In 1789 the Portsmouth Lighthouse was visited by George Washington who remained in Portsmouth 4 days. Earlier in 1782 General Lafayette had been a lighthouse visitor. Daniel Webster practiced law here in 1807, and was a frequent visitor at the lighthouse during his 9 years of residence in Portsmouth. Today the lighthouse is a white conical tower, with a fog signal house attached, built on Fort Point. It rises 52 feet above the water and its 3,000 candlepower fourth-order electric light flashes a green light visible 13 miles. During fog a bell strikes once every 10 seconds. (5) (7) _NEW JERSEY_ NAVESINK LIGHTHOUSE Navesink Light, N. J., on Navesink Highlands, south of the entrance to New York, was established in 1828. It consisted originally of two rubble towers. In 1862 two brownstone towers replaced these, the north tower being octagonal and the south tower square. They are 73 feet high and connected by a dwelling. The present light is exhibited from the south tower only and shows a flashing white light every 5 seconds, 246 feet above water and visible 19 miles. The light in the north tower was discontinued in 1898. [Illustration] In 1841 the first Fresnel lens to be used in this country was imported from France and installed in the south tower. In 1898 an electric arc lamp replaced oil lamps in the south tower, this being the first primary lighthouse in the United States to use electric light. The electric arc lamp was equipped with a bivalve lens of the new lighting type. This lens, weighing over 7 tons, revolved in 10 seconds, and gave a flash every 5 seconds, lasting 0.3 seconds. The Navesink Light was the only shore station having a plant for generating electricity. Its estimated candlepower was 25,000,000 making it the most powerful coast light in the United States. Although on account of the curvature of the earth, the light itself could not be seen more than 22 miles, its beam was reported to have been observed in the sky at a distance of 70 nautical miles. After the establishment of this electric flashing light many complaints were made by residents of the neighborhood of the great discomfort and annoyance caused by the brilliancy of the flash. This was remedied by darkening several of the lantern panels on the land side. The light was later changed to an electric incandescent light of 9,000,000 candlepower. With the improvement in floating aids, however, this lighthouse lost some of its early importance, and the candlepower was reduced to 5,000 candlepower. It was changed to unwatched in 1949. The light was discontinued in 1952 and used as a daybeacon until 1963. (3) (4) _NEW JERSEY_ SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE