{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox lighthouse | image = Twin Lights of the Navesink (492062853).jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = The historic Twin Lights of Highlands, New Jersey, U.S. | location = Highlands, New Jersey | coordinates = {{coord|40|23|46.4|N|73|59|8.8|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | yearbuilt = 1862 | yearlit = 1862 | automated = 1949 | yeardeactivated = 1898 (north tower); 1952 (south tower)<br>north tower relit in 1962 | foundation = | construction = | shape = | height = | lens = | range = | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Navesink Light Station | nrhp_type = nhld | image = Navesink.jpg | caption = Navesink Light Station | area = | architect = Joseph Lederle | architecture = | designated_nrhp_type = February 17, 2006<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-1408641946&ResourceType=District|title=Navesink Light Station|date=2008-06-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225013418/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-1408641946&ResourceType=District|archive-date=2009-02-25}}</ref> | added = December 2, 1970 | refnum = 70000389<ref name="nris1">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> Twin Lights 06000237<ref name="nris2">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref> Landmark | designated_other1_name = New Jersey Register of Historic Places | designated_other1_abbr = NJRHP | designated_other1_link = New Jersey Register of Historic Places | designated_other1_date = September 11, 1980 | designated_other1_number = 1980<ref name=NJRHP>{{cite web | title=New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Monmouth County | url=http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/monmouth.pdf | publisher=New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office | page=5 | date=November 22, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016010716/http://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_lists/monmouth.pdf | archive-date=October 16, 2014 }}</ref> | designated_other1_num_position = bottom | designated_other1_color = #ffc94b }} }} The '''Navesink Twin Lights''' is a non-operational lighthouse and museum located in Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, overlooking Sandy Hook Bay, the entrance to New York Harbor, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Twin Lights, as the name implies, are a pair of beacons located {{convert|246|ft}} above sea level on the headlands of the Navesink Highlands.

In 1962, the State of New Jersey acquired Twin Lights. The museum offers tours of the lighthouse, and a climb of the North Tower. Twin Lights is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 for its architecture and its role in the development of lighthouse technologies.<ref name="nhldoc">{{cite web|title=Navesink Light Station – National Historic Landmark Nomination|url={{NHLS url|id=06000237}}|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

The Twin Lights State Historic Site is part of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route.

==History== thumb|left|A tower of the Twin Lights on the Navesink A lighthouse existed on the site since 1828, when it became an important guide and landmark for ships navigating the treacherous entrances to New York Harbor.

The current lighthouse was constructed in 1862. The non-identical towers by day and the two beacons by night&mdash;one flashing and one fixed&mdash;allowed ready identification by mariners of the identity of the facility, thus allowing a rough determination of their location approaching the harbor.

This was the first American lighthouse to test a Fresnel lens and was also the site of a demonstration by Marconi of the wireless telegraph in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.highlandsnj.com/photos/TwinLightsDedication2006/index.html |title=Twin Lights NHL Dedication |access-date=2008-10-05 |archive-date=2008-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906201209/http://www.highlandsnj.com/Photos/TwinLightsDedication2006/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> A bi-valve fresnel lens is on display in the museum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rickslighthouses.com/navesink.htm |title=Ricks Lighthouses |access-date=2008-10-05 |archive-date=2008-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005073158/http://www.rickslighthouses.com/navesink.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The north tower light was discontinued in 1898; at the same time the south tower was electrified, one of the first lighthouses in the United States to do so. It was automated in 1949, but was discontinued in 1952 as the importance of the light diminished.

In 1962, the site was turned over to the state of New Jersey, by the Borough of Highlands.<ref>0MB No. 1024-0018 NAVESINK LIGHT STATION United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service Page 20 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form</ref> The sixth order lens was previously acquired and installed in the north tower by the Shrewsbury Power Squadron and presented to the town which reactivated the north tower as a private aid to navigation. This light remains active.

==References== {{portal|New Jersey}} {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Navesink twin lights}} *[http://www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/twin.htm Lighthouses of New York Harbor - Navesink Twin Lights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613062709/http://lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/twin.htm |date=2006-06-13 }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070819173252/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/131lighthouse/index.htm ''Navesink Lighthouse and Robbins Reef Lighthouse: Lighting the Way Through New York Bay,'' a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan] *{{cite web|title=Navesink Light Station – National Historic Landmark Nomination|url={{NHLS url|id=06000237}}|publisher=National Park Service}}

{{Lighthouses of New Jersey}} {{New Jersey Historic Sites}} {{NHLs in NJ}} {{NRHP in Monmouth County, New Jersey}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Lighthouses completed in 1862 Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Category:Museums in Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:Lighthouse museums in New Jersey Category:National Historic Landmark lighthouses Category:National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Category:Highlands, New Jersey Category:National Register of Historic Places in Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:1862 establishments in New Jersey Category:New Jersey Register of Historic Places Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey