Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Posted by Steve Rice (Olympia, United States) on 13 August 2009 in Architecture and Portfolio.

Commissioned in 1870, this is the oldest standing lighthouse in Oregon. It's also the most westerly and has the highest focal plane above the sea of 256 feet (78 meters). It also had Oregon's first female lighthouse keeper, Mabel E. Bretherton who took up her duties in March 1903. The conical tower is 59 feet (18 meters) tall.

The original Fresnel lens was a first order non rotating type that provided a steady beam. Sometime after 1911, the signal was changed to a flashing light. So, when the light was electrified in 1936, a new rotating Fresnel lens was installed. It is smaller than a first order but larger than a second order lens. That lens is still in operation.

Part of the Oregon Coast series.

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