{{short description|Lighthouse in Delaware, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox lighthouse | image = FenwicklightApril08 (42) 2.jpg | caption = Spring 2008 | location = [[Fenwick Island, Delaware]] | coordinates = {{coord|38.45137|-75.05496|format=dms|region:US-DE_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | yearbuilt = 1858 | yearlit = 1859 | automated = 1940 | yeardeactivated = 1978-1982 | foundation = [[Nature|Natural]] | construction = [[Brick]] | shape = Conical | elevation = | height = {{convert|87|ft}} | lens = Third order [[Fresnel lens]] | intensity = | range = {{convert|15|nmi}} | characteristic = White flash every 13s | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Fenwick Island Lighthouse Station | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | built = {{Start date|1858}} | architecture = Gothic | added = August 13, 1979 | area = {{convert|218|acre}} | refnum = 79000642<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }} }}
'''Fenwick Island Lighthouse''' is a [[lighthouse]] in [[Delaware]], [[United States]], on the Delaware/[[Maryland]] state line. The structure dates back to 1858 making it the oldest lighthouse in the state of Delaware.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p_2IBZC4LMAC&dq=Fenwick+Island+Light+oldest&pg=PA149|title=Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast|author=Unknown Author|publisher=Voyageur Press|page=149|date=March 11, 2011|isbn=9780760339510|accessdate=August 27, 2018}}</ref>
== History == In 1856, the [[United States Congress]] appropriated $25,000 for the Fenwick Island Lighthouse and on January 11, 1858 a ten-acre tract for the station was obtained from Mary C. Hall for only $50. The Fenwick Island Lighthouse was completed on December 29, 1858, but would not be lit until August 1, 1859. Construction was supervised by U.S. Army Captain [[William F. Raynolds]]. The lighthouse was built on an isolated peninsula in the southernmost portion of Delaware at the Maryland state line. It is 87 feet tall, brick, with a central cast iron spiral staircase, and equipped with a third-order [[Fresnel lens]]. It was automated in 1940.<ref name=NRHPnom>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=79000642}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Fenwick Island Light |author=Dick Carter |date=January 1979}} and {{NRHP url|id=79000642|title=Accompanying 13 photos|photos=y}}</ref>
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1978 and remained dark for several years. A public movement to save the lighthouse resulted in ownership of the lighthouse being transferred to the State of Delaware, and the lighthouse was relit in 1982.<ref>[http://fenwickislandlighthouse.org/ "New” Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse website]</ref> In 1997, after extensive fundraising efforts made it possible, the rapidly aging lighthouse underwent a full restoration. It was rededicated in July 1998.<ref>[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=452 Lighthousefriends website]</ref>
The lighthouse is owned by the state of Delaware and maintained by the private, non-profit New Friends of the Fenwick Island Lighthouse. The "isolated" lighthouse now stands surrounded by a neighborhood of houses and businesses. Visitors can enter the base to view a small museum and gift shop. The lighthouse, however, is not open for climbing.
It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1979.<ref name="nris"/> {{gallery|mode=packed |Image:Fenwick_Island_Lighthouse.jpg|Spring 2008 |Image:Fenwick island lighthouse 2 010.jpg|Looking west-northwest (2009) |Image:Fenwick island lighthouse 2 043.jpg|Main entrance to lighthouse (2009) |File:Fenwick Island lantern room.jpg|Lantern room }}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{commons category|Fenwick Island Lighthouse}} * [http://www.fenwickislandlighthouse.org Official Fenwick Island Lighthouse Website] - includes 2009 season visiting information *[http://cblights.com/lights/fenwickisland.html Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Fenwick Island Light]
{{Lighthouses of Delaware}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Delaware}}
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[[Category:Fenwick Island (Delaware–Maryland)]] [[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1858]] [[Category:Lighthouses in Sussex County, Delaware]] [[Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware]] [[Category:Museums in Sussex County, Delaware]] [[Category:Lighthouse museums in the United States]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sussex County, Delaware]] [[Category:1858 establishments in Delaware]]