Oregon Coast - Lighthouses

The Oregon Coast has several lighthouses. Each one different from the next.

Heceta Head: This lighthouse is north of Florence and can be viewed from the same lookout where we saw the sea lions.


Yaquina Bay: This lighthouse is located in Newport OR and is the only wooden lighthouse still around.

Yaquina Head: This lighthouse is just north or Newport. We stopped by to see it but it was a fee area and really not worth the fee for a 1-2 minute picture moment. So I had to borrow this picture to see what I missed :)

Tillamook Head otherwise known as Terrible Tilly: We could not get access to this lighthouse as it stands on a rock in the ocean. The first picture is the best I could get from our viewpoint. The other 3 were taken from the internet. This lighthouse has an interesting history:

Storms often brought flying rocks and debris crashing through the lantern room and iron roof. The fog signal would clog with pieces of seaweed or rock. There were several occasions when the entire structure was flooded with seawater. Repairs became constant.

Originally, a keeper assigned to the rock spent three months on and two weeks off. Four keepers were always on the rock. The assignment was changed to 42 days on 21 off, because conditions proved extremely harsh on both the physical and mental stability of the keepers.
The cramped quarters, frequent storms, and fog with the ensuing blasting of the fog sirens, often caused tension among the crew. Enraged keepers were known to pass notes at dinnertime rather than speak to each other. Any keeper causing trouble or showing mental instability was immediately transferred from the rock.

October 21, 1934 brought the worst tempest on record. The entire Pacific Northwest was inundated with a fierce and battering storm. No one felt it more than the four keepers at Terrible Tilly. The sea spewed boulders through the lantern room, smashing the Fresnel lens. Iron bolts anchored into the rock 3 feet deep were ripped out. Seawater flowed like a waterfall down the tower into the rotunda. Some areas of the lighthouse were neck high in water. All communication to the mainland was lost. The keepers worked feverishly in knee-deep water trying to set up an auxiliary light, but no light would shine that night.
For only one night of the four-day storm were mariners left without the beacon. Heroically, the auxiliary light was beaming the second night. A makeshift short wave radio made contact with a ham radio operator in Seaside, and the world heard the keepers had survived. All were commended for their exceptional attention to duty through the most trying conditions.

Cape Meares: We were not planning on going to this lighthouse. It is in the Tillamook area. We were planning on going to Cape Disappointment but it was getting late and we would not have made it by nightfall. Then we just happened by the Cape Meares sign and decided to go. This was in a very nice park area.