The battle for Barnegat Light would be one fought with words, not bullets, but it was a David versus Goliath story of a few local citizens versus the bureaucracy of the federal government. Like all good Jersey Shore stories, it starts with a shipwreck.
On Dec. 12, 1916, the 351-foot-long Army transport Sumner ran aground just off the Barnegat Lighthouse. Throughout the winter of 1917 the Army salvaged what it could, but with war clouds on the horizon, the hulk was left in place to be pounded to…
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