Harbor of Refuge Light Station

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Harbor of Refuge Light Station
Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation
P.O. Box 708, Lewes, DE 19958. Or call 302-644-7046.

Temporary Light Established: January 1, 1902

· Description: White frame tower

· Height of Tower: 30-feet

· Original Optic: A “five-day” lens lantern exhibiting a red light

1st Lighthouse Completed: November 20, 1908

· Description: A white, hexagonal, three-story, frame structure, with lead colored trim and a black lantern atop a brown, cylindrical, iron foundation.

· Height of Tower: 52-feet

· Original Optic: Fourth Order Fresnel Lens (IOV) flashing white every 10 seconds

· Fog Signal: First-class siren operated by compressed air

· Fate / Disposition: A series of storms from 1918 through the early 1920s eventually rendered the lighthouse inhabitable and it was subsequently dismantled by the United States Lighthouse Service in 1925.

2nd Lighthouse Completed: November 15, 1926

· Description: A white, conical, metal tower topped by a black lantern. The superstructure rests on a black, trumpet shaped, iron caisson built into the breakwater. The pier is lined inside with reinforced concrete and the tower with brick. The whole structure is supported upon a heavy block of concrete lying within the breakwater.

· Height of Tower: 76-feet

· Focal Plane: 72-feet

· Original Optic: Fourth Order (four-panel) Fresnel Lens (IOV) with a single flash every 10 seconds. The lens revolved on ball bearings and was driven by a clockwork mechanism activated by weights within a hollow central iron column.

· Transition Optic: DCB-36 Aero Beacon operated by commercial power

· Current Optic: Vega VRB-25 operated by solar power and displaying a flashing white light every 5 seconds that is visible for 19 miles

· Equipped with a Red Sector? Yes...visible for 16 miles

· Emergency Optic: 250-mm lantern operated by solar power and visible up to 9 miles

· Fresnel Lens Disposition: Unknown

· Original Fog Signal: Unkown

· Current Fog Signal: FA/232 operated by solar power and emitting 2 blasts every 30 seconds

· Automated: December 1973

· Status of Lighthouse: Active aid to navigation

· Date Deactivated: N/A

· Site Manager: Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation