Keenbug: 2013

Monday, April 1, 2013

Lighthouses of Keansburg

Lighthouses of Keansburg: Keansburg had two lighthouses that operated in conjunction with one another. The two lighthouses operated in a ranged line with a lower one (Bayside Beacon at 45') on the Raritan Bay and the higher one (Waackaack Light at 102') 3/4 of a mile inland on Creek Road.

Ships in the harbor would set their course by lining up both lights in order to determine their position (using triangulation) in the bay. The 1924 nautical map below details the position of both lights (Bayside Beacon is listed as Point Comfort Beacon).

Keansburg Ranged Lighthouses (Waackaack and Bayside Beacon)

The Bayside Beacon, originally built in 1856, was a wooden structure but this was replaced by a 45 foot metal tower in 1919. The original wooden structure served as the light-keeper's home and was briefly a restaurant before being destroyed by fire in the early 1950's.

The Bayside Beacon tower still exists in Leonardo, as part of the Chapel Hill Channel Ranged Light House. Also, known as the Old Orchard, Shoal Harbor Lighthouse, the tower was taken (read: stolen) by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 to replace the aging octagonal tower, on the lower range in Leonardo, NJ. The misappropriated tower is now known as Conover Lighthouse. The lens from the lighthouse is on display in the Twin Lights Museum in Atlantic Highlands.

There is an online petition to return the Bayside Beacon to its rightful owners in Keansburg. (The form can be downloaded in pdf and printed.)

Link: Return The Keansburg Lighthouse Petition

Original Bayside Light House

Bayside Beacon before 1919

Bayside Beacon with metal tower after 1919

Thomas Comton, one of the last lighthouse keepers at the Bayside Beacon.

The original Bayside Beacon boarded up before it burnt down.

Point Comfort Light Tower at the current location in Leonardo.

The metal tower resembles a submarine periscope.

The tower sits vandalized with graffiti.

The tower sits unused

The Waackaack Light Beacon was built in the 1860's to replace an existing wooden structure built in 1856. No photographs were available of this original wooden structure. This rear range light was the higher of the two range lights at just over 100 feet high.

The Waackaack Light was located near Creek Road, 3/4 of a mile inland from the Bayside Beacon (pictured above). Waackaack structure can be seen in several photographs below, along with the light keeper's house. Also known as Wilson's Light, it could also be aligned with the Great Bed's Light (constructed 1880) in the Raritan Bay near South Amboy.

The odd name derives from the original Leni-Lenape name for the area of Keansburg, meaning "Land of Plenty" (Waackaack). The metal tower was dismantled for scrap in the 1950's after failing to be designated a historical landmark, foiled by bureaucracy and government red tape. The light keeper's house still stands on Creek Road, obscured by high bushes.

The original light keeper's house still stands on Creek Road.

The view from atop Waackaack Light

All Major Lighthouse Installations Raritan Bay 1887

Lighthouse Triangulation Map

See Also: Mike's Maritime Memorabilia; New Jersey Lighthouse Society

Books about Keansburg

Books about Keansburg: A few books have been written with Keansburg for the setting of the story. Some of these stories are fictional and some are not.

The Crystal Ballroom is the semi-autobiographical tale of the famed cartoon artist of the Marvel heroine "Red Sonja". Frank Thorne is "one of the most respected and accomplished comic artists of his generation." The illustrated story tells the tale of several teenagers growing up in the World War II era of the 1940's. They all have the same ambition, to play jazz at the famed Crystal Ballroom in Keansburg, New Jersey. The actual Crystal Ballroom was one of the premier music venues in the forties and fifties.

Google Books Link: The Crystal Ballroom

Shoretown, a novel by Dan Milczarski, tells a sordid tale of several friends down on their luck in a poor beach resort area. An interesting story that's poorly written by someone who obviously had a bad time growing up in a similar community. The book cover shows a picture of the boardwalk area reflected in a dirty puddle, suggesting something ominous. There are several references to corruption in the town, some very real and some imagined.

Google Books Link: Shoretown

Keansburg, Images of America, is part of a series documenting life in small towns across New Jersey. The author Randall Gabrielan does a decent job of documenting life in the town from its beginning to the period just before Word War II.

Google Books Link: Keansburg

New Point Comfort Real Estate

New Point Comfort Real Estate: The town of Keansburg began as a Summer holiday resort and real estate venture.

In 1893, William Alvin Gelhaus founded the New Point Beach Company with his partners Jesse Sculthorp and Howard Roberts. This real estate venture was established to attract wealthy people from the city, to buy vacation homes and perhaps, permanently settle here. New York City was becoming quite crowded at this time with industrialisation and waves of immigration.

On June 7th of 1914, a full page advertisement in the NY Tribune was taken out to display the opportunities available entitled "Jersey Coast Resorts".

Link: Jersey Coast Resorts at Fulton History.com

Songs of Keansburg

Songs of Keansburg:

Link: Welcome to Keansburg by the Two Can Band

Link: Pride of Keansburg by Roger 'Hurricane" Wilson

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Old Post Cards of Keansburg

Old Post Cards of Keansburg: Since 1881, when founding father William Ramsay had the first postcards of Keansburg printed "to bring to the attention of the people, the beauties of our magnificant shorefront", they have played an important part in the development of Keansburg.

This early form of advertising drew people from the inner city to the shores of the Raritan Bay, before there even was a town. Originally, Keansburg was a holiday beach resort known as Point Comfort. Post cards have been used throughout the years to show the glamour of the town and now a bit of history.