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History · Barnegat Light

Barnegat Light dates to 1904, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Barnegat Light was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listings are the Barnegat Lighthouse and the Barnegat Light Public School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1910.

1904founded
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Barnegat Light’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Barnegat Light began

When was Barnegat Light founded?

1904

Barnegat Light dates its founding to 1904 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 70 in 19102020 census: 640122 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓

What stands out about Barnegat Light’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18887 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 1989. Watch Barnegat Light change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barnegat Light’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnegat Light’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBarnInlet1944: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Barnegat Light on the map, 1888 to 1989

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barnegat Light. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Barnegat Light on the 1888 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1893 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1919 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1941 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1953 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1972 USGS mapBarnegat Light on the 1989 USGS map1888Barnegat sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Barnegat Light.

The story

How Barnegat Light came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barnegat Light.

Read it all →

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." 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.

ChaptersEarly historyBrownsvilleBarnegat CityBarnegat Light

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Barnegat Light, 1835 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835BuiltBarnegat Lighthouse is built
  3. 1882Post officeThe Barnegat City post office opens
  4. 1888On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904
    FoundingBarnegat Light is established
  7. 1944In the archiveBarnInlet1944
  8. 1949Post officeThe Barnegat City post office closes
  9. 1949Post officeThe Barnegat Light post office opens
  10. 1980In the archiveLighthouse
By decade

Barnegat Light, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
BarnInlet19441944BarnInlet1944
1950s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1980s1 item
Lighthouse1980Lighthouse
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
2007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fire 320072007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fir…2007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fire 220072007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fir…2007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fire 120072007 05 15 - Barnegat Light - Pine Barrens Forest Fir…2007 03 17 - Barnegat Light - Holly Berries20072007 03 17 - Barnegat Light - Holly Berries2006 09 03 - Barnegat Light - 27th Street (S)20062006 09 03 - Barnegat Light - 27th Street (S)2006 09 03 - Barnegat Light - 27th Street (N)20062006 09 03 - Barnegat Light - 27th Street (N)LBI NJ Beach 01b2002LBI NJ Beach 01bNJ LBI Sunset 042001NJ LBI Sunset 04LBI NJ Lighthouse 012001LBI NJ Lighthouse 01
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

BarnInlet1944
Retake this viewBarnInlet1944, 1944

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Barnegat Light’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Barnegat Light

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Barnegat Lighthouse
Barnegat Lighthouse, built 1835Barnegat Light Public School
BuildingsStructures
Barnegat LighthouseBuilt 1835
Barnegat Light Public SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Barnegat Light, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 764

Between 69 and 764 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barnegat Light’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Barnegat Light’s post office has been open since 1949. Another post office, Barnegat City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Barnegat City
1882–1949
Barnegat Light
1949–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Barnegatairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ocean Township1 historic placeCLong Beach TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Barnegat Light’s history

What year was Barnegat Light founded?

In 1904, according to Wikidata. Barnegat Light’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1910 counted 70 people here.

What is on the National Register in Barnegat Light?

Two places: the Barnegat Lighthouse (listed 1971) and the Barnegat Light Public School (1976).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.