Cape Meares Light

Cape Meares Light

Cape Meares Light
Location	Cape Meares, Oregon
Coordinates
Year first lit	1890
Deactivated	1963
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Brick sheathed in sheet iron
Tower shape	Octagonal
Height	38 feet (12 m)
Original lens	First order Fresnel lens
Range	21 nmi (39 km; 24 mi)
Characteristic	Originally 30 second fix white, followed by 5 second red flash every minute. After 1934: Flashing White 15 seconds
Cape Meares Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	Lighthouse Stations of Oregon MPS
NRHP Reference #	73002341
Added to NRHP	April 21, 1993

The Cape Meares Light is an inactive lighthouse on the coast of Oregon. It is located on Cape Meares just south of Tillamook Bay. It is open to the public.

History

Built in 1890, Cape Meares Light served as the light station for Tillamook Bay. When it was built, the lighthouse complex included two keeper's houses, two oil houses, and two cisterns, and was connected to the light by a 1,000-foot (300 m) boardwalk. Later additions included an attached workroom in 1895 and a garage in 1934. The light itself was iron-plated, and due to its exposure to the elements, it required frequent repainting over the years. No foghorn was ever installed at Cape Meares. In 1934, the light received electricity. Now unnecessary, the oil houses were removed.

In 1963, the lighthouse was deactivated and replaced by a newer tower. The following year, the Coast Guard made plans to demolish the light. However, due to public outcry, the plans fell through, and the Coast Guard turned the station over to Tillamook County. The light remained vacant until 1968, when the site was turned over to the Oregon State Parks Department. During this time, vandalism became a major problem for the light. Eventually, the vandalism took its toll on the keeper's quarters and they were subsequently demolished. Among the damage, four of the bulls-eyes in the Fresnel lens were stolen. That same year, the light was opened up to the public and the light was restored, with the exception of the missing bulls-eyes. Since then, three of the four missing bulls-eyes have been recovered. In 1980, the tower itself was opened to the public.

The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

The U.S. Coast Guard permanently switched off Cape Meares Light (LLNR 675) on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, as it is no longer considered necessary for safe navigation of the seacoast.

2010 vandalism

Between the afternoon of January 9 and noon on January 10, 2010, an unknown vehicle reportedly drove down a blocked maintenance road to the lighthouse viewing area. A number of rounds were fired, breaking 15 of the lighthouse's windows and several parts of the historic Fresnel lens. Additional rounds were fired into a nearby active Coast Guard light and surrounding equipment. While driving off the maintenance road the suspect vehicle also caused significant damage to a grassy area. Damages were initially estimated to be over $50,000, but subsequent inspections have shown it may cost more than $500,000 to repair the lens. A park ranger stated that the lens was created in Paris in 1888 and had been shipped around the tip of South America to Oregon. Early news reports stated a $1,000 reward was being offered for information leading to arrests, a figure which was raised to $3,000 by the evening of January 11. On February 10, two Oceanside men, Zachary Jon Pyle, age 23 and David Regin Wilks Jr., age 26, were arrested in connection with the vandalism. At the time of the arrests the reward figure had climbed to $6,000. The men were convicted and received a creative sentence by a Tillamook County District Court judge. David Wilkes Jr. and Zachary Pyle were ordered to pay $100,000 to the lighthouse and serve three 16-day jail terms over three years. Each jail term will start on December 27, which coincides with the date of the vandalism. They served their first sentence from December 27, 2010, to January 11, 2011, and they will do so again at the end of the this year and the end of next year.

The men, who admitted they were drunk at the time, said it was the dumbest thing they had ever done. In handing down the sentence, the judge said, "Some people go to Hawaii for vacation and some people go to jail. The next three years will serve as a reminder, and you are going to get some time to contemplate that." as quoted in a news story at Lighthouse Digest.

See also

• List of lighthouses on the Oregon Coast
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Tillamook County, Oregon

External links

• Cape Meares website