Barnegat Light (pronounced "BAR-nuh-git")Franco, Judi. "20 town names in NJ with crazy pronunciations that make no sense Read More: 20 NJ town names with crazy pronunciations that make no sense", WKXW, June 29, 2023. Accessed February 5, 2025. "Barnegat - Incorrect: BAR-nuh-gat; Correct: BAR-nuh-git" is a borough in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 640, an increase of 66 (+11.5%) from the 2010 census count of 574, which in turn reflected a decline of 190 (−24.9%) from the 764 counted in the 2000 census.Table 7. Population for the Counties and Municipalities in New Jersey: 1990, 2000 and 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, February 2011. Accessed May 1, 2023. The borough borders the Atlantic Ocean on Long Beach Island and is home to Barnegat Lighthouse.
Barnegat Light was formed as a borough by the New Jersey Legislature on November 2, 1948, to replace Barnegat City borough, which in turn had been created on March 29, 1904, from portions of Long Beach Township.Snyder, John P. The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 194. Accessed May 1, 2026.
History Early history
The area surrounding Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet was described by Henry Hudson in 1609, as "...a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it." The name of the bay, mainland town, and island town were extensions of the inlet's name, named so in the 1610s by later Dutch mariners as "barende-gat" which was a general Dutch lingual description of a powerful inlet, not a formal place name, and depending on its context meant "burning hole" or "inlet of breakers."Lloyd, p. 42.Gannett, Henry. The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, p. 37. United States Government Printing Office, 1905. Accessed August 27, 2015.Hutchinson, Viola L. The Origin of New Jersey Place Names, New Jersey Public Library Commission, May 1945. Accessed August 27, 2015. Subsequent transliteration as control of the land changed hands throughout the 17th century Anglo-Dutch wars resulted in barende-gat and its variations becoming Barnegat and a formal name for many locations and features in the area.
On October 26, 1782, a Belgian cutter traveling southward became stranded near the inlet. The ship was noticed by revolutionaries led by Captain Andrew Steelman, who recruited local men to unload the cargo. While at rest on the beach, the crews were attacked by Captain John Bacon, who ran a pinelands gang and was affiliated with the Loyalists. Almost all of Steelman's men were murdered in what became known as the Barnegat Light Massacre, which led to a manhunt and battle at Cedar Bridge Tavern and one of the last of the Revolutionary War.Karch, p. 16.
By the 19th century, Long Beach Island was known for its plentiful and various wildlife, fishing, favorable sailing conditions, and pleasant weather in summer. In 1801, most of the northern tip of what was then commonly referred to as Barnegat Beach, a neighbor to the established mainland town of Barnegat across the bay, was purchased by Bornt Slaght, a founder of Staten Island and a revolutionary veteran, who built a small house, the first structure on the north end of Long Beach Island, and later, in 1821, a hotel, one of the first seaside hotels in New Jersey. In the late 1820s, Slaght sold his hotel to Jacob Herring, thereafter known as the Herring House. The building lodged many of the visiting hunters and sport fishermen, who primarily came from New York City and Philadelphia.
The first lighthouse at Barnegat Inlet was built in 1834 in recognition of the increased economic dependence on the inlet. Barnegat Inlet held a unique position of strategic regional and national importance. Maritime traffic to New York City, the gateway to the new world, relied upon Barnegat Light to navigate into New York harbor. The sheltered Barnegat Bay was a safe harbor and access point to inner bay ports, such as the Mullica and Toms rivers, down which came numerous commodities manufactured in the pine barrens, such as bog iron, and exported to the cities through Barnegat Bay. Cranberry Inlet, located between Ortley Beach and Seaside Heights, naturally opened by storm and tidal forces in 1750, was naturally closed again in 1812, cutting off a well-used and less treacherous entryway to the bay, making Barnegat Inlet the primary access point thereafter. The 1834 lighthouse was painted white, stood 40 feet tall, and was powered by a reflector system patented by Winslow Lewis, who also constructed the tower.
Brownsville In 1854, John Maxon Brown, a wrecker from Manasquan, bought much of the land that makes up present-day Barnegat Light. This purchase included the acquisition of Herring House, which he renamed the Ashley House for his wife's family. The family owned so much of the tiny town that people in the area colloquially called it Brownsville during this time. The powerful inlet caused a southward drift that began to threaten the 1834 lighthouse, which was also in poor condition due to substandard construction and was the subject of voluminous complaints from mariners due to its weak light. The lighthouse collapsed into the inlet in 1857, but not before a temporary wooden tower had been put into service while a superior replacement lighthouse was erected from 1857 to 1859.
The Brown family left the island in the 1870s after John Ashley Brown, John M. Brown's son, by then a ship captain, died in a storm at sea.Karch, p. 6. In 1874, the Brown's sold the Ashley House to "Uncle" Charlie Martin, the former manager and cook. The United States Life-Saving Service built Station No. 17 on East 5th street in 1872, replacing an 1840s house of refuge nearby. The new station was later expanded in the 1890s. In the late 1860s, a general store and post office was constructed near the intersection of West 4th Street and Central Avenue. The general store was originally run by Lloyd and Lucretia Butterworth and provided limited supplies—largely due to the difficulty in transporting goods to the remote Island location in then equally remote coastal New Jersey. In 1919, the general store was purchased by the Applegate family who ran it well into the 20th century.
Barnegat City In 1881, the Barnegat City Improvement Company was formed by Benjamin Franklin Archer, William F. Bailey, and a group of Camden, New Jersey investors.History, Borough of Barnegat Light. Accessed July 26, 2016. They intended to capitalize on the success of Atlantic City, as well as the then-popular temperance and health resort movements.Lloyd, pgs. 41, 47. They laid out streets, housing lots, hotels, a port, and a railroad, calling their planned seaside resort Barnegat City, emulating its popular southern neighbor Atlantic City. Their vision enjoyed limited success, as the city increased its already established reputation as a small but popular destination for sailors, sport fishermen, and hunters from Philadelphia and New York City, who in the early 1880s arrived on regional rail lines for part of the way and a steamboat across the bay to waiting carriages on the Island. Or in the earliest days, by traditional horse-drawn carriage the entire way to the bay steamboats. The 1886 construction of a railroad from Whiting and Toms River to the Island made the trip faster and easier, but still not as direct or convenient as that built for Philadelphians to Atlantic City. Local concerns lobbied for years to have a direct rail route constructed, but those efforts failed to make the Island as convenient and affordable of a day-trip to those in Philadelphia as Atlantic City was. Those coming from New York City took a ferry to Long Branch, then railroad to Toms River, and finally a steamboat from Toms River down Barnegat Bay to Barnegat City. The SS Hesse, a ship chartered by the Pennsylvania Railroad, began providing transport into Barnegat City for passengers largely originating from New York City and Trenton. This ship was later replaced by the Connetquot. The Oceanic Hotel, Sunset Hotel (initially San Souci Hotel), and Social were built as part of the original BCIC plan. The Oceanic opened in 1882, the Sunset in 1883, and the Social in 1884. The large Oceanic Hotel, located on East 4th Street, would be moved 300 feet west barely a year after opening due to sudden erosion threatening the hotel, which was placed atop leveled dunes at the very edge of the beach.
The Ashley House was sold to John Warner Kinsey in 1882, who rebranded it the Kinsey Hotel. He sold the old hotel not long after, the Ashley being antiquated and badly in need of repairs to compete with its larger more modern new neighbors in town. The hotel stood empty until 1887 when it was torn down. Between 1884 and 1886, a direct railroad connection was completed to increase the Island's tourism capabilities. The first train reached Barnegat City on June 28, 1886. The lighthouse keeper's house was greatly expanded in 1889 by the Federal Lighthouse Bureau to house the head keeper, his two assistants, and their families. During the Spanish–American War, signal houses were hurriedly constructed up and down the east coast, one of which was built in Barnegat City whose staff were charged with watching the seas for signs of Spanish ships. The brief war ended, however, before the houses could be put into service.
Barnegat City became part of Long Beach Township after the township's establishment in 1899. In 1904, the city declared itself an independent borough and Barnegat City became the first officially recognized name for the storied old northern point of Long Beach Island.
In 1914, an automobile bridge was built next to the railroad bridge at the midpoint of the Island at Ship Bottom, eventually attracting more to the Island when roads and automobiles were plentiful but also increasing the devastating near term decline in railroad passenger and freight traffic vital to the Island's trade and tourist economy, as well as livelihoods of most residents. In 1919, the struggling Oceanic Hotel sold and the somewhat more successful Sunset Hotel, catering to seasonal water fowl hunters, was purchased by John Barber. In 1928, Kaetzel's Hotel and Bar was opened on West 7th Street by Paul and Toni Kaetzel. The bar was later purchased by Philadelphia bar owners Adamas "Pop" Kubelczikas and his wife Helena "Mom" Kubelczikas. They renamed the then bar and grill Kubel's Bar, which still operates today.