Washington - Destruction Island Lighthouse (Lens)

This is the First Order Fresnel Lens that was removed from the Destruction Island Lighthouse. It is housed at the Westport Maritime Museum in Westport, WA. The lens was manufactured in 1888 in France. The lens rotated, turned by a clockwork mechanism. Its twenty-four "bulls-eye" panels cast a flashing light to a distance of over 26 miles. Originally the lamp that provided the light had five hollow wicks lit by oil. Whale oil was preferred, until it became too expensive. In the 1860's lard was used and then replaced by kerosene in the 1880's. In 1968 the lighthouse was automated, so the Fresnel lens was dismantled, removed from the lighthouse, and placed in temporary storage in Astoria, OR. In 1998 a display building was built in the Maritime Museum. This location was selected because it was the closest place where the lens could be appropriately cared for and made accessible to the public. It took a team of 6 people working for a week to reassemble, clean, and polish the Fresnel lens. At the time of my visit to the Westport Maritime Museum in 1999, there were six lighthouses in Washington state that still had an operating Fresnel lens that was lit by an electric bulb. -- The above photo was taken by Tammy Diamond and sold by the Museum. Since I have mentioned the Fresnel lens in previous postings, I wanted to include this picture to give you a better perspective on the size of a First Order Fresnel lens.

Washington - Alki Point Lighthouse

The Alki Point Lighthouse is located at West Seattle, WA. The first light at this Point was a lantern hung out by a landowner in 1880 to warn ships of the Point because it sticks out so far into Puget Sound. In 1887 the Lighthouse Service built a lens lantern and mounted it on top of a post. Then, in 1913 this 37 foot octagonal tower was built along with the attached fog-signal building. Originally, the lantern room housed a fourth order lens. At the time of my visit in 1999, this lighthouse was operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and was an active light.