"The Lighthouse Act of 1790 was sponsored by Alexander Hamilton and signed by George Washington at a time when the Federal Government capital was New York City. On the New York and New Jersey coastlines stand many historical lighthouses, monuments to early Coast Guard navigation and search-and-rescue history. The lighthouse at Sandy Hook, built in 1764, was one of the first to be constructed in the New World. Squan Beach, N.J., was the site of the rescue of 201 people from the British Bark Ayrshire. Robbins Reef light, in New York Harbor, is noted for having had the only female lighthouse keeper in the harbor. The Statue of Liberty's lighted torch is still used as a navigation aid, guiding ships into port. The first lighted buoys used to mark shipping channels were deployed in New York Harbor. Coast Guard buoy tenders and icebreakers have long kept the Hudson River navigable and open to commercial shipping."
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