The Lighthouse Era - Yaquina Head - Newport, Oregon
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 44° 40.487 W 124° 04.488
10T E 414811 N 4947385
A history sign at Yaquina Head, Newport, Oregon
Waymark Code: WMWTBA
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 10/10/2017
Views: 1
A history sign behind the Yaquina Head Visitor Center shows a series of historic photos at Yaquina Head.
Text of sign (captions of photos):
The Lighthouse Era
The earliest known photograph of Yaquina Head Lighthouse (ca. 1877).
Yaquina Head entered on duty in 1873 as Head Keeper Fayette Crosby lit the oil-burning lamp to shine a light out to sea. The lighthouse helped open the coast to 24-hour commerce as ships relied on this lighthouse and others to move cargo safely along the coast at night.
Original plans for the 1873 Yaquina Head Lighthouse.
In the early years, people often called the lighthouse the Cape Foulweather Lighthouse at Yaquina Head.
Yaquina Head Lighthouse First Assistant Keeper Herbert Higgens with the children of Second Assistant Keeper Fred Booth (ca. 1917).
Other Land Uses
The Yaquina Head ranch and home of the Megginson and Briggs families in 1910. Yaquina Head Lighthouse is behind the hill on the left.
Beginning in the 19th century, American settlers arrived to claim land in the remote wilderness around Yaquina Head. Over time, this land has supported a cattle ranch, a quarry, a golf course, and a housing development.
In 1915 a quarry business scooped gravel from the beaches of Yaquina Head to construct seawalls in Nye Beach, several miles away. From 1917 through the 1970s, quarry workers blasted the headlands’s rocky cliffs to remove gravel for roads and other construction projects.
Historic Topic: Pioneer
Group Responsible for placement: BLM
Marker Type: Trail
Region: Coast
County: Lincoln
State of Oregon Historical Marker "Beaver Board": Not listed
Web link to additional information: Not listed
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