List of lighthouses in Delaware

This is a list of all lighthouses in the U.S. state of Delaware as identified by the United States Coast Guard. The first lighthouse in the state was erected in 1769^[1] and the last in 1925 (ignoring automated towers erected later); the oldest active light is the Fenwick Island Light.^[2]

If not otherwise noted, focal height and coordinates are taken from the United States Coast Guard Light List,^[3] while location and dates of activation, automation, and deactivation are taken from the United States Coast Guard Historical information site for lighthouses.^[2]

Name	Location	Coordinates	Image	Focal Height	Built[note 1]	Automated	Deactivated	Status
Baker Shoal Range Front Light	Port Penn	39°32′27″N 75°34′00″W / 39.5409°N 75.5666°W			1904		1924	Replaced with skeleton tower
Baker Shoal Range Rear Light	Port Penn	39°30′43″N 75°34′12″W / 39.5120°N 75.5699°W		110 ft (34 m)	1904	1924[4]		Active
Bellevue Range Rear Light	Wilmington	39°43′13″N 75°31′04″W / 39.7203°N 75.5179°W[5]		100 ft (30 m)[6]	1909	1934[5]	2001	Inactive
Cape Henlopen Beacon	Lewes	38°47′25″N 75°04′50″W / 38.7903°N 75.0806°W[7]		45 ft (14 m)[7]	1825/1864[8]		1884[8]	demolished[8]
Cape Henlopen Light	Lewes	38°46′41″N 75°05′02″W / 38.778°N 75.084°W[9]		126 ft (38 m)[9]	1769		1924	Destroyed by storm in 1926
Cherry Island Range Rear Light	near Edgemoor	39°45′43″N 75°29′24″W / 39.762°N 75.490°W[10]		120 ft (37 m)[10]	1880	unknown		replaced with skeleton tower; torn down ca. 1970
Christiana Light	north bank of the Christina River	39°43′19″N 75°31′12″W / 39.722°N 75.520°W[11]		44 ft (13 m)[11]	1835[12]		1909[12]	demolished in 1935[12]
Christiana North Jetty Light	mouth of the Christina River	39°43′05″N 75°30′58″W / 39.718°N 75.516°W[11]		37 ft (11 m)[11]	1884[5]		unknown[note 2]	demolished
Delaware Breakwater East End Light	Lewes	38°47′50″N 75°06′01″W / 38.7972°N 75.1003°W		60 ft (18 m)	1885	1950	1996	inactive
Delaware Breakwater Range Front Light	Lewes	38°47′57″N 75°06′29″W / 38.7992°N 75.1081°W[13]		45 ft (14 m)[13]	1838/1849		1903	demolished in 1950
Delaware Breakwater Range Rear Light	Lewes	38°47′23″N 75°10′10″W / 38.7897°N 75.1694°W[11]		103 ft (31 m)[11]	1881[14]		1918[14]	dismantled and re-erected as Gasparilla Island Light[14]
Fenwick Island Light	Fenwick Island	38°27′05″N 75°03′18″W / 38.4514°N 75.0550°W[15]		83 ft (25 m)	1859	1940	1978–1982	Active; private aid
Fourteen Foot Bank Light	Delaware Bay off Bowers Beach	39°02′54″N 75°10′56″W / 39.0482°N 75.1822°W		59 ft (18 m)	1887	1972		Active
Harbor of Refuge Light	Lewes	38°48′52″N 75°05′33″W / 38.8145°N 75.0924°W		72 ft (22 m)	1908/1925	1973		Active
Liston Range Front Light	Bay View Beach	39°28′57″N 75°35′30″W / 39.4825°N 75.5917°W[note 3]		45 ft (14 m)	1906	1976		Inactive; light moved to adjacent skeleton tower
Liston Range Rear Light	E of Biddles Corner	39°31′26″N 75°38′23″W / 39.5238°N 75.6397°W		176 ft (54 m)	1906	1936[16]		Active
Mahon River Light	Port Mahon	39°11′06″N 75°24′03″W / 39.1850°N 75.4008°W		37 ft (11 m)	1831/1903		1955	replaced with skeleton tower; burned down in 1984
Marcus Hook Range Front Light	near Bellefonte	39°46′34″N 75°28′31″W / 39.7760°N 75.4754°W		81 ft (25 m)	1925			active
Marcus Hook Range Rear Light	Bellefonte	39°45′44″N 75°30′12″W / 39.7622°N 75.5032°W		278 ft (85 m)	1915/1920	1950s		active
Mispillion Light	on the Mispillion River	38°56′51″N 75°18′56″W / 38.9475°N 75.3156°W		46 ft (14 m)[11]	1831/1873	1926	1929	replaced with skeleton tower; burned in 2002
New Castle Range Rear Light	near New Castle	39°38′54″N 75°35′56″W / 39.6482°N 75.5990°W		100 ft (30 m)	1876	1953		replaced by skeleton tower; original house burned in 1982
New Castle Range Front Light	near New Castle	39°38′33″N 75°35′43″W / 39.6424°N 75.5954°W		56 ft (17 m)[note 4]	1876	1963		replaced by skeleton tower
Reedy Island Range Rear Light	near Taylors Bridge	39°24′23″N 75°35′25″W / 39.4065°N 75.5902°W		134 ft (41 m)	1910[17]	unknown		active

Notes

1. If there is a second date, it represents the date the most recent tower was lit.
2. Charts show the light up to 1930 but the light appears in listings to the end of the decade.
3. current tower
4. current tower

References

1. "Lighthouses of the United States: Delaware". Russ Rowlett.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Delaware". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
3. Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012.
4. "Baker Rear Range, DE". LighthouseFriends.
5. "Bellevue Rear Range, DE". LighthouseFriends.
6. "Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Bellevue Range Rear Light". National Park Service.
7. List of Light-houses, Lighted Beacons, and Floating Lights of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States. Treasury Department. January 1, 1868. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
8. "Delaware Breakwater Light". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
9. List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. June 30, 1900. p. 106.
10. "Cherry Island Range, DE". LighthouseFriends.
11. List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. March 1, 1907. p. 124. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
12. Trapani, Bob (2007). "Christiana River Light Station". Delaware Lights: A History of Lighthouses in the First State. History Press. pp. 46–49. Retrieved 2014-01-21.
13. List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. June 30, 1900. p. 94. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
14. "Delaware Breakwater Rear Range (Green Hill) Light". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
15. "Fenwick Island, DE". LighthouseFriends.
16. "Liston rear Range, DE". Lighthouse Friends.
17. "Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Delaware Lighthouses: Reedy Island Range Rear Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-12-20.