Lighthouses on Washington's Pacific Coast - Part 5 - Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Shipwrecks were once a common occurrence for ships in the Pacific who were trying to enter the mouth of the Columbia River. Over 200 ships have wrecked in this area because of the navigational challenges the ocean-river meeting creates. During storms, early ships had trouble judging their distance from land. To help with navigation at this critical and dangerous location, a lighthouse was built on Cape Disappointment, the southwestern most point in Washington State.

During a recent vacation, my family visited the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. The trail to this lighthouse begins at the parking lot of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Visitors weave their way through the forest about a quarter of a mile until they come to a wide paved road. This road leads from the U.S. Coast Guard base to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. The Coast Guard mans the lighthouse, scanning for ships in distress.

The road leading up to Cape Disappointment lighthouse

One of the U.S. Coast Guard watchers

Captain Robert Gray was the first explorer to enter the mouth of the Columbia River on May 11, 1792. He named the river after his ship Columbia Redivivia. Cape Disappointment was named by Captain John Meares on July 6, 1788, when he tried to seek shelter from a sea storm, but found none.

Navigation was treacherous and dangerous. Trees, signal flags and campfires were used to guide mariners into the Columbia River. A lighthouse was proposed in 1848 and in 1852, funds were laid aside for the project.


The first shipment of supplies was sent by ship. However, the supplies did not reach the cape. On September 18, 1853, the ship carrying the supplies wretched just below the cape. While the crew survived, the supplies did not. It was another two years before construction finally began on Cape Disappointment light.

Construction of the lighthouse was almost complete when it was discovered that the lantern room would not be able to hold the first-order lens designated for the lighthouse. The lighthouse tower had to be disassembled, redesigned, and put back together. The error cost two years time. The lighthouse was finally lit on October 15, 1856.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

In 1898, the first-order lens was put in the North Head Lighthouse. A fourth-order lens was put in its place. Electricity came to the lighthouse in 1937. The U.S. Coast Guard talked about closing the lighthouse in 1956. Protests from mariners crossing the Columbia River bar persuaded the Coast Guard to leave it open. The lighthouse was completely automated in 1973.
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Lighthouses on Washington's Pacific Coast - Part 4 - North Head Lighthouse

Wind and the wide open ocean are two of the greeters that welcomed my family to the North Head Lighthouse during a recent vacation to the area. The North Head Lighthouse is one of two lighthouse located on Cape Disappointment, in the southwestern corner of Washington State. Cape Disappointment is home to two active lighthouses - North Head Lighthouse in the north and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in the south. 

North Head Lighthouse

The lighthouse was first lit on May 16,1898. It was built in reaction to the cries of mariners who were trying to navigate into the mouth of the Columbia River from the north. They were not able to see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse located approximately two miles south due to a piece of land jutting out from the coast. Shipwrecks around this area reinforced the mariners message.

Insets in the main lighthouse building

In addition to the lighthouse, outbuilding were built at the lighthouse. Up the hill approximately a quarter of mile, two houses with additional outbuildings, including a barn, were built for the head light keeper and two assistants and their families.

Outbuildings at the North Head Lighthouse

One of the light keeper residences

The original lens was a first-order lens brought to North Head Lighthouse from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, which had previously changed lens. In 1936, when electricity was installed in the lighthouse, the lens was replaced with a fourth-order light. The lighthouse was completely automated in 1961. 

Courtesy of Joel Mattson © 2010

The wind has been the source of a few interesting stories. During one particularly windy day, a duck was blown into lantern room, chipping the lens. It is also said that one light keepers wife committed suicide because she could not stand the wind. North Head Lighthouse also became the windy place in the United States on January 29, 1921 with speeds clocked at 126 mph before the wind instrument blew away.

A view of the Pacific Ocean through the trees at North Head Lighthouse

North Head Lighthouse has a beautiful view of the ocean, as well as a souvenir shop. Visitors can also rent the old light keepers house.

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Lighthouses on Washington's Pacific Coast - Part 3 - Grays Harbor Lighthouse

The tallest lighthouse in Washington State, an intact original third-order Fresnel lens and 135 stairs - this is what the Grays Harbor Lighthouse at Westport, WA can boast.

During a recent vacation along Washington State's Pacific coast, my family visited this unique lighthouse. Previously during our trip, we had visited Cape Flattery and Destruction Island lighthouses. Each of these lighthouses we had viewed from a distance. When we arrived at the Grays Harbor Lighthouse, we were excited to find out that not only could we walk up to the lighthouse, but we could take a tour inside lighthouse.

Grays Harbor Lighthouse

The tour began in the base of the lighthouse, which also houses a small gift shop. Visitors who take the tour climb the 135 metal stairs that circle the inside of tower. As visitors climb the stairs, they may stop on the various landings that are built into staircase. A tour guide greets visitors as they reach the last landing and  gives a brief history of the lighthouse as visitors climb the remaining stairs to the gear room.

The gear room is located just under the lens. The gear mechanisms in this room were once responsible for rotating the lens. After explaining the operation of the gears, visitors are invited to climb up a few final stairs to view the lens.

The gears that turned the Grays Harbor light

The Grays Harbor Lighthouse in Westport, Wa, was lit on June 39, 1898. It was equipped with a third-order Fresnel lens that flashed both red and white. During the early years, light reflected off of rubies  was used to produce the red light. But because of the value of the rubies, they kept getting stolen. A form of red plastic was then used, but heat from the refracting lens melted the plastic. Eventually an acceptable red lighting source was found.

A steam-powered fog horn and several other building were built next to the lighthouse. The fog horn was reported to have blasted out to sea every 10 to 20 seconds both day and night. People in the town next to the lighthouse became annoyed by constant noise of the fog horn. They requested the fog horn be removed or changed, but the plea was ignored. Finally the steam shed burnt down and the fog horn was eventually moved further away from the town.

The U.S. Coast Guard automated the Grays Harbor Lighthouse in 1992. The new light, located just outside the lens room, shines the same red and white beams out to sea. Visitors may view the new light from the lantern room. The vast different in size and operation of the two lights is clearly seen.

The Grays Harbor automated light

While in the lantern room, visitors may view the ocean and forest to the west and the town of Westport, WA to the east. During our tour of the lighthouse, my family noticed a picture of a lighthouse next to the ocean. When we inquired about the picture, the tour guide told us that when the lighthouse was originally built, the lighthouse was on the beach. But beach growth, in addition to the growth of new trees, had "moved" the lighthouse inland approximately a half mile inland.

Looking out the Grays Harbor Lighthouse towards the Pacific Ocean

While my family was viewing the lens room, we noticed a thin, dark curtain covering the entire interior of the glass. The tour guide told us that the curtain was to block the sun from shining into the lens room. At one point in the lighthouse's history, a rash of fires broke out all over town. Arson was believed to be the cause at first. But as more fires appeared in random places, the towns people began to look for another answer. It was finally determined that light rays from the sun were being caught and refracted by the lighthouse lenses causing the fires. A curtain was put up in the lighthouse and the fires ceased.

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Lighthouses on Washington's Pacific Coast - Part 2 - Destruction Island Lighthouse

There are five lighthouses located on Washington State's Pacific Coast. All of them are in operation, but one - Destruction Island Lighthouse.

A few months ago, my family traveled down Washington State's Pacific Coast with the intent to visit as many lighthouses as possible. The second lighthouse we visited on our trip was Destruction Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse is located three miles off the mainland out in the Pacific Ocean. Scenic view points along Highway 101 allowed us to view this lighthouse from a distance.

Destruction Island Lighthouse

While no information concerning this lighthouse was given at the time we viewed the lighthouse, a little bit of researched revealed the island and lighthouse's histories.

Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was the first known explorer to reach Destruction Island in 1775. This Spanish explorer named the island the "Isle of Sorrow" because of the massacre several of his men received when they went on land for supplies.

The crew of Captain Charles William Barkley experienced a similar fate in 1787 when they were exploring the coast line and river north of the island. Captain Barkley named the river "Destruction." The name was later switched to the island and the river returned to the original name given by the Indians.

A request for a lighthouse on Destruction Island was made in 1882 by the Lighthouse board. They were eventually granted $85,000 for the building of a first-order light and fog signal. Building started in August of 1888. However, the lighthouse was not built soon enough. On August 10, 1888, the Cassandra Adams, headed from San Francisco to Tacoma, was overcome by dense fog and hit a reef close to the island. The crew was unable to see the island until it was too late. The ship was soon destroyed by the sea.

In November of 1890, the lighthouse was ready for operation. It was typically manned by a head light keeper and two assistants. If the light keepers had families, their families also joined them on the island. In 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard assumed control of all Lighthouse Service lighthouses. The lighthouse was operated by service men for several weeks at a time.
  
In 1963, the U.S. Coast Guard proposed shutting the lighthouse down. Mariners protested against it, however, and the light remained lit. The lighthouse became automated in 1968 and the last light keeper left the island in the early 1970's. The old lens was replace with a solar-powered electronic beacon in 1995. The lens, along with an emergency back up lens, was moved to the Maritime Museum in Westport, WA.

Finally, in April 1998, the U.S Coast Guard turned off the Destruction Island Lighthouse beam. It became the first lighthouse along Washington State's Pacific Coast to not longer be useful for navigational purposes.

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Lighthouses on Washington's Pacific Coast - Part 1 - Cape Flattery

Lighthouses have held a special place in my family's hearts for many years. Whenever we are in the proximity of a lighthouse, we stop and visit. Recently, my family took a vacation to Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. During our time there, we visited five of the lighthouses located on the Pacific Ocean.

We started our journey at the northeastern most point in Washington State - Cape Flattery. The Cape Flattery lighthouse sits on an island about a half mile off the tip of the main land. There is only one road leading on to the cape. My family concluded that visitors to Cape Flattery do not end up there on accident.

All visitors to Cape Flattery Lighthouse must pass through the town of Neah Bay, the last civilization before the Pacific Ocean. One of the first places we spotted as we entered town was the museum. The museum gives visitors a history of the Makah Indian Nation, Cape Flattery's native population, as well as selling locally made items.

The museum also has information on how to view the Cape Flattery Lighthouse. The road to the lighthouse makes several turns. "Follow the yellow line" was the advice we were given, along with a map. Once the road ends, visitors hike the last half a mile to an observation deck.

The path leading to the observation deck begins as a wide, sloping, gravel path. About a quarter of the way to the observation deck, the trail switches to a narrow plank walkway. In some places, the walkway serves as a bridge so visitors do not have to wade through water.

Our first view of the Pacific Ocean came about three quarters of the way to the lighthouse observation deck. A little side deck off the main trail gives visitors the chance to view one of the many coves along Cape Flattery's outer banks. As visitors approach the lighthouse observation deck, more of the rugged coast line becomes visible through the trees.

Pacific Ocean

Cape Flattery Coast

As the coast line comes into view, so does the lighthouse observation deck. The observation deck is raised off the ground approximately ten feet and can be ascended via a steep, narrow staircase.

When visitors reach the top of the stairs, they are greeted by views of Cape Flattery Lighthouse, the Pacific Ocean and Canada. They are also greeted by a trail guide who is there to answer any questions visitors might have about what they see. The trail guide present when my family visited Cape Flattery told us about some of the wildlife that lived in the area, and gave a brief history of the area.

Captain James Cook was the first to name Cape Flattery in 1778. In 1788, Captain John Meares met Chief Tatooche, chief of the Makah Indians, and named the island off Cape Flattery after him. During the 1850's, exploration of the area led to the proposal and monetary allocations for a lighthouse to be built on Tatooche Island. Cape Flattery Lighthouse sent out it's first beam of light on December 28, 1857. A fog horn and weather station were later installed. The lighthouse became fully automated in 1977.

Cape Flattery Lighthouse

The trail guide also told us about another lighthouse approximately 17-20 miles northwest in Canada. Even though it is not visible to Cape Flattery's day time visitors, we were told that it is still in operation.

My family accomplished two goals while we were at Cape Flattery. First, we added another lighthouse to our list, and second, we could say we had been on the northwestern most point Washington State. Not bad for one day. Next stop - Destruction Island Lighthouse.
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