This is a slide show that documents the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work in repairing the historic Harbor of Refuge Breakwater Wall and stabilizing the lighthouse on its south end. The project was designed with utmost attention to the historic value of the breakwater wall and the lighthouse, and combined modern technology and materials with repair techniques taken straight from the pages of old Lighthouse Service records in the National Archives. Even the type and color of new rock is historically accurate.
 |
| During the fall, contractors brought in new stones weighing up to 13-tons each and carefully maneuvered them into place to rebuild breached portions of the Harbor of Refuge Breakwater wall and to fill large voids where stone had been scoured away under the lighthouse. Work, which began in July, was finally completed and approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Dec. 1, 2011. (Photo by Judith Roales) |
The Corps originally built the breakwater wall between 1897 and 1902 and still owns and is responsible for its maintenance. The Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation became the principal advocate for the repairs when the rapidly deteriorating condition of the wall began to threaten Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse which is set into the south end of the breakwater. Both the breakwater and the lighthouse are integral parts of the Harbor of Refuge and Delaware Breakwater National Historic District. The Foundation and the Corps have worked together for the past six years to piece together the federal funding required to save the breakwater and the lighthouse. Work finally began last July and was completed and approved by the Corps on Dec. 1, 2011 -- just ten days shy of the breakwater's 110th birthday.
The presentation will include historical photos of the original construction and of repairs made during the 1930s as well as a step-by-step view of the recent project. In addition, attendees will learn the answer no one else will have to the great new trivia question: "What does Delaware's Harbor of Refuge have in common with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis?"
Judith Roales, president of the Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation, is a retired journalist. She began her career as a reporter for the Wilmington Morning News in 1964, and her interest in Delaware lighthouses began there with assignments covering US Coast Guard activities in the bay. She retired from the newspaper business in 2000 as publisher of Florida's St. Petersburg Times. Post-retirement she worked to promote a free and viable world press by training journalists and newspaper owners throughout the former Soviet Union and in many third world countries. In her "spare time", she moved back to Delaware and became involved with the then-newly-formed Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation and its efforts to preserve Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse, which the Foundation owns.
She is the author of numerous books and articles, including Delaware Lighthouses and Range Lights, The Delaware Lighthouse Trail: Sussex County; and The Delaware Lighthouse Trail: Kent and Lower New Castle County. A third book in the "trail" series, Upper New Castle County, will be out in the spring.