Lighthouses
Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 24
Tillamook Head Lighthouse
Off shore (between Cannon Beach and Seaside)
1.2-miles seaward off Tillamook Head south of Seaside, Oregon the Tillamook Heads lighthouse stands, 133 feet above sea level with 62-foot-high tower on basalt rock islet. Exposure to storm waves led to nickname "Terrible Tilly." Commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering Columbia River. Replaced by whistle buoy in 1957. Only privately owned Oregon coast lighthouse on National Register of Historic Places; now used as a columbarium, a storage place for ashes of the deceased. No public access. Oregon coast trail on Tillamook Head between Ecola State Park and Seaside offers closest views; also visible from park's Indian Beach parking lot.
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (1881)
Twenty miles south of the entrance to the Columbia River, Tillamook Head towers above the often-restless waters of the wide Pacific. Generations of approaching mariners have guided on its lofty profile to reach a safe haven. In 1878, Congress decided to erect a lighted beacon atop the 1,000-foot promontory-to give it round-the-clock visibility. Over the next three years, lawmakers voted a series of appropriations for a "first-class lighthouse and steam fog signal." Before anything happened, however, Lighthouse Board engineers reminded officials that the soaring headland was often obscured by pesky fog and suggested a less lofty location would be more appropriate. And since Tillamook
The Tillamook Rock -Terrible Tilly) Lighthouse
Head's sheer ocean face made it impractical to locate anything on it, attention focused on nearby Tillamook Rock. The wave-battered basalt outcropping rises abruptly from the sea, 1.5 miles offshore. It was an optimum spot for a light, although the task of building anything on the exposed site would prove an incalculable challenge.
Prior to construction, crews had to remove the entire crown of the humpbacked ledge and create a level building surface. Single charges of black powder-100 pounds (and more) at once-ultimately loosened more than 4,600 cubic yards of stubborn stone. On the newly created plane, 100 feet above sea level, workers began constructing a combination lighthouse, living quarters, and fog signal station.
Crews lived and worked in wretched conditions for weeks and months at a time, often enduring the wildest conditions imaginable. But, in what the Lighthouse Board termed a "remarkable engineering feat," they overcame all odds, including the dire predictions of many skeptics ashore, to complete a brick-lined, sandstone structure as rugged as any fortress. The square lighthouse, rising 35 feet above the rock, went into service 21 January 1881, showing a flashing white light 133 feet above the sea.
Life on "Terrible Tilly," as the rock came to be known, was difficult at best, although l lighthouse Service-and later Coast Guard- personnel faithfully manned the solitary sentinel for more than three quarters of a century. Ultimately, the immense costs of ongoing maintenance forced the government to close the station and replace the light with an automated buoy anchored 1,000 feet to the northwest. The changeover took place 10 September 1957.
Since then, the lighthouse has been sold four times. The first three owners could do little or nothing to rejuvenate the steadily decaying structure. In 1980, a group of Portland investors purchased the light for $50,000, had it stripped and sealed shut, converting the facility into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium-a unique resting place for ashes of the deceased
Viewing spot: The closest views (which require a two-mi, one-way hike) are found along the Oregon Coast Trail, between Ecola State Park and Seaside; somewhat more distant views are possible from the Indian Beach parking area, Ecola State Park. From viewpoints along the coast trail, the lighthouse is visible 1.5 miles to the W; from Indian Beach, it's 2.0 miles to the NW
Directions: From US 101, just north of Cannon Beach turn west onto Beach Dr (signs for Ecola State Park) and proceed 0.3 miles. Turn right onto E 5th St and continue 0 15 miles. Turn right onto Ecola State Park Rd and continue to the park entrance booth (seasonal day-use fee). Bear right and continue to the Indian Beach parking area. The trail begins at a gated road on the right-hand side of the turn around.
The only Oregon lighthouse built on a rocky islet offshore, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse with its 62-foot tower can be seen a little more than a mile off Tillamook Head. Building this was an engineering feat and a nightmare for the workers who were often buffeted by waves washing completely over the rock and by hurricane force winds; they were often cut off from supply ships for weeks. at a time. Once the lighthouse was built it received the largest Fresnel lens-a first order light. It shone almost continuously from the time it was lit on January 1881 until September 1957 when the lighthouse was decommissioned and replaced by a buoy.
During its 76 years of service, Tillamook Rock was always manned- never automated. But for the lighthouse keepers stationed there, it was an isolated and lonely existence. Fortunately, there were usually four of them with three always on duty.
Storms caused considerable damage, even knocking out panes of glass from the lantern room from time to time. Among the cleanup following the October 21, 1934, storm was "seaweed, fish, and rock fragments," wrote lighthouse author Jim Gibbs. This is one of many books on Pacific Coast lighthouses and shipwrecks that Gibbs has authored including two on Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. He was stationed there as a keeper while in the Coast Guard during 1945-46 and says that none of the men stationed there ever ventured outside during severely stormy weather and that they never called it "Terrible Tilly." That moniker appeared after it was abandoned.
Several years ago Tillamook Rock Lighthouse was bought by Eternity at Sea, which turned it into a columbarium. It has also been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, which allows for exterior painting. Otherwise Tillamook Rock, which is overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has returned to being like it was before the lighthouse was built. Seals and sea lions often occupy the lower portions of the eastern slope, and murre birds and gulls whiten the rock with their droppings.
The lighthouse is not open to the public, but can be seen from Ecola State Park and Highway 101 south of Cannon Beach.
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 68
Tillamook, Oregon
Cape Meares Lighthouse
Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint is located 10 miles west of Tillamook on the north end of the beautiful Three Capes Scenic Loop. The park is open daily, throughout the year, from 7 am to dusk with no day use admission charged. Features within the park include the Cape Meares Lighthouse, an informational kiosk, interesting viewpoints where the visitor can view the off-shore rocks for native birds and the annual whale migration, the Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge, nature trails, and the famous Octopus Tree. A picnic area, which can accommodate small groups, is located adjacent to the parking lot as well as wheelchair accessible restrooms.
History of Cape Meares Lighthouse
Captain John Meares was the first to sail into Tillamook Bay, naming it Quick Sand Bay because of the mud at low tide. Robert Gray was the first American on the scene and he called it Murderers Harbor because here one of his crew was killed by natives.
The lighthouse was commissioned on January 1, 1890. The tower stands 38 feet high and is the shortest lighthouse in the state. It is constructed of bricks (made right on site at a cost of $2,900) with iron plates (made in Portland and shipped by wagon) covering it. The original addition that now houses the interpretive shop was built in 1895 the current interpretive shop replaced the original work-room in 1978.
The light was a five-wick oil lamp with a reflector to increase the light. It was turned by a 200-pound lead weight that was wound by a system similar to a grandfather clock. It turned 2 ½ hours on one winding at a pace of 7 ½ revolutions per hour. The lens and iron housing weighed two tons complete, the two lamp oil houses held 3,240 gallons of oil in five-gallon cans and were located east of the lighthouse. The walls were made 15 inches thick to protect the area from the danger of fire in the buildings.
The lens is a first order Fresnel (pronounced "Fraynel") lens made in Paris, France. It was shipped around Cape Horn, up the west coast to Cape Meares and then hauled 217 feet up the cliff by a wooden crane that was built from local timbers native to the area. It is an eight-sided lens with 4 primary lenses and 4 bull's-eye lenses with red panels covering the bull's-eye lenses. The lens made one revolution every 4 minutes. It produced about 30 seconds of fixed white light from the primary lens followed by a red flash of 5 seconds from the bull's-eye lens once every minute. This was the signature of the Cape Meares Lighthouse. The primary lens produced 18,000 Candle Power and the bull's-eye lens produced 160,000 Candle Power. The light could be seen 21 miles at sea.
The oil lamp was replaced in 1910 with an oil vapor light similar to the Coleman lanterns of today. This was replaced in 1934 with electricity produced by generators and eventually by central power. The light today is automated and produces 57,000-candle power.
The lighthouse keeper’s houses were located where the parking lot and kiosk are now situated. The houses cost $26,000 to build. The nearby city of Bay Ocean was founded in 1912, making shopping easier for the families at the lighthouse.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1963 and heavily vandalized before the 'Friends of Cape Meares' took over. Who are the <http://www.capemeareslighthouse.org/>Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse & Wildlife Refuge, Inc.? A group of dedicated people who care, about the natural beauty and the historic Cape Meares Lighthouse. Formed in 1991 in conjunction with Oregon State Parks & Recreation Department, our members conduct tours, greet over 50,000 visitors each year and maintain the lighthouse for our visitors' enjoyment.
Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse
PO Box 262
Oceanside, OR 97134
Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 142
Newport, Oregon
Yaquina Head Lighthouse [Cape Foulweather] (1873)
Yaquina Head Lighthouse stands today, little changed from the way it has appeared since 1873-the same classic tower; the same classic lens. It is Oregon's second oldest lighthouse and it’s tallest.
Early in Oregon's coastal history, the US Lighthouse Board sought to place a major seacoast light on Yaquina Head, a few miles north of Yaquina Bay. Congress ruled favorably on the request, funding expenditures totaling nearly $91,000 for 19-plus acres of land; a 93-foot tower with attached "oil room"; a 16-sided lantern and fixed, first-order Fresnel lens; and, nearby, a two-story frame keeper's dwelling and barn.
Construction started in August 1871 and continued into the winter of 1872-73. Getting building materials to the site had its difficult moments. Twice, the schooner shuttling supplies from San Francisco grounded on the bar at the mouth of Yaquina Bay, and on a third occasion it "partially wrecked." Some of the metalwork for the lantern, which had been fabricated in Philadelphia, was lost in the ocean while being off-loaded onto the landing below the station, and duplicate pieces had to be ordered. Two small lighters capsized in rough seas near the same spot, spilling their cargoes.
Electricity reached Yaquina Head Light in 1933, when workers installed a flashing bulb which repeated a 20-second "characteristic": two seconds on, two seconds off: two seconds on, then 14 off. The Coast Guard automated the station on 1 May 1966
In 1993, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acquired the station as part of the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area (YHONA).
Viewing spot: On site. Umpqua Head Outstanding Natural Area (YHONA) Newport.
Directions: From US 101, north of Newport, turn west onto Ocean Dr and proceed 0.25 mi to the entrance gate (fee) and 0 75 mi to the lighthouse parking area. A 150-ft paved walkway connects the parking area with the lighthouse.
Notes: The lighthouse grounds are open daily all year, dawn to dusk.
The lighthouse is open daily for tours: summer 10 4; winter noon-4 (weather permitting). Group and private tours by arrangement contact (541) 574-3100. The nearby YHONA Interpretive Center is open daily summer 10ff winter 10 4. Contact (541- 574-3116.
Some have claimed that Yaquina Head Lighthouse, three miles north of Yaquina Bay, was constructed at the "wrong"place and should have been built on Cape Foulweather, several miles up the coast. According to the tale, the supplies ship carrying bricks and other construction materials to the site of the proposed light was mistakenly unloaded at Yaquina Head. The contractor, realizing the error, decided it was too much trouble to transfer everything to Cape Foulweather and went ahead and built the lighthouse at Kquina Head.
The story has no merit. The misunderstanding stems from the fact that for much of the 19th century government charts mistakenly labeled Yaquina Head as "Cape Foulweather. "Historians have examined the engineers' original papers and found that they point out the source of the confusion and clearly indicate the site is what we know today as Yaquina Head.
Ref:Harnett House Map Publishers, Freeport ,Maine
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Yaquina Bay Lighthouse
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse-1890
Engineer Williamson, dispatched to search for sites to mark the entrance to Yaquina Bay, had recommended building a seacoast light at jutting Yaquina Head, four miles north of the estuary. He maintained that a light here was preferable to previously proposed range lights at the mouth of the bay. Williamson's detailed report was apparently overruled, since the board ultimately approved plans for a harbor light-an integrated tower and keeper's dwelling atop the bluff at the north side of Yaquina Bay. Established 3 November 1871, the three-story structure was fitted with a fifth-order, fixed Fresnel lens.
Before the new station was finished, however, government administrators had decided to go ahead with a more powerful light at Yaquina Head. An overriding factor was the discovery that Yaquina Bay Light was useless to southbound shipping; rugged Yaquina Head was obstructing its north-directed beams. The Yaquina Head station began operation in August 1873 and the Yaquina Bay Light station was shut down less than fourteen months later.
For more than a century, the Yaquina Bay property saw an unusual parade of tenants. Among them, US Army engineers "lived in" beginning in 1888, while overseeing construction of the stone jetties at the mouth of the river From 1908 until 1915, US Life-Saving Service crews made the place a full-fledged station. After the agency was absorbed into the Coast Guard, the latter branch built a lookout tower next to the light and stayed on until 1933.
By the late 1940s, officials had announced plans to demolish the much-decayed lighthouse. Local residents, stressing the historical importance of the structure, strongly objected. Concerned citizens formed the Lincoln County Historical Society to save the property. After years of community involvement, state officials agreed the site was worth preserving and leased it to LCHS for use as a museum.
During the 1970s, the Yaquina Bay station came under the aegis of the Oregon Parks Dept, whose crews accomplished a fullscale restoration of the lighthouse building and furnished it with period pieces loaned by the Oregon Historical Society. After an official ceremony, the lantern was relit on 7 December 1996.
The lighthouse currently operates as a museum within Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site (see Notes).
Viewing spot: On site.
Directions: Access from US 101. From the north, tUM right (west) at the north end of the Yaquina Bay Bridge (lighthouse sign) and follow the access road 0.15 miles to the st~tion grounds. From the south, turn right immediately after crossing the Yaquina Bay Bridge (lighthouse sign), bearing right (under the bridge) for 0 2 miles, onto the access road to the station grounds. A 150-foot paved walkway leads from the parking area to the lighthouse.
Notes: The lighthouse is open all year, weather permitting: daily noon-4 (donations). Guided tours. Visitors may climb stairs to the watch room (lantern room closed).
Instructions and directions to Light-House and Light Vessel Keepers-1871
The Lighthouse...shall be lighted and the lights exhibited for the benefit of mariners punctually at sunset daily...
..Every evening, half an hour before sunset, the keepers provided with a lighting lamp will ascent to the lantern of the tower and commence lighting the lamp, so that the light may have its full effect by the time twilight ends.
Lighthouse lights are to be kept burning brightly, free from smoke...during the entire nightfrom sunset to sunrise...Lightkeepers are required to keep a carefull watch ...and see that the lights under their care are kept properly trimmed throughout each night: and during thick stormy weather those keepers who have no assistants must ...watch the light during the entire night...."
Built of wood, this white frame house has the 40-foot light tower attached. It was one of four wood frame lighthouse structures built in Oregon and is the only one remaining. The other three were the Willamette River Lightholise huilt on pilings at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers, Desdemona Sands Lighthouse on pilings at the Columbia's mouth, and Point Adams Lighthouse where Fort Stevens State Park is today.
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was active only for three years (1871 to 1874). When Yaquina Head Lighthouse was built, there was no longer a need for this one and it was deactivated. Years later in the l940s this lighthouse was almost demolished. The weather-beaten old building was rescued by the Lincoln County Historical Society. Today Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a part of Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site. Open daily as a museum; it looks very much as it did in 1871.
The main floor and second floor rooms are open to the public with a gift shop in the basement. The public can go up in the tower to the top of the landing where the keeper had a bed and desk. The metal ladder going from there straight up to the light room is off limits for safety reasons. And you won't see any ghosts on your visit.
This lighthouse and museum are not haunted, in spite of what you may have heard. A, story written as a work of fiction by Lischen M. Miller (sister of poet loaquin Miller) titled "The Haunted Lighthouse" in Pacific Monthly, Volume 2,1899, was retold over and over down through the years until people started believing it.
Because the lighthouse is on state park property, the camp hosts at South Beach State Park spend part of their time at the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse museum giving tours.
The volunteer group, Yaquina Lights, Inc., helps give tours, helps maintain the building and furnishings, and runs the gift shop. New plans are underway to build an interpretive center next door that will be a replica of the U.S. Lifesaving station at South Beach.
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is located in Newport at the north end of Yaquina Bay Bridge and is open daily from noon to 4 p.m. except 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer. For more information contact the museum (541-265-5679) or Yaquina Lights, Inc. (541-574-3129).
(From "Oregon Coast Magazine")
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 192
Heceta Head Light House (1894)
The bold promontory known as Heceta Head carries the name of Portuguese explorer Don Bruno de Heceta, who sailed the Pacific Northwest coast in 1775 to claim new territory for Spain. Ultimately, though, it would be the United States who took possession of much of the vast territory. By the 1 850s, the federal government had begun to establish a series of welcoming beacons along its shores to light the way for seafaring mariners.
As the final decade of the 19th century approached, however, no sentinel brightened the 90-mile void between Yaquina Head and Cape Arago. An earlier light had stood at the mouth of the Umpqua River, but it lasted only six years before being tumbled in a rampaging flood. In 1889, the Lighthouse Board unveiled plans to replace the Umpqua tower and construct a major seacoast light at Heceta Head.
In 1893, workers erected a stucco-ed brick lighthouse, a pair of oil houses, plus a head keeper's dwelling and an adjoining duplex for two assistants. Early the next year, crews fitted the 56-foot tower with a giant, first-order Fresnel lens, which focused a flashing white light 205 feet above the Pacific. The new station commenced operating on 30 March 1894.
In an economic move, the Coast Guard automated the station in 1963, sending Keeper Oswald Allick into retirement. The US Forest Service acquired all but the two acres immediately surrounding the lighthouse and outbuildings.
After years of neglect, the keeper's house underwent a four-year restoration during the early 1980s, returning it to its original appearance. Afterward, the property reopened as a year-round bed & breakfast. The lighthouse likewise received a major facelift in the early 1990s, and is open periodically during the summertime.
Viewing spot: On site; requires an 0. 35-mi walk via a gravel path.
Directions: Near Milepost 173, US 101, turn west onto the entrance road (sign) to the Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint (and Devil's Elbow Beach) parking area (day-use fee). From here, an unpaved walking trail leads north and west 0.35 mi to the lighthouse. Notes: The lighthouse is open for tours: daily, 11-5, Memorial Day thru Sep, Fri-Sun, noon-4, mid-Mar thru Memorial Day and during Oct The grounds are open daily, sunrise-sunset, all year The keeper's house is open for tours daily noon-5 (summer).
The Heceta Lighthouse buildings
One of the most photographed lighthouses on the Oregon Coast, Heceta Head Lighthouse with its 56-foot tower is located on a headland in a postcard perfect setting. The lighthouse and its rotating light are a familiar landmark on the Central Coast and when the light was turned off the locals were very upset.
The main problem was that the cast iron flooring of the lantern room, which supported the first order Fresnel lens that weighs more than a ton, was no longer level. Water had caused rusting, which had heaved the metal causing the lens mechanism to tilt. If the rotating lens had not been stopped, the result would've been catastrophic failure, according to Nicholas Johnston, chief machinists mate from North Carolina and a Fresnel-lens expert.
Johnston had been part of an inspection team that recommended the light be shut down in June 2000. It's the first time in 106 years for the light not to be working except for a temporary shutdown in 1961 when electric cables were cut due to a mudslide.
The repairs involved disassembling the classical lens made up of more than 600 prisms, leveling and shoring up the metal platform that forms the floor of the lantern room, and sending the large metal parts of the gear mechanism to be refurbished. The prisms were labeled, packed in wooden crates, and lowered carefully out of the lighthouse
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 226
Umpqua River Lighthouse
California became an organized territory in 1847 and Oregon (including present-day Washington) the following year, almost immediately, Congress recognized the need to locate a network of lighthouses along their unlit West Coast shores. In 1848, lawmakers directed the Coast Survey to investigate and recommend the most logical places. The search team's findings proposed establishing a total of sixteen lights-twelve in California; three in Washington; and one in the Beaver State.
The choice in Oregon was at the entrance to the Umpqua River, 19 miles north of Coos Bay. Construction began in 1855, on the north spit at the river's mouth, and the finished brick tower was first lit in the fall of 1857. Unfortunately, engineers had mistakenly located the lighthouse on a sandy plain, and when the river flooded, it undermined the structure. In February 1861, high water all but capsized the light, and during an October 1863 storm, it did fall. Instead of rebuilding the overturned aid, the Lighthouse Board decided to abandon it and establish a new station at Cape Arago, 25 miles to the south.
Even without the lighthouse, commerce along the Umpqua River continued to thrive, and the calls for another beacon did not go away. In 1888, federal legislators responded with a $50,000 appropriation and instructed the Lighthouse Board to find a suitable location for a first-class light near the Umpqua's mouth.
Engineers selected a site south of the entrance, on high ground well back from the water Workers completed the tower and surrounding buildings early in 1893, although when crews tried to install the first-order Fresnel lens, they found that the metal base for the apparatus, which supported and rotated the light was 15 inches too short. Work had to be suspended more than 18 months, until Congress appropriated another $2,371 for the proper pedestal. The new Umpqua River Light went on 31 December 1894.
Umpqua River Lighthouse is almost identical to Heceta Head but is slightly taller at 65 feet high. Its setting is not nearly so picturesque, surrounded by buildings and sitting next to the road.
This lighthouse was the second lighthouse built on the Umpqua River. The first one was the first lighthouse to be built on the Oregon Coast in 1857 and until recently was thought to have stood on the north side of the river. However, a new survey confirmed that the first lighthouse was located just upriver from the mouth of the Umpqua on the south side, according to Ed St. John, volunteer resident lighthouse caretaker and tour guide. St. John works under the direction of the Douglas County Parks and Recreation Department, the public agency in charge of the lighthouse structures.
This lighthouse, like Heceta Head, also has a first order Fresnel lens-with about 600 prisms. But this lens has 24 bull's-eye lenses of which six are red. St. lohn says, "It's the most beautiful light on the coast!" Among experts it's considered a jewel of a Fresnel lens with those red bull's-eye lenses. At night the light has white and red characteristic flashes and is still used as an aid to navigation maintained by the Coast Guard.
The lighthouse is situated close to other sites worth seeing: across the road is the whale-watch platform, next door is Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, and about 200 yards away is the Coastal Visitors Center in the old Coast Guard building with historical exhibits as well as visitor information.
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 249
Cape Arago Lighthouse [Cape Gregory] (1866; 1934)
When Oregon's first lighthouse, at the mouth of the Umpqua River, fell over after angry waters undermined it during an October 1863 storm, the US Lighthouse Board decided not to replace it. Instead it had a new station built near Cape Arago (then called Cape Gregory), 25 miles to the south. The prominent headland lies just south of the entrance to boomerang-shaped Coos Bay, where a rapidly developing lumber business had transformed the region into a bustling shipping center
In 1864, Congress provided funds for a stubby iron tower standing on eight legs at the seaward end of a tiny islet-100 yards offshore and 2.5 miles north of Cape Arago. The 25-foot octagonal structure was capped with an iron lantern holding a revolving, fourth order Fresnel lens. Workers constructed a wood-frame keepers' house down the island and linked it to the lighthouse via a 1,300-foot wooden walkway.
By the early 1900s, erosion of the outer end of the sandstone-based island was threatening both the lighthouse and a nearby brick fog signal building, which had been added in 1896. The Lighthouse Board responded by erecting a combination light tower/fog signal at the opposite end of the island, presumably well away from the ocean's reach. The light in the taller wooden structure was 100 feet above sea level and began active service in July 1909.
Surprisingly, the second light suffered the same fate as its predecessor. In 1934, the Coast Guard, concerned for the station's safety, erected a third tower further back from the crumbling cliffs. Constructed of reinforced concrete, the octagonal white sentinel received the Fresnel lens from the earlier lighthouse-and electricity.
USCG officials automated the Cape Arago station in 1966. It continues as an active beacon.
Viewing spot: Roadside, Cape Arago Hwy, west of Charleston.
Directions: From US 101 Coos Bay, turn west onto West Commercial Ave and proceed 0.2 miles, Turn left (south) onto North 5th Stand continue a 05 miles. Turn right onto W Central Ave and go 0 5 miles. Bear right onto Ocean Blvd and continue 2 6 miles. Turn left onto Newmark Ave and go 0.6 miles. Turn left onto Empire Blvd (which becomes Cape Arago Hwy) and continue south/west another eight miles (passing through the town of Charleston en route). From the roadside (right), 0.55 miles south of Sunset Bay State Park's overnight campground entrance, the lighthouse is visible, 1.0-miles to the north.
Cape Arago
This is the third lighthouse to occupy this location. The first two built in 1866 and 1908 fell victim to weather and erosion. The third Cape Arago Lighthouse with its 44-foot tower was built of rein' forced concrete in 1934. The lighthouse is in good shape, but the walkway out to Lighthouse Island (aka Gregory Point) is condemned for public use; only Coast Guard personnel may use it. This lighthouse with its fourth order Fresnel lens still in use is maintained by the Coast Guard as is a unique-sounding foghorn.
The light and fog signal prevented considerable shipwreck in the vicinity of Cape Arago and many daring sea rescues were undertaken from the old lifesaving station located on the lee side of Lighthouse Island in the early days before and after the turn of the century. The light keepers often alerted the surf-men when a ship was in trouble and they would launch their surf-boats and head out to sea.... In 1915, the Coast Guard took over that branch of the service and the lifesaving station was relocated at Charleston inside Coos Bay.
Cape Arago Lighthouse is located about 4 miles south of Charleston between Sunset Bay and Shore Acres state parks. Although the lighthouse is not open to the public, good views are possible from the hiking trail between the two state parks and from a turnout about a half to three quarter mile south of Sunset Bay.
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 - Mile 274
Bandon, Oregon
Coquille River Lighthouse
The geographic location of Bandon at the mouth of the Coquille River made it the hub of all river transportation. Inbound merchandise and passengers were transferred from their ocean-going vessels to riverboats for delivery to upstream destinations. Valley farm products and outbound travelers were transferred at Bandon for their journeys to other ports. Dozens of boats would be in the harbor at a time, loading and unloading freight and lumber.
But shoals at the mouth of the river made the bar entrance unpredictable. If the entrance to the Coquille River was to be of any real commercial use, jetties were essential. In 1887 the south jetty was built. Dredging created a depth of 10-12 feet at high tide, but shoaling continued to be a problem. By 1888, officials knew that a lighthouse and a jetty on the north side of the river were essential.
In 1891, Congress appropriated $50,000 for the construction of the Coquille River Light Station, the last to be built on the Oregon coast. A local engineer interceded, however, and designated some of those funds for repair to the Point Gregory Lighthouse at Cape Arago. The Coquille River Lighthouse was built four years later for only $17,600 . . . the smallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. The lighthouse reserve included 11 acres, including Rackleff Rock, the island on which the lighthouse was built. It was connected to the mainland by a footbridge until 1905 when the north jetty was completed and the channel filled in to connect the island to the mainland. The light station went into service on February 29, 1896 with Light-keeper James Barker in charge. He and his assistant, and their families, shared a duplex a tenth of a mile north of the lighthouse. The head keeper earned $800 per year; his assistant $650. If equipment was lost due to negligence, it was docked from their pay.
Families had chores, too, but were not compensated for their labors. Women rowed their children across the river to go to school. During a storm at night, family members often went on 4-hour shifts in the tower to make sure the light did not blow out. Lighthouse inspectors were notorious for surprise inspections, and women were required to keep their quarters as clean and polished as the lighthouse.
The Coquille River Lighthouse presents a relatively simple exterior due to the small scale of the structure, and resembles characteristics of the High Victorian Italian ate style. On average, it is 10-15 feet from the base of the structure to the water below. The tower measures 47 feet from its base.
CoquIlle Light House
The light-room was equipped with a Fourth Order Fresnel Lens, illuminated by a Funck Heap lamp, and was visible 12 miles at sea on a clear night. The orders refer to the size of the lens; the first order is the largest. The signal beam was on for 28 seconds, off 2 seconds, signifying that it was a "Harbor Light." Shutters eclipsed the light for the 2-second occlusion, and were operated by a clock mechanism.
The foghorn was a DaBoll Trumpet. Its signature was a blast of 5 seconds, followed by a silent interval of 25 seconds. It was replaced by a fog siren in 1910. By 1939, technical navigational apparatus was commonplace, and marine beacons, foghorns, and lightkeepers became obsolete. The Coast Guard extinguished the light at the Coquille River Lighthouse and replaced it with an unwatched automated beacon at the end of the south jetty. It was the end of an era: the light was removed from the tower and the lighthouse abandoned.
When Bullards Beach State Park was created in 1964, it assumed responsibility for the lighthouse. By 1979, vandalism and weather damage had been repaired and the lighthouse restored. Today, a solar powered light in the tower of the lighthouse re-creates the grandeur of yesterday for Bandon and area residents.
Volunteer interpreters offer tours to the tower of the lighthouse during summer months, which remains closed the rest of the year. Special accommodations can be made for groups by calling the park of office. Gift shop open 10-4 daily during the summer. All proceeds go to the lighthouse restoration fund.
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Location: Oregon Coast Hwy 101 Mile 294
near Port Orford, Oregon
Cape Blanco Lighthouse
Imposing Cape Blanco Light merits superlatives. It is Oregon's oldest continuously working lighthouse and its southernmost major beacon. Radiating from a lofty headland, the brilliant white light shines from the highest point (245 feet above sea level) of any navigational aid in the Beaver State.
Under the watchful eye of district engineer Col. R.S. Williamson, construction of a masonry tower at Cape Blanco began in the spring of 1870, on what had long been a heavily forested bluff. Workers cleared a stand of enormous spruce and used 200,000 carefully selected bricks to erect a conical 45-foot tower. Capping it with a 16-sided lantern, they installed a magnificent, first-order Fresnel lens, costing $20,000 and manufactured in Paris.
Cape Blanco Light was automated in 1980 and declared off limits to the public. A decade later, the National Park Service acquired a large section of the station grounds. NPS, in turn, deeded a portion to the State of Oregon, as part of Cape Blanco State Park. Management of the light station became a cooperative effort among the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon's Parks and Recreation Dept, and several private sector groups. The station reopened in the mid-1990s and currently hosts visitors spring through fall. The tower's exterior was repainted in 1997 and, more recently, the interior 64-step staircase has undergone extensive renovation.
Viewing spot: On site: Directions: From US 101... four miles north of Port Orford, turn west onto Cape Blanco Rd (signs) and proceed 5.2 mi, to the parking area for the lighthouse's Greeting Center.
Notes: Weather permitting. Visitors are welcome for free guided tours of the lighthouse, including inspection of the fante room. Hours: Thu-Mon, 10-3:30, Apr thru Oct. When the lighthouse is closed for tours, the entire 32-acre headland is off-limits.
Towering above the westernmost point in Oregon, Cape Blanco Lighthouse sits 245 feet above the ocean with a 59-foot tower. This makes its light reach 22 miles out to sea from its second order Fresnel lens-still used as an aid to navigation.
The lighthouse was built in 1870 and originally had a first order Fresnel lens. (The second orcler lens was installed several years later, about 1936.) One of the earliest lighthouse keepers, lames Langlois, spent his entire 42-year lighthouse career at Cape Blanco. That would be an amazing record in any time period, hut when he was there, the South Coast was very isolated. In fact, it wasn't until the 1930s when Highway 101 was a reality that there was a decent road to the area.
And, it still takes some doing to get to the lighthouse. It's located 5 miles off of Highway 101 on quite a narrow road. Parking is near the lighthouse and close to a small gift shop and greeting center run by the Friends of Cape Blanco. The lighthouse is accessible and the group provides tours April through October, but, only on Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
When visiting also plan to stop at historic Huges House, which is a part of Cape Blanco State park. Tours here are on the same schedule as the lighthouse.
The Cape Blanco Lighthouse is on Coast Guard property but you drive through Cape Blanco State Park to get there. Cooperative management here also involves the BLM, Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and Coquille Indians.
This Article from FiddlersGreen.net “Worlds Largest Collection of Paper Models”
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