History
The Yaquina Bay Light was built by Ben Simpson and first lit on November 3, 1871. It was active for only three years due to the establishment of the Yaquina Head Light in 1873, located three miles north of Yaquina Bay. The bay lighthouse was decommissioned on October 1, 1874 because the Yaquina Head Light made it obsolete. The fifth order Fresnel lens was moved to the Yerba Buena Light for its opening in 1875.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used the lighthouse from 1888 to 1896 as a living quarters while it built the North and South Jetties at the mouth of Yaquina Bay. The United States Coast Guard later used the lighthouse as lookout and living quarters from 1906 to 1915, before moving to their more central quarters just above the busy Newport bayfront. During this period, the Coast Guard also built the eight-story steel observation tower that continues to stand next to the original lighthouse.
In 1934, the Oregon State Highway Division bought the property around the lighthouse for a state park. The park site included the lighthouse, coast guard observation tower, and acres of forested bluff, ocean dunes and beaches.
In 1946, the lighthouse was scheduled for demolition which led to the Lincoln County Historical Society being formed to save the lighthouse. They raised money for three years, but were unable to save it. By 1951, demolition was again scheduled. Recently moved from Ohio, L. E. Warford arranged for it to be recognized as a historical site supervised by the historical society. It served as a county museum for eighteen years.
It was listed by the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and restored under the Historic Preservation Act in 1974 at which time ownership was transferred to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
On December 7, 1996, the light was re-lit, using a 250mm modern optic on loan from lighthouse historian James A. Gibbs. The light is an official U.S. Coast Guard aid which is privately maintained. It displays a fixed white light visible for six miles. It is open for public viewing.
The Yaquina Bay structure is the only existing lighthouse in the state in which the living quarters are housed in the same building as the light. Only a few of this type were built on the entire Pacific coast.
The building is reputed to be haunted.
Read more about this topic: Yaquina Bay Light
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