Saturday, April 25, 2020

Lighthouse of the Week, April 12-18, 2020: Cape Blanco, Oregon


Doing a little catch-up here;  this is the fourth of my four Fresnel lens lighthouses. It's the Cape Blanco Lighthouse near Port Orford, Oregon.   It has a few superlatives, which I found on this Web site:  Enjoy Port Orford - Cape Blanco Lighthouse.
"This isolated lighthouse holds at least four Oregon records: it is the oldest continually operating light, the most westerly, it has the highest focal plane above the sea, (256 feet), and Oregon’s first woman keeper, Mabel E. Bretherton signed on in March 1903."
There is one thing on the Web site I don't understand:
"Explore Oregon's only working lighthouse, where you can climb into the working lanternroom where the historic lens still serves as a beacon and a warning."
I don't know what they mean by "only working lighthouse", as I checked the Lighthouse Directory for Oregon, and several lights are active.  Perhaps they mean the only working Fresnel lens lighthouse.

Since I mentioned the Lighthouse Directory, I'll get some pertinent stats on it from there.
"1870. Active; focal plane 245 ft (75 m); white flash every 20 s, day and night. 59 ft (18 m) brick tower attached to a workroom. The lighthouse has an unusual rotating Henry LePaute Fresnel lens (1936), larger than 2nd order but smaller than 1st order. Lighthouse painted white with black trim; lantern roof is red. The keeper's house has been demolished but there is a modern visitor center."
Where's Port Orford?  Click right here for a map.  Cape Blanco is just a bit north of there, so zoom in.

And below, the pictures that always accompany a Lighthouse of the Week post:



Historic photo with keeper's house, from Lighthouse Friends






No comments: