North Wildwood is a City of many treasures. One closest to the hearts of residents is our own Historic Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. Another treasure is the woman who brought the lighthouse back from decay, Phyllis Catanoso.

   On Thursday, May 22, Phyllis Catanoso will receive the 2014 New Jersey Preservation Award for her untiring work that not only restored the lighthouse to its noble purpose, but also gave it new life as a uniquely beautiful landmark.

Everyone who lives here knows the story, as does anyone who vacations here.

Before anyone ever lived on this island, the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse was built, completed on March 30, 1874.

The Lighthouse was needed because Hereford Inlet, with its strong, unpredictable currents, was the scene of many a mariner’s disaster dating back to the era of 17th Century whalers.

After two Life-Saving Stations were built to rescue seamen after a shipwreck, it was decided that a lighthouse was needed to prevent tragedy before it happened.

A simple, practical wood frame lighthouse was built in the Victorian era design called “Swiss Carpenter Gothic” or “Stick Style.”

It did its job dutifully and unpretentiously while it housed 10 consecutive lighthouse keepers. That was until 1963 when its Fresnel lens was covered up and replaced by an automatic light atop a steel tower.

Out of commission, the once faithful lighthouse became nothing more than a neglected storage shed.

That was until Phyllis Catanoso launched her mission to reclaim the Lighthouse for North Wildwood and elevate it to the status of cultural icon.

The first step in saving the Lighthouse was having it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Phyllis was unstoppable until it happened in 1977.

By 1982 she succeeded in procuring the property by way of a lease that read “Whereby the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection turns over the stewardship of the Lighthouse to the City of North Wildwood.”

Phyllis was the best steward the Lighthouse could have hoped for!

Once the property was settled under the City’s wing, Phyllis led a small army of volunteers in cleaning up the property and reestablishing its calling– and she didn’t hesitate to wield a hammer or paintbrush herself!

Through Phyllis’ efforts, grant money to the tune of $1.5 million was procured and used to breathe new life into the structure that had saved countless lives.

In 1983 Mayor Anthony Catanoso officially opened the Lighthouse as an Information Center. In 1986 the Lighthouse’s authentic beacon was reactivated, while the characterless light on its steel tower was thankfully removed. By 2011 the entire restoration was complete.

Fifty years from the start of Phyllis’ endeavor, the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse is the shining jewel of North Wildwood—and the entire island.

And rightly so, North Wildwood’s own Phyllis Catanoso will receive the much-deserved 2014 New Jersey Preservation Award for her dedicated work towards saving this treasure for the future.

The City and all its residents couldn’t be prouder!