A Little Museum History

The Barnegat Light Museum now occupies what was once the Elementary School. From 1903 through June, 1951, classes were held here for local elementary students. Small as it is there was a girl's entrance on the left and a boy's entrance on the right.

The museum was inaugurated in 1954. It's most asked about exhibit is certainly the original first-order Fresnel lens from the lighthouse. The beehive-shaped lens is six feet in diameter, 12 feet high and formed from 1,024 separate prisms mounted in bronze fittings. Our favorite model was pleased to pose before something that makes him look a bit smaller by comparison.

The museum is maintained by the Barnegat Light Historical Society, whose volunteers are always on duty to provide extra local details and answer any questions posed by visitors. On the grounds behind the museum the Garden Club of Long Beach Island maintains the Edith Duff Gwinn Garden, providing a lovely, quiet spot planted with native shrubs and flowers. A real treat for anyone interested in local plantings.