North Head Light House - Coastal Lighthouses on Waymarking.com

Construction of North Head Lighthouse began in 1896 and was first lit on May 16, 1898. 69 steps lead to the lantern room, which is 65 feet from the ground and 194 feet above sea level.
Since the light is only two miles north of Cape Disappointment, North Head needed a distinct signature. North Head shone a fixed white light, while Cape Disappointment alternated red and white flashes.
Cape Disappointment Light House was established in 1856 to mark the entrance to the Columbia River, mariners approaching the river from the north complained they could not see the light until they had nearly reached the river. Their cry for an additional lighthouse was supported by the many shipwrecks, which occurred along the Long Beach Peninsula, just north of the cape.
North Head is one of the windiest places in the United States. On January 29, 1921, winds were clocked at 126 mph before the instrument blew away. They have frequently been measured at over 100 mph.
Perhaps it was the wind, or the long gloomy winter that drove one keeper's wife to her death in 1923. Not being able to take it any more she committed suicide by flinging herself over the precipitous cliffs.
On April 19, 1932, the ferocious winds forced a wild duck to fly out of control into the lantern room, crashing through the plate glass and taking out a chip of the lens.
The original lens was replaced in 1935 when electricity came to the station. Seven years later, on June 22, 1942 at 12:35 a.m. the keeper was ordered to turn off the light. Fort Stevens, Oregon had just been fired upon by a Japanese submarine. In a strategy to keep the location of Fort Stevens and Fort Canby hidden, all the surrounding lighthouses were darkened until the danger was over.
In the 1950s, the fourth-order lens was replaced by two aero beacons. The light was automated in 1961 with a modern optic mounted on the tower's gallery and the last keeper left on July 1, 1961.
With the keepers gone, the lighthouse began to deteriorate. Fortunately, the Coast Guard restored the lighthouse in 1984 and opened it to the public under the direction of Cape Disappointment State Park. The keepers' dwellings, located about a ½ mile into the woods from the tower have also been restored. Half of the keepers' duplex houses park personnel, but the other half and the single-family dwelling are available for overnight stays.

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