The quaint, 174-year-old East Point Lighthouse commands a dazzling view of the confluence of the Delaware Bay and Maurice River — the same forces that could soon swallow it.
Severe erosion has reduced the beach in front of the lighthouse by three-quarters since the 1940s. The lighthouse basement floods after storms.
Nancy Patterson, volunteer president of the Maurice River Historical Society, which operates the lighthouse, says the worry keeps her up at night. But her most recent insomnia stems from battles with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to not only prevent the lighthouse from being engulfed by the bay, but for the society to retain management of the historical structure.
