Saturday, March 11, 2023

Lighthouse of the Week, March 5-11, 2023: New Dungeness Lighthouse, Washington, USA

 

I just happened to see this lighthouse, which from some angles has a unbelievable photogenic background, namely Washington's Mount Baker.  That was, in fact, the picture I saw.  While I've been to Sequim, WA, and parts of Olympic National Park, I unfortunately didn't a) have time to see, and b) know about this lighthouse.  So if you're just learning about it reading this, join the club.

As you may already have figured out, it's in Washington State, on the Olympic Peninsula.  Let's zoom in (leaving Sequim on the map for orientation):  Here it is.  It's on the Dungeness Spit, a sea-level-rise threatened sand spit jutting into the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  I have no idea how stable that location is.

It's historical, too:  the Lighthouse Directory has a long entry on it, on this page, where I invite you to read all of it.  Below this link, excerpts from that same long entry.

Lighthouses of the United States:  Western Washington  (That's where all the lighthouses are, as Eastern Washington is inland and all; but the directory does have a page for Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, which are technically east of Western Washington.)

So here are those info excerpts:

"1857. Active (privately maintained); focal plane 67 ft (20 m); white flash every 5 s. 63 ft (19 m; lowered from 100 ft (30.5 m) in 1927) stucco-clad brick tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 1-story assistant keeper's house; VRB-25 aerobeacon (1998). Buildings painted white with red roofs. 1-1/2 story frame principal keeper's house (1905). The lantern was relocated from the Admiralty Head Light in 1927. The 4th order Fresnel lens installed in 1927 is now on display at the Coast Guard Museum Northwest in Seattle. Brick fog signal building (1927). ... In July 1999 a quick-thinking volunteer used lawn sprinklers to deflect a bursh fire that burned around all sides of the station. In early 2006 the Coast Guard announced plans to deactivate the lighthouse and move the light to a small structure at the end of the spit. Preservationists protested this announcement, and the New Dungeness Light Station Association negotiated an agreement with the Coast Guard to keep the light in the tower under the Association's maintenance. The 250 pound vent ball atop the tower was replaced in December 2011 and in 2015 the lighthouse was repainted by volunteers. Located 1/2 mile (800 m) from the end of a 6 mile (10 km) long sand spit extending into the Strait of Juan de Fuca north of Dungeness. The spit is the major part of the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge."

So here are some pictures (there are many available):








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