The first light at Barnegat was built in 1835 by Winslow Lewis. The 50 foot tall tower with inadequate brightness was only powerful enough to mark the Barnegat Shoals & Inlet. The tower was of shoddy construction that gradually deteriorated. In 1856, the light was struck by a storm surge and toppled into the inlet. Work began on a new lighthouse in 1857, located 900 yards south of the original tower.
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The 172 foot tall brick tower is 28 feet wide at the base & 14 feet wide at the top. A 1st Order Fresnel lens was installed with a range of 20+ nautical miles. The light was electrified in 1927, and retired in 1944. Three victorian keeper's quarters from 1889 were either swept out to sea or destroyed between 1919 and 1940. A subterrainean cofferdam was built in 1934 to protect the tower from erosion.
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