Welcome to Twin Lights of the Navesink, a New Jersey State Historic Site

Twin Lights is situated 200 feet above sea level in Highlands, New Jersey. It overlooks the Shrewsbury River, Sandy Hook, Raritan Bay, New York skyline and the Atlantic Ocean. Twin Lights has been used as an aid to navigation over the coastal waters of NJ since 1828. It was used as the primary lighthouse for New York Harbor and was known as the best and the brightest light in North America. The current lighthouse was built in 1862 and replaced the earlier lights which were beginning to deteriorate.

Directions: From North Jersey: Garden State Parkway South to Exit 117 (Keyport/Hazlet) to Highway 36 South (East) for 12 miles to Highlands. Make the last right turn before the Highlands Bridge which is Portland Rd. (Off The Hook Restaurant is on the corner). Make a second immediate right turn onto Highland Avenue and pass condominiums on left. The next intersection will be Lighthouse Road, (steep angle on left). Bear left onto Lighthouse Road; follow this road into the Twin Lights parking lot.

From South Jersey: Garden State Parkway North to Exit 105(Tinton Falls/Eatontown); Follow Highway 36 North (East) to Long Branch (also known as Joline Ave); Highway 36 turns left onto Ocean Ave. and heads north; Go through the towns of Monmouth Beach, and Seabright. Pass the entrance to Sandy Hook, Gateway National Recreation Area, cross the Highlands Bridge; take the first right turn off the bridge into Highlands; loop down under the bridge and up the other side of it; at the top of the hill go straight onto Highland Ave. The next intersection will be Lighthouse Road, (steep angle on left). Bear left onto Lighthouse Road; follow this road into the Twin Lights parking lot.

Situated 200 feet above sea level atop the Navesink Highlands, Twin Lights has stood as a sentinel over the treacherous coastal waters of northern New Jersey since 1828. Named Navesink Lightstation, it became known as the “Twin Lights of Highlands” to those who used its mighty beacons to navigate. As the primary seacoast light for New York Harbor, it was the best and brightest light on the Atlantic Coast for generations of seafarers. Many a life and cargo were saved by the sweep of its beacons.

The current lighthouse, built in 1862 of local brownstone, cost $74,000, and replaced the earlier buildings that had fallen into disrepair. Architect Joseph Lederle designed the new structure with two non-identical towers linked by keepers' quarters and storage rooms. This unique design made it easy to distinguish Twin Lights from other nearby lighthouses. At night, the two beacons, one flashing and the other fixed, provided another distinguishing characteristic.

With the development of automated lights, offshore light towers, radar, and other sophisticated navigational equipment in the 20th century, manned lighthouses gradually became obsolete. While there are still working lighthouses in the United States, many have been decommissioned—a fate that befell Twin Lights in 1949. After 121 years of service, the most powerful coastal light in America was extinguished.

The State of New Jersey acquired Twin Lights from the Borough of Highlands in 1962, and opened it as a museum. Today, visitors can tour the lighthouse, climb the North Tower for a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean, visit the exhibit gallery, and see the 9 foot bivalve lens on display in the generator building. Twin Lights no longer guides ships into New York Harbor, but it stands as a formidable reminder of the important role lighthouses played in the maritime history of this country. Twin Lights is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.