The Historic Hereford Inlet Lighthouse and Gardens

The historic Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is a Victorian-style lighthouse located in North Wildwood, New Jersey in the village of Anglesea. It was built back in 1874 and designed by Paul J. Pelz, architect of the US Library of Congress. This fourth order lighthouse was constructed for the sake of mariners to mark the entrance to the Hereford Inlet.

It's listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (1976) and listed on the US National Register of Historic Places (1977). The lighthouse grounds are open to the public and you can visit the grounds for FREE. If you want to enter the lighthouse and take a tour you'll have to pay an admission fee.

The prettiest side of the lighthouse is the side that faces the Hereford Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean. It has beautiful botanical gardens that you can visit. There are a few benches you can sit on, a gazebo that offers shade, two wooden rowboats which are perfect for family photographs and if you go up on the North Wildwood Seawall you'll find benches that you can sit on too!

As you walk around the gardens you will come to an area called the butterfly garden and you will see colorful flowers, greenery (plants), and brightly-painted butterfly houses. We like to sit on one of the park benches and watch the butterflies fly around. If you sit still, you may get lucky enough for one of them to land on you. Please watch where you're walking as you roam around their beautiful gardens. You don't want to accidentally step on a butterfly!

There is a small parking lot that offers FREE parking if you're going inside the lighthouse to take a tour or visit the gift shop. There are several information boards on the property that give you some of the history of the lighthouse that you can read. It's part of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail and you'll find a map that marks off several spots along the trail that you may want to visit.

If you're waymarking and looking for the official Hereford Inlet Historical Marker you'll find it behind the lighthouse up on the North Wildwood Seawall overlooking the inlet and the Atlantic Ocean. Just take the path through the gardens to behind the lighthouse. Go up the wooden ramp and you'll be on the seawall. There are a few wooden benches that you can sit on if you want to watch the waves roll-in or catch a sunrise early in the morning.

We've visited almost all of the lighthouses in the state of New Jersey and the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is our favorite. We love it's Victorian charm and the beautiful gardens that surround it. When visiting Wildwood...it's a definite must-see and do on your bucket list.