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The half-ton fog bell from the 1904 Barnegat Lightship LV79 has been removed from the decaying and endangered vessel and brought to the community of Barnegat Light, New Jersey for display.
The bell, purchased for $9,000 by the Barnegat Light Historical Society, was removed by crane off the 668-ton lightship that is currently sinking in the mud at its mooring at a Camden, New Jersey boatyard. Efforts to save the ship now seem to be cost prohibitive. Estimates in 2017 said it would take $1 million just to build a platform and raise the vessel so that the ship could be worked on. Although there were a number of good intentions over the years to save the historic vessel, none of them were ever able to materialize.
The Barnegat Lightship was once stationed offshore from the community of Barnegat Light, New Jersey, first from 1927 to 1942, and then again, from 1945 to 1967.
Officials state that the fog bell will have appropriate signage to explain its history when it goes on display.
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2020 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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