Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

Still on our journey, traveling north on the Oregon Coast on scenic Highway 101, we stopped at the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed (not due to open for about 3 more hours), but we enjoyed stretching our legs on such a beautiful morning.

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

I think you can read the sign above, especially if you click on it, but I will transcribe it for you:

The old Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, established in 1871, is the earliest aid to navigation standing within the range of the first recorded landfall made from a ship to the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Captain James Cook made this landfall on March 7, 1778, at noon. He named Cape Foulweather on account of the heavy weather. He was compelled to stand out at sea at night and only approach the land in the afternoon so that he was unable to find any harbor along the Oregon Coast. News of Cook’s voyage to the Pacific Northwest stimulated the American interests in this region and aroused in Thomas Jefferson an interest that led to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the dispatch of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was active for only three years due to the establishment of the larger Yaquina Head Light in 1873 that was located 3 miles north. The lighthouse was decommissioned on October 1, 1874, because the newer Yaquina Head Light made it obsolete.

Both the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Coast Guard (who resided during the years 1906-1915 and built the eight-story steel observation tower) used the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and restored under the Historic Preservation Act in 1974. At that time, its ownership was transferred to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

The light was re-lit on December 7, 1996. The lighthouse is now privately maintained belonging to the U.S. Coast Guard that displays a fixed white light visible for six miles.

See the world around you!