With the development of automated lights, offshore light towers, radar and other technological navigation 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 Navesink Lightstation ceased operations and its beacons were extinguished.
The State of New Jersey acquired Twin Lights in 1962. It opened as a historic site that same year. Today, visitors can tour the lighthouse and exhibit gallery, climb the North Tower for a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean and see the nine-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 and navigational history of this country. Twin Lights is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.
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