National Register Listing

Great Beds Light Station

a.k.a. Great Beds Light

Offshore in Raritan Bay at NJ-NY line approx. 1 mi. E. of South Amboy, South Amboy, NJ

Great Beds Light Station has been an important lighthouse and prominent offshore landmark in Raritan Bay since its establishment in 1880. It is one of the principal aids to navigation for vessels passing between the Atlantic Ocean and New Jersey ports in the Raritan Bay vicinity. This property is significant to the local history of Middlesex County under National Register Criteria A and C. Its significance under Criterion A is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of New Jersey's maritime history. This lighthouse is representative of the Federal government's efforts to provide for an integrated system of navigational aids to promote maritime transportation safety in and around Raritan Bay. It is also significant under Criterion C because it embodies the distinctive characteristics and methods of construction employed for offshore lighthouses during the late nineteenth century. It exemplifies two important achievements in offshore lighthouse architecture and engineering in the United States. These are the use of a cast iron caisson filled with concrete for the foundation, along with a prefabricated cast iron conical light tower for the superstructure. This lighthouse's foundation is unusual in that its lower part is cylindrical while its upper part is conical. This represents a design variant that differs from the cylindrical caisson foundation usually associated with later offshore lighthouses. Great Beds Light Station's period of significance begins when it was established in 1880 and ends in 1957, its most recent year of operation 50 years before the present. Today, this light station operates as an automated aid to navigation and continues to serve its original function. It also continues to evoke the traditional character and feeling of dedication to duty associated with the history of American lighthouses and their keepers.

This property meets the registration requirements outlined in the Light Stations of the United States multiple property documentation form. It remains in its original location, its setting is unchanged, and it continues to serve its original function as an operating Federal aid to navigation. This light station's character and general appearance are essentially unchanged from its period of significance. The changes that have occurred are limited and consist largely of the loss of some minor exterior features such as a smokestack, two sheds, an outhouse, a flag pole and boat davits. The addition of modern updates has been limited and does not detract significantly from the property's historic integrity. This lighthouse's existing configuration and appearance accurately reflect its character during the period of significance. Its most important original structural components, the caisson and light tower, are well-preserved.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2008.