The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. Delaware is a small state on the central east coast with a coastline about 125 mi (200 km) long. Most of the coast faces east on Delaware Bay and the estuary of the Delaware River leading to the ports of Wilmington, Delaware, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The southernmost part of the state faces east on the Atlantic Ocean. Delaware has suffered some painful lighthouse losses. The state's oldest lighthouse, at Cape Henlopen, was lost to erosion in 1924. The Bombay Hook Light was demolished in 1974, the New Castle Range Rear Light was destroyed in 1982, the Mahon River Light burned in 1984, just as a preservation group was being formed to save it, and the Mispillion Light burned in 2002 despite the efforts of another preservation group. Navigational aids in the United States are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Delaware lights are the responsibility of the Coast Guard's Sector Delaware Bay with an Aids to Navigation Team at Philadelphia. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from Vol. II of the U.S. Coast Guard Light List.
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New Castle County (Northern Delaware) Lighthouses
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![]() 1896 Baker Range Rear Light, New Castle, June 2011 Flickr Creative Commons photo by James Hatcher |
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![]() Liston Range Rear Light, Port Penn, JMay 2018 Google Maps photo by Ken Nichols |
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Kent County (Central Delaware) Lighthouses
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Sussex County (Southern Delaware) Lighthouses
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![]() Harbor of Refuge Light, Lewes, June 2019 Google Maps photo by Chas |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Pennsylvania | East: New Jersey | South: Virginia | West: Maryland Eastern Shore
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Posted 2001. Checked and revised July 21, 2024. Lighthouses: 25. Lightships: 1. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.