Barnegat Light

Barnegat Light is the quiet northern tip of Long Beach Island, a borough built around Old Barney, the inlet, and a working fishing fleet. It feels more independent and less resort-driven than the rest of LBI, with a real year-round community and a slower pace. The draw is the lighthouse and the beach at the island's end, plus a commercial-fishing waterfront you can see at work, not a boardwalk.

History The town was originally called Barnegat City and renamed Barnegat Light in 1948, after its landmark and to avoid confusion with nearby Barnegat Township. Its identity ties to two things: the lighthouse, and the Scandinavian fishermen who settled here in the 1920s and built the dock that became Viking Village. The current 172-foot tower, designed by George Meade and first lit in 1859, replaced an earlier light that proved too weak and eventually fell into the inlet.

What makes it unique This is the rare Shore town with a genuine working waterfront. Viking Village is still a commercial fishing port, landing scallops, tilefish, and more, and the docks and Scandinavian heritage give the town a character the resort stretches of LBI lack. At the island's end, Barnegat Lighthouse State Park frames the inlet, the jetty, and the channel between LBI and Island Beach to the north.