Washington Lighthouses

The U.S. state of Washington was originally part of the Oregon Territory, which was the subject of competing U.S. and British claims until a treaty in 1846 set the boundary between the U.S. and British Columbia at latitude 49° east of the Strait of Georgia. The treaty left the status of the San Juan Islands in some doubt, leading to an 1859 military standoff known in Washington as the Pig War. The international boundary was finally established in Haro Strait as the result of an arbitration by Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm I in 1872. Washington became an organized territory, separate from Oregon, in 1853, and it was admitted to the union as the 42nd state in 1889.

Washington has at least 24 lighthouses, all but one of them active. The majority of them are accessible in or adjacent to public parks, state or local. The lightship Swiftsure (formerly Relief) is also located in Washington. Preservation efforts in the state, which have been strong for many years, are now assisted by the Washington Lightkeepers Association.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from volume 6 of the U.S. Coast Guard List of Lights.

What's Hot:

General Sources
Washington Lightkeepers Association: This web site for Washingon's lighthouse preservation organization includes a large collection of wonderful photos.
Washington Lighthouses: From Kraig Anderson (LighthouseFriends.com), photos and accounts of the state's lighthouses.
Lighthouses of Washington: Excellent photos by "The Lighthouse People," Sandra and Bob Shanklin.
Lighthouses of the Northwest: Photos and notes by Rick and Jen Silvan.

North Head Lighthouse
North Head Light, Ilwaco, September 2005
anonymous Creative Commons photo

San Juan Islands Lighthouses
Note: The San Juan Islands are located at the southern end of the Strait of Georgia, between Canada's Vancouver Island and the mainland of Washington. The major islands can be accessed by ferry from Anacortes.
Patos Island (2): 1908 (station established 1893). Active; focal plane 52 ft (16 m); white flash every 6 s (two red sectors cover dangerous shoals). 35 ft (11 m) square cylindrical wood tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 1-story wood fog signal building; solar-powered 300 mm lens. The original 4° Fresnel lens, later transferred to Alki Point in Seattle, is now on display at Admiralty Head Light. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and trim gray, roofs red. Fog horn (blast every 30 s). The original keeper's house was demolished in 1983; two modern keeper's houses are abandoned and deteriorating. The fog signal building (1898) predates the light tower. Sibling of Burrows Island (see below). Northernmost of the San Juan Islands, Patos Island is uninhabited. According to the Washington Lighthouse Association's newsletter, administration of the light station has been assumed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which hopes to restore the site. Located at the northwest end of the island, about 5 miles (8 km) north of Orcas Island in the Strait of Georgia. The red-roofed lighthouse is not conspicuous in a Google satellite view. The island is accessible only by boat, but the light station dock can be used. Site open (free), tower closed. Owner: U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Site manager: Patos Island State Park. ARLHS USA-584; USCG 6-19825.
Turn Point (2): 1936 (station established 1893). Active; focal plane 44 ft (13 m); white flash every 2.5 s. 44 ft (13 m) square cylindrical white concrete tower; original 300 mm lens displayed without lantern at the top. Fog horn (2 blasts every 30 s). Fog signal building and 2-story wood keeper's house (1893) predate the light tower. Keeper's house houses scientists studying whale populations during the summer. A view from the sea is available. Located at the western end of Stuart Island overlooking Haro Strait opposite Sidney, British Columbia. Island accessible only by boat, but public docking is available. Site and tower closed. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: U.S. Bureau of Land Management. ARLHS USA-858; Admiralty G5340; USCG 6-19790.
Burrows Island: 1906. Active; focal plane 57 ft (17.5 m); white flash every 6 s. 34 ft (10 m) square cylindrical wooden tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story wooden fog signal building; 300 mm lens (1994). Original 4° Fresnel lens on display at the Coast Guard station in Port Angeles. Lighthouse painted white, gallery black, roofs red. The station includes a 2-story wood keeper's house, boathouse, and helipad. Fog horn (2 blasts every 30 s). The Coast Guard has a historic photo. The 40 acres (18 ha) surrounding the lighthouse have been transferred from the Coast Guard to the state park system, but so far the new park is undeveloped. Located on the southwestern side of the island overlooking Rosario Strait, about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Anacortes; Google has a satellite view. Accessible only by boat, this site has become a popular destination for sea kayakers. Site open, tower closed. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: Burrows Island Lightstation State Park. ARLHS USA-098; Admiralty G5036; USCG 6-19350.
Whidbey Island Lighthouses
Note: Located at the northern end of Puget Sound, Whidbey Island is a long, rather narrow island, about 40 mi (65 km) in length and nowhere more than 12 mi (19 km) wide. The main entrance to Puget Sound, Admiralty Inlet, is on the west side of the island. The island has a population of almost 60,000 and is readily accessible by a bridge at the north end, a ferry from Mukilteo at the south end, and another ferry from Port Townsend on the west side of Admiralty Inlet.
East Side Puget Sound (Seattle-Tacoma Area) Lighthouses

* Lightship 83 Swiftsure: 1904 (New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, NJ). Decommissioned 1960. Two-masted steel lightship, lengthened from 112 ft (34 m) to 129 ft (39 m) in 1929, beam 29 ft (9 m). No lantern; the light is mounted atop the aft mast. WLA has a portfolio of photos. One of the oldest U.S.lightships and the only one with its original steam engines. The ship served for 46 years at various California stations, including 21 years (1930-51) as the San Francisco. Transferred to the Pacific Northwest in 1951, its last station was Swiftsure Banks at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Anderson has good photos. Moored at the Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center on Valley Street at the south end of Lake Union. Google has a satellite view. Site open, vessel open occasionally to guided tours. Owner/site manager: Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center. ARLHS USA-831.
** Alki Point: 1913. Active; focal plane 39 ft; white flash every 5 s. 37 ft octagonal brick tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story brick fog signal building; VRB-25 aerobeacon. 4° Fresnel lens on display at Admiralty Head Light (see above); another 4° lens, from the Sentinal Island Light in Alaska, is displayed in the base of the tower. Tower painted white with gray trim, lantern and gallery gray, lantern roof red. The 1-1/2 story wood principal keeper's house (1887) is the residence of the commandant of the 13th Coast Guard District ; the assistant keeper's house is occupied by a resident caretaker. A nice view from the sea is available. The Lake Union Flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary offers guided tours of the tower. The Martime Heritage Network has a web page for the lighthouse. Located at Beach Drive and Alki Avenue in the southwestern part of Seattle; Google has a satellite view. Site and tower open for tours on weekend and holiday afternoons, May through November (parking is available nearby). Owner/site manager: U.S. Coast Guard. ARLHS USA-005; Admiralty G4890; USCG 6-16915.

** Browns Point (3): 1933 (station established 1887). Active; focal plane 38 ft (11.5 m); white flash every 5 s. 34 ft (10 m) white square cylindrical concrete tower; VRB-25 aerobeacon displayed without lantern at the top. 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house (1903). The Coast Guard has a historic aerial photo, and WLA has a portfolio of recent photos. In June 2000 the Tacoma park district leased the keeper's house to the Points Northeast Historical Society; the society has opened it for one-week rentals by volunteer lighthouse keepers. The 1855 fog bell of New Dungeness Light, also used here in 1903-1933, was returned in 2000 and is displayed in the restored pump house; Lighthouse Digest has an article on the bell's history. The lighthouse marks the eastside of the entrance to Commencement Bay, Tacoma's harbor. Located in a city park at 201 Tok a Lou Avenue, several blocks off WA 509 in northeastern Tacoma. Google has a satellite view. Site open; guided tours of the light station available on Saturday afternoons February through mid November; tower closed. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: Metro Parks Tacoma (Browns Point Lighthouse Park). ARLHS USA-089; Admiralty G4908; USCG 6-17090.
Dofflemyer Point (2): 1934 (station established 1887). Active; focal plane 30 ft (9 m); white light, 3 s on, 3 s off. 9 m (30 ft) octagonal concrete tower, painted white, lantern removed; the light is displayed from a short mast atop the capped tower. The tower originally had a small, square lantern, seen in the Coast Guard's historic photo. The lighthouse replaced an 1887 post light. Located at the end of 73rd Avenue NE, marking the northeastern entrance to Budd Inlet at Boston Harbor, north of Olympia. Google has a satellite view. Site and tower closed (only access is through private property). Said to be visible from a nearby marina. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: private. ARLHS USA-232; Admiralty G4952; USCG 6-17400.
West Side Puget Sound and Admiralty Inlet Lighthouses
* Gig Harbor: 1989. Active; focal plane 13 ft (4 m); red flash every 4 s. 15 ft (4.5 m) white octagonal tower with an open cage-style lantern and gallery. Russell Holster has a spectacular photo. The lighthouse was built as a civic project honoring the 200th anniversary of the U.S. lighthouse establishment; it replaced a small post light. Located on the spit at the harbor entrance, at the end of Goodman Drive NW in Gig Harbor northwest of Tacoma. Google has a satellite view. Site open, tower closed. Owner: City of Gig Harbor. Site manager: Gig Harbor Lighthouse Association. ARLHS USA-1064; Admiralty G4930; USCG 6-17221.
** Point No Point: 1879. Active; focal plane 27 ft (8 m); three white flashes every 10 s. 30 ft (9 m) stucco-clad brick tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story office and 1-story fog signal building. 4° Fresnel lens (1898) in use. Lighthouse painted white, lantern roof red. The 2-story frame duplex keeper's house is leased by the county for private residences. Fog signal building added in 1900. This is the oldest Puget Sound lighthouse. The light station was leased to Kitsap County in 1998; the county then purchased several tyracts adjoining the light station to create a county park covering about 60 acres (24 ha). Located 1 mile (1.5 km) east of Hansville on the Kitsap Peninsula, marking the point where Admiralty Inlet joins Puget Sound. Site open, tower open for tours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from early April through late September. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: Kitsap County Parks and Recreation (Point No Point County Park). ARLHS USA-631; Admiralty G4828; USCG 6-16550.
Skunk Bay: 1964. Active (privately maintained); focal plane 210 ft (64 m); continuous red light. 30 ft (9 m) octagonal cylindrical wooden tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a 1-story wooden replica of a fog signal building. The lantern room was salvaged from the 1858 Smith Island Light, which was abandoned in 1957 and lost to shoreline erosion in 1998. Lighthouse painted white, lantern roof red. This lighthouse was built by author Jim Gibbs, a former lighthouse keeper, using plans of the Mukilteo Light. Gibbs, who lives now in Oregon, sold the lighthouse in 1971 to a group of his former neighbors, who maintain it as a private clubhouse. Located one mile (1.6 km) west of Hansville off Twin Spits Road on Skunk Bay, a bight of Admiralty Inlet. Site and tower closed. Owner/site manager: Skunk Bay Lighthouse Association (private). ARLHS USA-965; USCG 6-16545.
Strait of Juan de Fuca Lighthouses
** New Dungeness: 1857. Active; 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 4° Fresnel lens (1903, moved from Admiralty Head in 1927) is now on display at the Coast Guard Museum Northwest in Seattle. Brick fog signal building (1927). A historic and remarkably well preserved light station. The keeper's houses provide housing for volunteer caretakers, who must be members of the preservation association. WLA has a portfolio of photos. Peter Black Realty has posted an aerial view of the isolated light station, and Lighthouse Digest has a March 2005 feature marking the tenth anniversary of the preservation efforts. 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. As of September 2006, the New Dungeness Light Station Association was negotiating an agreement with the Coast Guard that will keep the light in the tower under the Association's maintenance. 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 (entry fee). Accessible by boat (docking reservations required) or by hiking the spit (11 miles (18 km) round trip). Site and tower open. Site manager: New Dungeness Light Station Association. ARLHS USA-538; Admiralty G4772; USCG 6-16335.
[Ediz Hook (2)]: 1908. Inactive since 1946. The lighthouse was an octagonal cylindrical wood tower attached to a 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house. The Coast Guard has a historic photo, and WLA has a portfolio of photos. The keeper's house, with the light tower removed, was relocated in 1946 in the town of Port Angeles and is used as a private residence. The Shanklins also have a recent photo. The house is located at Fourth and Albert Streets in Port Angeles. Site closed. Site manager: private. ARLHS USA-266; Admiralty G4768.
[Slip Point]: 1905. Inactive since the late 1990s. The historic fog signal building (1905) and light tower (1916) were demolished in 1951. A skeletal light tower (1951), seen distantly in the Shanklins' photo, was replaced about 2000 by an offshore buoy. Photos on both the Shanklin and Kraig Anderson sites show the original catwalk leading to the skeletal tower, but a recent photo shows only the piers of the catwalk remaining. However, the original 2-story wood keeper's house, also seen in the Coast Guard's photo of the 1951 light station, survives and houses offices of the Coast Guard and the Clallam County Sheriff's department. There is local interest in restoring the building and perhaps rebuilding the 1916 lighthouse. In 2001 Congress passed legislation transferring 23.6 acres (9.6 ha) of the light station property to the county for inclusion in Clallam Bay Spit County Park. Located at Slip Point off the east side of Clallam Bay, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Site open. Owner/site manager: Clallam County. ARLHS USA-762; Admiralty G4764.
Pacific Coast Lighthouses
Cape Flattery: 1857. Active; focal plane 165 ft (50 m); two white flashes every 20 s (red sector covers dangerous rocks). 65 ft (20 m) brick tower with lantern and gallery, rising through the center of a 1-1/2 story sandstone keeper's house; VRB-25 aerobeacon (1996). Lighthouse painted white, lantern and watch room black; keeper's house roof is bright red. 1-story fog signal building also preserved. Continuously operating fog horn (2 blasts every 60 s). NOAA C-MAN automatic weather station. Lighthouse Explorer has a photo by Stan Severi. This historic tower marks the extreme northwestern corner of the original 48 states. Few U.S. lighthouses are as inaccessible. The Coast Guard repaired the buildings in 1999, installing new windows and replacing rotten wood throughout the structures, and the lighthouse is reported in "fair" condition. Located on Tatoosh Island about 1 mile (1.5 km) off the mainland. Accessible only by boat in very dangerous seas. The light station can be seen from Cape Flattery, which is accessible by rugged roads and a hiking trail (1.5 miles (2.5 km) round trip). Hikers must purchase a recreation permit from the Makah Nation. Site and tower closed; the island, owned by the Makah Nation, is part of a national marine sanctuary and is closed to the public. Owner/site manager: U.S. Coast Guard. ARLHS USA-117; Admiralty G4756; USCG 6-0760.
Destruction Island: 1891. Active; focal plane 147 ft (45 m); white flash every 10 s. 94 ft (28.5 m) stone tower with lantern and gallery, attached to a small storage building; solar-powered VRB-25 aerobeacon mounted on a mast on top of the lantern. The original 1° Fresnel lens is on display at the Westport Maritime Museum in Westport. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and gallery black, lantern roof red. The keeper's house has been demolished, but the 1-story concrete fog signal building (now used to temporarily house maintenance crews), two oil houses, and other buildings survive. Continuously operating fog horn (1 blast every 30 s). NOAA C-MAN automatic weather station. The Coast Guard has a good photo. In February 2006 the Coast Guard proposed to deactivate this light, but as of September 2006 it remained in service. Located on a rocky island about 3 miles (5 km) off the coast. Visible from US 101 at Ruby Beach about 5 miles (8 km) north of Kalaloch. Accessible only by boat in very dangerous seas. Site and tower closed. Owner/site manager: U.S. Coast Guard. ARLHS USA-225; Admiralty G4746; USCG 6-0735.

* Cape Disappointment: 1856 (Francis Kelly and Francis Gibbons). Active; focal plane 220 ft (67 m); flashes every 15 s, alternating red and white. 53 ft (16 m) stone tower attached to oil house; 4° Barbier & Bernard Fresnel lens (1898). The original 1° Fresnel lens (transferred to North Head in 1898) is on display nearby at Fort Canby's Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Lighthouse painted with horizontal black and white bands, lantern black. Keeper's house and fog signal building demolished. The original fog bell is on display outside the Columbia County Courthouse in Dayton. Washington's oldest lighthouse. WLA has a portfolio of photos from a rare open-house visit in July 2005. In October 2006, Washington State Parks announced it will soon acquire the lighthouse from the Coast Guard and plans to open it to the public. Located on a high bluff overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River; Google has a satellite view. Accessible by hiking trail (1.5 miles (2.5 km) round trip) from the end of WA 100 south of Ilwaco. Site open, tower closed except for an occasional open house. Owner: U.S. Coast Guard. Site manager: Washington State Parks (Cape Disappointment State Park). ARLHS USA-112; Admiralty G4532; USCG 6-0695.
Information available on lost lighthouses:

Red Bluff (1860-1903), Whidbey Island. ARLHS USA-1155.
Semiahmoo Harbor (1905-1944), Semiahmoo Bay. ARLHS USA-747.
Smith Island (1858-1998), Strait of Juan de Fuca off the west shore of Whidbey Island. ARLHS USA-763.
Willapa Bay (1858-1940), Willapa Bay. ARLHS USA-893.

Notable faux lighthouses:

Dimick (1990), at Port Townsend, is a privately-built replica of Mukilteo Light; it is not an aid to navigation.

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