User:Liam Raviv Patterson/Cape Meares Light

The Cape Meares Lighthouse (Cape Meares Light) is a historic, inactive lighthouse on the coast of Oregon. It is located on Cape Meares south of Tillamook Bay. It is noted for being Oregon's shortest lighthouse. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1993 for its contributions to maritime safety.

Description
The lighthouse is 37 feet tall and 217 feet above mean sea level. The tower is made of concrete with a brick interior. The exterior of the lighthouse is coated in cast iron plates painted white. The tower rests on a ledge and was visible from a distance of 21.5 nautical miles when lit. Next to the lighthouse is a replica workroom, rebuilt in 1978 after the original was demolished in 1960.

Construction and history (1886-1962)
As settlers came to the West Coast during the California Gold Rush, industry around Tillamook Bay blossomed. Tillamook became known for salmon, dairy, and timber exports. Shipping goods by sea created a need for coastal infrastructure, so the United States Lighthouse Board petitioned Congress for funding to construct a lighthouse in the area in 1886.

Original plans suggested Cape Lookout as a possible site for the lighthouse, but Army Corps Engineer James S. Polhemus suggested Cape Meares because the location was better suited to foggy weather and had access to a freshwater spring. The lighthouse proposal received $60,000 in Congressional funding in January of 1886. Local workers were hired to build the project, including Portland contractor Charles B. Durhrkoop, who received $2,900 for the construction of the lighthouse tower.

Workers built a 4-mile wagon road in 1888 leading to the site, and construction of the lighthouse began in spring of 1889. The United States Lighthouse Board hired local Native Americans to harvest resources including clay, which was baked into bricks on-site. In addition, workers constructed two oil houses, a barn, a cistern, and keeper's living quarters.

The original lens was a first-order, eight-sided Fresnel lens made in Paris by Augustin Michel Henry-Lepaute in 1887. The Henry-Lepaute firm shipped the one-ton lens from Paris (with its accompanying machinery) around Cape Horn and hoisted it up the 217-foot cliff by crane.

Head keeper Anthony W. Miller lit the Cape Meares lighthouse for the first time on January 1st of 1890. The lens emitted white light at 18,000 candlepower revolving once every 4 minutes, and concentrated red light at 160,000 candlepower flashing every 1 minute. The original light was powered by a five-wick kerosene lantern, which required daily upkeep. These were replaced by incandescent oil vapor lamps in 1910, which were clearer and required less maintenance.

The Cape Meares Lighthouse switched from oil to electricity in 1934, resulting in the demolition of the original oil houses.

Replacement (1963-2009)
In April of 1963, the United States Coast Guard decommissioned the Cape Meares Lighthouse and replaced it with an aerobeacon. The Coast Guard planned to demolish the lighthouse tower, but public outcry resulted in the property being leased to Tillamook County. The lighthouse fell into disrepair and was the frequent target of vandalism. Thieves pillaged the buildings and stole 4 ruby gemstone "bull's-eye" prisms (the hallmark of the Fresnel lens). The Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation — who acquired the lease for the Cape Meares Lighthouse in 1968 — refurbished the property and constructed a replica of the old workhouse. The lighthouse tower opened for visitors on Memorial Day of 1980.

In 1984, one of the three ruby bulls-eye lenses was recovered in a drug raid in Portland, Oregon. Subsequently, another was recovered via a donation to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum in 1986. Cape Lookout assistant park manager Michael Hewitt found a third lens left on his doorstep 1 week later. The fourth bulls-eye lens remains missing.

2010 vandalism (2010-present)
On January 10th, 2010, Oceanside citizens Zachary Pyle and David Wilks Jr. were responsible for a shooting that damaged the Cape Meares Lighthouse. The pair were arrested on February 10th, 2010, for firing multiple rounds into the lantern room of the Cape Meares Lighthouse, and an active Coast Guard light. The gunshots shattered 15 windows and the priceless, historic Fresnel lens. An estimate from historical lens repair organization Lighthouse Lamp suggested total damage could be as high as $500,000.

Pyle and Wilkes were charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and disorderly conduct. They pled guilty in court and received three 16-day sentences served annually from 2010-2013, plus a $100,000 fine in restitution.

In 2014 the Coast Guard again attempted to decommission the Cape Meares Light, and this time was met with little to no public resistance. The Cape Meares Lighthouse was officially decommissioned on June 25th, 2014.

Today the building stands as a minor tourist destination. It is owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and managed by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation.