?<\/p>\n

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Nautical Charts 12331<\/a> and 12332<\/a> show that the lighthouse is surrounded by 9-13 feet of water.<\/p>\n

The height of Great Beds Lighthouse is purportedly 42 feet tall above the caisson.\u00a0 The height of the caisson the lighthouse rests on, while fixed, varies depending on whether the tide is high or low.\u00a0 Some report the lighthouse is 60 feet with the caisson.\u00a0 Nautical Chart 12331 indicates the elevation of the light is 61 feet so the top of the lighthouse must be a few additional feet above that.\u00a0 How to read the specific information is contained in section P of Nautical Chart No. 1.\u00a0 Here is how to interpret the nautical chart information, known as \u201cLight Characteristics\u201d for Great Beds Lighthouse contained in NOAA nautical charts 12331 and 12332:<\/p>\n