Cape Disappointment Historic District is located from 0.5 miles south of Ilwaco to Washington/Oregon boundary, Ilwaco. The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is my token historic structure within this district.I went on a field trip to Waikiki Beach where I took several photos of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse perched on a 287-foot Rocky Headland. Afterwards I visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Fort Canby to photograph the huge Fresnel lens.
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is located a few miles southwest of Ilwaco within the Fort Canby State Park. It commands a panoramic view of the juncture of the mighty Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Built in 1856, this is Washington State’s oldest lighthouse and it is still in use (but without the first-order Fresnel Lens). The 53-feet-tall structure is best known as the “Guardian to the Mouth of the Columbia.”
The lighthouse was operated by the U.S. Lighthouse service until 1939, when the U.S. Coast Guard took command.
The first-order Fresnel lens has been removed from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. The Fresnel lens was manufactured in 1822 in France for about $3,000. The lens was lighted with 18 wicks which burned five gallons of oil in a night and produced a light that could be seen 20 miles out to sea. It is estimated it would cost more than $6 million to make another lens like it today. In 1937, a fourth-order lens was installed, reducing the range to 17 miles. The lighthouse is now automated. The first-order Fresnel lens is currently on display at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Fort Canby.
Instructions for logging waymark: a photograph is required that shows you (or your GPS receiver, if you are waymarking solo) and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.