Photographing Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

A Photographers Dream

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is located along the New Jersey shore in North Wildwood. This gorgeous Victorian style lighthouse is a photographers dream. It not only has a beautiful Victorian home with a lighthouse incorporated into the house, but the surrounding property is full of beautiful gardens, special little hideaways, and a path leading right to the sea.

I found this lighthouse particularly interesting because it looked more like a beautiful Victorian home than a lighthouse. Inside the home it has 5 fireplaces and a very well maintained living quarters for the keeper and his family. This must certainly rate among the nicest keepers quarters for lighthouses.

All photographs in this article are my own-mbgphoto.

Victorian Lighthouse

Source: Mary Beth Granger

View from Parking Area

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Sign Welcoming You to Lighthouse

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Historic Lighthouse

The lighthouse was first operated in 1874 to guide ships along the New Jersey shoreline. This distinctive lighthouse helped navigators to pinpoint where they were located along the shore.

This lighthouse is very sturdily constructed. In 1889 when a ferocious hurricane blasted the area many people were washed away and drowned. Those people that survived took refuge in the Hereford lighthouse. Even though it was surrounded by water and shaken by the high winds the lighthouse and18 people who took refuge in it survived. ( information on this event taken from Mid-Atlantic Lighthouses by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones).

The lighthouse remained in service for 90 years at which time it was discontinued by the Coast Guard in 1964. It sat unused until 1986 when the citizens of North Wildwood opened it again.

Today you can tour the lighthouse, climb to the top of the tower and enjoy a restful day among its beautiful gardens,

 

Visiting Lighthouses

Have you ever visited a Lighthouse?

• 42% Oh yes I have visited many lighthouses, they are great!
• 42% I have visited a few lighthouses and would love to see more.
• 17% No, but they are on my list now.
• 0% Why would I want to see a lighthouse...just another building!

12 people have voted in this poll.

My Passion for Visiting Lighthouses

I have always loved lighthouses, but 8 years ago when I retired my love of lighthouses really heated up. It started with a love to travel and improve my photography skills. The first year of my retirement my husband and I visited Door County, Wisconsin and I took some photos of their lighthouses. I found each one to be different and intriguing and my quest to photograph more lighthouses started.

Over the years we have photographed over 100 lighthouses and each year I am looking for new opportunities to capture these beautiful, historic lights with my camera. Our trip to the New Jersey shore gave me the opportunity to add 6 new lighthouses to my photographic collections.

White Hydrangea and Gazebo Sitting Area

Source: Mary Beth Granger

The Gardens at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

The gardens all around the lighthouse were beautiful. The flowers were well maintained and there was a huge variety of flowers artfully set among small sitting areas. You would walk along a path and be surprised by each little area. One area had a birdbath surrounded by flowers, another would have beautiful hydrangea bushes, and still others would have bright yellow daisy type flowers bordering the house and fence.

There were so many wonderful little areas to explore. It was truly an unexpected and delightful garden.

Hanging Baskets around the Porch

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Flowers Surrounding Birdbath

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Bright Yellow Flowers and Picket Fence

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Paths throughout the Garden

One of the things that I loved about the garden was the pathways that led you from one section to the next. These pathways were lined with beautiful greenery and flowers and were found throughout the back area of the grounds.

There was a wooden pathway that went from the house to the very back of the property which then opened up to a concrete boardwalk that went along the sea. What a great way to spend an afternoon. I walked from the gardens out onto the boardwalk and could watch the sailboats drifting out to sea. A truly delightful walk.

Pathways Lined with Flowers

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Old Boats Surrounded by Flowers

Towards the back area of the gardens, I came across two different old boats. Theses boats looked like they had seen better days and were now used to showcase the flowers around the garden. Each of the boats had a wooden bench sitting across from it and beautiful flowers growing all around the boat.

I took some time to sit on the bench and rest before I started photographing the boat and flowers. What a great way to add interest to the gardens!

Source: Mary Beth Granger

Where is Hereford Inlet?

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North Wildwood New Jersey -

North Wildwood, NJ 08260, USA

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When we visited Hereford Inlet we were staying at Atlantic City. The lighthouse was about a half hours drive from our hotel.

Lighthouse Gifts from my Photos

I love to use my photographs to make gifts for my Zazzle shops.  Below you will find several gifts from photographs of the Hereford Lighthouse.

Gardens at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse by lighthouseenthusiast
Create custom greeting cards at Zazzle.

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Double-Sided Ceramic Round Christmas Ornament by lighthouseenthusiast
Browse Hereford inlet lighthouse Ornaments

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Poster by lighthouseenthusiast
See more Hereford inlet lighthouse Posters

Cape May New Jersey

In the spring of 2014 we visited several lighthouses along the Jersey shore.  The southern most one that we visited was Cape May lighthouse.  This lighthouse is located at the southern tip of the Cape May peninsula in Cape May point state park.

This lighthouse was built in 1859 and was automated in 1946.  It continues to be operational today.  You can climb the 199 steps to the top of the tower for wonderful views of the Jersey shoreline and the coastal area. The current lighthouse is the third lighthouse to be located in this area.  The first two are now under water due to erosion.

It was a beautiful clear day when we visited the lighthouse and I was able to get several nice photos.  The lighthouse is very tall and it was somewhat hard to get the entire lighthouse into the photo from without walking a ways down the beach.  The photo on the right shows the view of the area walking down the beach from the lighthouse.

Cape May Lighthouse Postcard by lighthouseenthusiast
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Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Sandy Hook lighthouse is found at the northern end of the New Jersey shore.  It is located near the entrance to the New York harbor.  This made it  important in protecting ships going in and out of the harbor for more than 200 years.  Sandy Hook lighthouse was first put into service in 1764 and as such is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the USA.

We visited Sandy Hook during a trip to visit lighthouses along the New Jersey shore.  The lighthouse had a small museum and gift shop in the keepers house.  The lighthouse itself is only open for visitors to climb on a scheduled and limited basis since it is still a working lighthouse.
Sandy Hook lighthouse stands on the grounds of historic Fort Hancock.

I spent some time walking around the lighthouse and looking for the best angle to shoot my photos.  I like this shot of the top of the lighthouse through the trees.  You can see the rough stone and the angled walls in the photo.
I have written more about my visits to New Jersey lighthouses on my Hubpages Mbgphoto

Photographing Barnegat Lighthouse

Photographing a lighthouse when on a trip can be challenging.  We usually stop at several lighthouses during each days travels and it is not always possible to get the best lighting conditions.  When we stopped at Barnegat lighthouse it was the middle of the day and the sky was a bright blue.  As I got out of the car and walked down the path toward the lighthouse I thought to myself that I would be able to get a nice shot of "Old Barney" with a bright blue sky but perhaps not anything very interesting to make it stand out.

After shooting this photo of a good looking lighthouse with the bright blue sky, I proceeded past the lighthouse to see what I could capture from the other direction.  Past the lighthouse was a walkway that went down along the inlet.  It was a beautiful day to take a walk and there were a lot of fishermen along the walkway along with families enjoy a walk out to the sea.  After I had walked a ways I turned around and look at the sight I got.  Beautiful fluffy clouds surrounding the lighthouse had made an appearance so that I could get the perfect shot.

I was really excited to see the clouds appear and I continued walking down the pathway to see if I could capture any other shots.  In this photo I was able to shoot the sandy and rocky shoreline in front of the lighthouse.  I love the perspective it gives to the scene.

Barnegat lighthouse is located on the northern tip of Long Beach island along the New Jersey shoreline.  It was first placed into service in 1835.  Today visitors can climb the 217 steps to the top of the lighthouse to see the fantastic views the island, the bay and the Atlantic ocean.

Barnegat Lighthouse Gift Box by lighthouseenthusiast

Barnegat Lighthouse Christmas Ornament by lighthouseenthusiast
Create one-of-a-kind personalized ornaments at Zazzle

Navesink

High atop the hills in Highland New Jersey is a very unusual lighthouse.  This structure has two towers that are 320 feet apart.

We were visiting Sandy Hook lighthouse when I looked up the hill and saw this marvelous castle like structure.  I pulled out my 300mm lens and was able to capture this photo from the bottom of the hill.

History of Lighthouse

Afterwards I researched a bit to find out out this unusual structure.  It seems that the Highlands were an important watch tower for settlers back in the mid 1700's.  They were able to watch the harbor from this local and protect the ports from raids by enemy ships.  Whenever a hostile ship was sighted a warning beacon was sent.    This went on until the time of the American Independence when shipping got busier in and out of the Hudson River.  At that time this matched pair of stone towers was built in 1828.

These brownstone towers helped to guide ships into the harbor until 1898 when the government no longer saw a need for two towers and the north tower went black.  The south tower continued to operate until 1953.

Today this historic site is ran by the New Jersey State Park Service and welcomes visitors.

Navesink Postcard by lighthouseenthusiast
Design Full color post cards at zazzle