In November 1922, Barnegat Lighthouse faced a new threat to its existence. It wasn’t from a storm with battering waves, but from the loss of support in Washington, D.C.

The two biggest champions of “Old Barney” in the nation’s capital, Sen. Joseph Frelinghuysen and Congressman Frank Appleby of New Jersey, had unexpectedly been voted out of office. Appleby’s loss had been by less than 1,000 votes and the shore area watched as a recount was underway.