Cape Blanco Lighthouse --  Circa: 1870 -- Operational

Sea waves crashing against the towering cliffs, Cape Blanco juts into the sea, flanked by the friendlier waters of the Elk and Sixes Rivers.

Geologically, the cape seems to be a big quake ready to happen, sitting on 3 faults and shifting tectonic plates. Lighthouse keepers noted earthquakes in their logs throughout the years, including one a few days after the great San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Otto Heins noted in the Cape Blanco logs that the tower swayed for a minute on April 23, 1906.

For hundreds of years, the cape was home to Native Americans. They gathered their sustenance from the surrounding forest, rivers and sea. Today, it is a spiritual place for Native American tribes.

Martin de Aguilar sailed along the Oregon coast in January of 1603, however, it was Captain George Vancouver that charted Cape Blanco in 1792, and determined it's near true latitude. Captain Vancouver named the cape "Orford" in honor of his friend the Earl of Orford. However, the name did not stick, instead a small community about 8 miles from the cape adopted the name, changing it slightly to Port Orford. (Note: It is believed the name Cape Blanco was in use prior to de Aguliar's 1603 trip.)

In 1867, the government saw fit to construct a lighthouse on the Cape, and purchased land from John D. and Mary West. Discovered in 1851, Port Orford was and settled by Captain Tichenor, who intended to plat a town and build a road inland to the gold mines. While his dream was not fulfilled, Port Orford was platted, and sea trade along the coast increased. In 1856 the Port of Port Orford was established to handle the booming trade. The government realized the need to provide warning for Cape Blanco’s offshore reef, and thus plans for the lighthouse moved forward. With the initial land in hand, Lt. Col. R. S. Williamson began to procure goods and services for the construction of the lighthouse and the necessary outbuildings such as a duplex, to house the keepers and their families.

Building a lighthouse in a remote area presents a number of problems, including getting the materials to the location. Most goods were shipped by steamer, and landed on the nearby beach, while others were brought overland. Bricks were cheaper if they could be fired on site, so rights were purchased from neighbor, Patrick Hughes, to harvest the necessary ingredients for bricks from his land. A brickmaker was quickly hired to produce the bricks. Things did not go well for him, as the first batch of bricks was rejected as being of inferior quality, and another brickmaker was hired. A first order Fresnel, fixed lens was ordered from the Henry LePautre in Paris France and iron stairs were ordered fabricated and shipped to the cape. By December 20th, 1870, all of the bricks, iron, copper and the Fresnel lens had been assembled into a 59’ lighthouse tower, with an attached workroom. That evening, H.B. Burnap climbed the 64 steps to light the lantern for the first time. It’s steady beam, 256’ above mean sea level, was visible from a ships deck 22 2/3 nautical miles at sea. (According to original documents.)

Several keepers followed in Burnap’s footsteps, most notably James Langlois, who spent 42 years on the cape. After Langlois retired, James Hughes was promoted to head keeper, his career spanning 38 years. Around 1900, crowding at the lighthouse was evident in annual requests to the government to build additional quarters. By the time new quarters were built, James Hughes had built a home on his ranch, located across the river from his father Patrick Hughes, and began to "commute" to work.

In 1939, the Lighthouse Service and the Coast Guard merged; some keepers joined the Coast Guard, while others stayed on under the Lighthouse Service until they retired. Walter Mabin was the last keeper to retire at Cape Blanco under lighthouse service, however, Albert Anderson transferred to Cape Blanco and was given a choice to continue his current title as a civil servant or to join the U.S. Coast Guard. Anderson kept his title and lived at Cape Blanco until he took a position in Washington to be closer to higher education for his two children. Eloise, his daughter remembers WWII when dirigibles dropped oranges and other goodies. (Photo courtesy of Eloise.)

In 1911, Cape Blanco's signal changed from a steady beam to a flash 1.8 seconds bright-18.2 eclipse, managed by a clockwork system used to either raise and lower a shade or revolve a shade around the lamp to produce the new signal. In 1936, under Keeper Mabin, the lens was changed to a second order lens, still in use today. Eight bullseye lenses coupled with the rotation of the lens now produces Cape Blanco's unique signal. The original lens was boxed and shipped to Tongue Point for storage. (Note: The new lens, created by Henry-LePautre, is somewhat larger than a second order lens, but smaller than a first is size.)

Today, the light shines not only electrified (1942) it is also automated. When the lighthouse opened to the public the light status was monitored by Coast Guard North Bend, however, GPS made lighthouse technology totally obsolete and the monitoring system was removed. Keepers and living on site are history, the last of the structures, un-occupied since December of 1987, torn down in 2002.

News Snippets:

Morning Oregonian, May 25, 1889: San Francisco, May 24.--The ship Alex. Gibson arrived in port this afternoon, five and one-half days from Seattle. Last Monday, when off Cape Blanco, Captain Sneed jumped overboard and was drowned. It is suppose that he became temporarily insane from the use of quinine, and while in this condition jumped overboard. His body was not recovered.