{"nrhp_refnum":"79002317","name":"BARNEGAT (lightship)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Pier Thirty South","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.939504492000026,"lon":-75.14124531799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Conservation","Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Light Ship 79 (WAL 506), named BARNEGAT, a steam-powered, iron-hulled, riveted lightship built for the United States Light House Board by the New York Ship Building Company at Camden, New Jersey. It is presently in restoration at Pier Thirty South in center city Philadelphia.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the vessel guided coastal commerce to the Port of Philadelphia and provided safe passage and aid to navigation, including weather, water and radio beacon services. It also states the vessel introduced the first major use of radio beacons as non-permanent aids to navigation, and that it is the oldest iron lightship in the United States and the only operational lightship fully staffed by museum members.","narrative":"Built in Camden, New Jersey, for the United States Light House Board by the New York Ship Building Company, this iron-hulled, riveted steam lightship was one of a group of five built under the same contracts. Stationed seven miles off Barnegat Inlet on the New Jersey coast after first serving at Five Fathoms Bank off Cape May, it marked hazards and guided vessels bound for New York and Philadelphia. Its signals included a light, two diaphone fog horns and a radio beacon, and it was among the first lightships to use radio beacons as temporary aids to navigation. The vessel was converted from steam to diesel power in 1931. It was retired in 1967, displayed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum until 1975, and is now being restored in Philadelphia, where a volunteer guild operates it. It is regarded as the oldest iron lightship in the United States.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"New York Ship Building and Dry Dock Co. N.J.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Presently in restoration at Pier Thirty South in center city Philadelphia; fully operational with machinery run at least once a week.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.380987-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002317.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002317/b6b678f871-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002317/b6b678f871-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BARNEGAT_(LIGHTSHIP)_CAMDEN_COUNTY,_NEW_JERSEY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BARNEGAT_(LIGHTSHIP)_CAMDEN_COUNTY,_NEW_JERSEY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997462","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_lightship_Barnegat_(LV-79)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4861475"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/barnegat-lightship-79002317/"}