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Red Moulinier,
Past President DRBLHF and Preservation Coordinator
For 98 years, the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse located on the Eastern end of the outer breakwater wall of the National Harbor of Refuge has guided commercial, recreational, and military vessels in and out of the Delaware Bay.
The Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse went into service in November of 1926 and was manned continuously until December of 1973.
The United States Lighthouse Service manned the Light from 1936 until 1939 at which time the United States Coast Guard took over for the Lighthouse Service.
The Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse continues to be an Aide to Navigation and is still maintained by the United States Coast Guard today.
In 2002, the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation (DRBLHF) assumed the responsibility of caretaking and ownership of Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse. When we started the preservation effort, Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse had been unoccupied for 29 years and it became obvious to all of our volunteers that the preservation of this old structure was going to be a daunting task.
From the beginning, it became apparent that the weak link of this project was the landing dock which was subject to all the forces of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Another challenge is the cost of transportation for accessing off-shore Lights which must be incurred for each trip and can only be accessible in calm weather.
Every time we had a hurricane or Nor’easter storm, our volunteers had to rebuild the dock to access Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse.
Over the period of seven years from 2002 through 2009, the Lighthouse Foundation volunteers rebuilt the dock 13 times.
In November of 2009, Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse took a direct hit with two back-to-back Nor’easters which wiped out the upper and lower decks rendering Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse inaccessible. At this point in time, the Foundation Board of Directors decided in 2010 to go on a fundraising campaign to raise money to rebuild a dock that could hold up to the harsh marine environment.
Several years later, Hurricane Sandy put the finishing touches on the fragile dock at Harbor of Refuge.
One year later, the State of Delaware notified the Lighthouse Foundation that the Department of the Interior had federal grant money for historic properties damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
We applied for a grant to rebuild the dock and were awarded $781,000. The Foundation also had raised $50,000 towards the completion of the new dock. This project lasted three years and was completed in November of 2016 when the Lighthouse had its 90th birthday.
During the three-year project, we dealt with design delays, permit delays and construction delays but we persevered through this complex construction effort.
Finally, after seven years, the Lighthouse Foundation resumed preservation efforts in 2017 and started their tours in 2018 which continued through 2019. We cancelled tours in 2020 due to COVID but resumed the sold-out tours in 2021. These tours have proven to be hugely popular and sell out rapidly.
Another major initiative from 2013 to 2021, the Foundation worked with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to be selected for seventh and final series of Lighthouse Forever Stamps.
A ceremony was held in Highlands, New Jersey for the first issue of the Mid-Atlantic Stamps. Ten days later, the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation had a celebration for the community, Federal, State and local dignitaries.
In 2022, after working with the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) for 10 years, it became evident that the issues of the National Harbor of Refuge outer breakwater wall were becoming more severe and the stability of the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse was in question. In 2022, the Corp of Engineers decided to shut down public tours and work trips until further notice.
In October 2023 during a meeting with the Corp of Engineers, we were given approval to resume work trips to Harbor of Refuge, but no public tours.
In January 2024, the Corp presented a Major Maintenance Report of the condition of the breakwater wall and the cost to repair it. It is my belief that the cost to repair the breakwater wall will never be funded because of the exorbitant cost which is between $91 million through $123 million at today’s costs.
The Corp of Engineers priority for Delaware projects is dredging projects and beach replenishment.
The Corp of Engineers is planning on installing a GPS unit to monitor the movement of the lighthouse during storms. This piece of apparatus has not yet been installed because it was not funded in the current budget. Dan Kelly, Project Manager for the Corp of Engineers, stated that the GPS unit will receive funding in October 2024.
Three work trips during the summer of 2024 completed many projects. The outside of the Light was painted, numerous windows were restored, electric work completed, welding on doors, and numerous other projects were addressed by our volunteers.
We continue to fundraise through grant writing, merchandise sales and sunset cruises so that we can celebrate the 100th birthday of the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse in 2026.
The Lighthouse Foundation is very proud of its accomplishments over the past 22 years. Harbor of Refuge Light has been restored to much of its previous glory thanks to the thousands of volunteer hours, hard work and leadership of the Board of Directors and volunteers.
This story appeared in the
Nov/Dec 2024 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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