Day 3 lights included Liston Front Range Light located in Fort Penn, DE on the banks of the Delaware River. The lighthouse remains in good condition, is privately owned and inactive. We stopped at the Fort Penn Post Office and obtained directions from the postmistress. A short modern metal tower located on the grounds now serves as the front range light.
Liston Rear Range Light is located 3.5 miles inland from the Front Range Light. It once held a 2nd order Fresnel lens, unusually powerful for a range light. It was automated in 1976 and its lens exchanged for an aero-marine beacon. It remains an active aid to navigation in conjunction with the Front Range Light which is a short modern metal tower on the grounds of the original building.
Reedy Island Rear Range Light is located on Route 9 in Taylor’s Bridge, DE. This 1910 range light replaced an earlier tower dating back to 1838.
A steel tower fitted with the automated light from the Cape Henlopen station in 1929 replaced the Mispillion River Light located at the end of Lighthouse Road in Milford, DE. The old lighthouse was a 2-story dwelling with an attached, square wooden tower about 48' tall. One of the locals owning a cottage across from the tower tells of the attempt to keep the original lighthouse in-place after a real estate agent purchased it. He directed us to Shipcarpenter Square in Lewes, DE’s historic district to see what remained of the lighthouse following a May, 2002 fire (lightning strike). It is believed that the present owners are using the original plans and what materials they can to build a replica of the old lighthouse.
Steel tower:
REPLICA as of 9/17/05:
