Oregon's Shortest and Octagonal Lighthouse

The Cape Meares Lighthouse was built in 1890 and its tower stands only thirty-eight feet tall. It is the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. Although the shortest, the lighthouse stands over 200 feet above the ocean on a hillside in the Cape Meares State Park, Tillamook, OR. The focal plane of the light is 223 feet above the water and the light could be seen for twenty-one miles. The light was replaced by an automatic beacon in 1963. The tower of the Cape Meares Lighthouse is one of only two eight-sided lighthouse towers in the United States. The other light tower is in Hawaii.

Cape Flattery Lighthouse - Washington

The Cape Flattery Lighthouse, built in 1857, is located on Tatoosh Island, WA. This eighteen acre island is sacred to the Makah Nation and is forbidden territory. I took the picture, shown below, from an observation deck on the edge of the United States. For anyone standing on that deck, only the Tatoosh Island stands between them and Asia. (Click on the map and the picture for an enlarged view.)

At the time of my visit here in 1999, Cape Flattery was one of the oldest, still standing, active, automated and unmanned lighthouses on the west coast. It is also the most northwest point in the continuous U.S. Because the island sets several hundred yards offshore, I used a telephoto lens with a 2X coupler on my camera. My picture does not do justice to the beauty of the surrounding waves and the vastness of the ocean's presence I experienced that day.

To reach the aforementioned observation deck to see this lighthouse, one must walk a cedar boardwalk trail which is on the Makah Indian Reservation. The trail provided a route through a half-mile of Washington coastal forest to the edge of the U.S.

At The Top

The Umpqua River Lighthouse is an example of the planning and thought that engineers invested in the design of lighthouses. This lighthouse, and many others built before the time of electricity, had to provide an escape for smoke and heat generated from the burning flame which provided light. The engineers designed a vent system in the ball at the top of the lighthouse. The ball has a series of holes around its bottom which provided venting. If you click on the top picture, the holes will be more visible.

The Lighthouses of Michigan

Many people enjoy lighthouses and several have shown their curiosity about the numbers. In the United States, there are approximately 1000 lighthouses. The state of Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the U.S  They have 125 lighthouses as shown on the map below. (Click on the map for an enlarged view to see the many locations.)

I've seen twenty-eight of Michigan's lighthouses, and I'm featuring The Sand Point Lighthouse as an example of one located in the Upper Peninsula. This lighthouse is located at Escanaba, MI and was built in 1867 by the National Lighthouse Service. It's fourth order Fresnel Lens first showed on May 13, 1868. The lighthouse served mariners continuously from 1868 until 1939, except for a short time in 1886 when it was out of commission because of a fire which severely damaged the building. The fire also cost the life of Mary Terry who was one of the first women light keepers on the Great Lakes.

In 1985 the Coast Guard discontinued use of the building and a lease was negotiated with the Delta County Historical Society. Restoration to the exterior was done to bring it back to the original appearance of the lighthouse. The interior spaces were decorated as they would have appeared more than a hundred years ago, following the 1886 fire.

  Thanks to my friend and fellow Author, Judy Watters, for the map.

The Wall - Umpqua River Lighthouse

The Umpqua River Lighthouse, built in 1894, is constructed of brick. This is evident by the  adjacent picture showing the inside wall. During my tenure as a tour guide at this lighthouse, many people commented about the brick color on the wall. First impression for some was that recycled brick were used to build the lighthouse. Although the brick does appear to be recycled, this is not the case.

Several years after the lighthouse was built, in an effort to reduce maintenance of the inside wall, it was painted white. However, this action later proved to be a mistake. The brick of the inside wall could not breath to the airspace between the inner and outer walls. This created a problem with condensation on painted surface of the inside wall. Engineers later concluded the paint had to be removed. This was done by carefully sandblasting the paint without damaging the brick surface. That action left the wall with the appearance of being built with recycled brick.