Finns Point Rear Range Lighthouse

Call in advance to find out if it will be open. My first visited occurred in May 2013, and it was closed. If this happens, the Finns Point National Cemetery and Ft. Mott State Park are up the street. My second visit coincided with the 2013 Lighthouse Challenge, and I ascended to the top. Descending the poorly lit stairwell, however, I used my iPhone for illumination.

The lights of Finns Point Rear Range in New Jersey and Fort Penn Range in Delaware were constructed in 1877 by order of Congress for the sum of $ 55,000 to guide ships moving from the Delaware Bay into the Delaware River.
The illuminating apparatus was a fourth-​order range lens manufactured by Barbier & Fenestre in Paris, which focused the light from a fourth-​order Funk Heap lamp with one wick. A weight, suspended from the lantern room, powered an eclipser that raised and lowered a cylindrical shade around the light to produce two seconds of light followed by one second of darkness. The keeper was required to wind the weight every six and a half hours to keep the eclipser functioning.
Finns Point was darkened in 1933, but was re-​established the following season, at the request of rover pilots, although automated beacons were installed so no new keepers were hired.
In 1950, the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Delaware River channel serviced by the Finns Point Range to a width of 180 feet and a depth of 40 feet. The range lights were deemed unnecessary as the Reedy Island Range to the south could now cover this wider section of the channel. Finns Point Range Lights were deactivated for good on March 22, 1950.
Finns Point was a unique light to climb this year for two reasons.
1. Because it sits on Federal Land the government shutdown this year ended in just enough time so as to allow Finns Point to be open for Lighthouse Challenge Weekend.
2. Finns Point had been closed since 2006 but last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had the structure refurbished and painted for public use and climbing.
If you go:
Finns Point has no fee but donations are naturally accepted.
The Friends of Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge plan to open the lighthouse and shop the third Sunday of each month March through May and September through November, weather permitting.
The tower height is 115 feet and overall is very climbable with there only being 130 steps to get to the lantern room/​outside.