Share
The Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, Del., will host a lecture and photographic tour of the Cape May Lighthouse presented by the lighthouse’s manager, Richard Chiemingo.
The Zwaanendael Museum’s Lighthouse Lecture Series is designed to familiarize the public with the lighthouses of the greater Delaware River and Bay waterway, and the organizations that preserve, protect, and publicize these majestic aides to navigation.
Built in 1859, the 157-foot-high Cape May Lighthouse is situated at the southern tip of New Jersey at Cape May Point where it continues to serve as an active aid to navigation for ships entering and exiting the Delaware Bay, as well as for those traveling up and down the East Coast. The lighthouse’s beacon is visible 24 miles out to sea and flashes every 15 seconds. Visitors who climb the 199 steps to the top of the tower are rewarded with a spectacular panoramic view of the scenic Cape May peninsula.
The structure is the third fully documented lighthouse to be built at Cape May Point. The first was built in 1823 and was replaced in 1847 by a new edifice erected on a high bluff. Due to the encroaching sea and poor building design, this second lighthouse was dismantled and its bricks used to build the current 1847 lighthouse. The locations of the first two lighthouses are now under water due to severe erosion of the coastline.
Admission to the event is free and open to the public but seating is limited due to space restrictions. For additional information, call 302.645.1148.
