The Changing Light Station Community - Yaquina Head - Newport, Oregon
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 44° 40.583 W 124° 04.696
10T E 414538 N 4947567
A history sign at Yaquina Head, Newport, Oregon
Waymark Code: WMWTVT
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2017
Views: 0
One of three history signs located in front of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.
Text of sign:
The Changing Light Station Community
A Technology Story
For more than 140 years, Yaquina Head Lighthouse has graced this headland. While the lighthouse structure has endured, the technology of the lighthouse lamp has evolved and directy influenced the community.
Text of image captions:
Funck’s Hydraulic Float Lamp, the original lamp installed in the lighthouse. This lamp stood 9 feet tall and burned lard oil. When used with a Fresnel lens, it shone a light 20 miles out to sea.
1873 - 1930s
Yaquina Head Lighthouse required three lighthouse keepers to tend its oil-burning lamps. The keepers hauled oil up the lighthouse stairs to supply the lamp, and took shifts to ensure the flame burned throughout the night. Because of the difficulties in getting supplies at such a remote location, keepers and their families tended a garden and raised livestock to help meet their own needs.
1930s
The lighthouse converted to an electric light bulb, requiring maintenance by only two keepers. A smaller home for a single family replaced the original two-story dwelling. WIth improved roads, the keepers could drive to Newport for groceries and no longer needed to tend a garden and raise livestock.
1966
The U.S. Coast Guard automated Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The agency installed a battery backup system, a spare bulb switching device, and an electronic modem to notify the Coast Guard if the light stopped blinking. With no duties required, the lighhouse keepers moved away, and the houses were boarded up. The dwellings and other structures were removed in 1984.
2005
The Bureau of Land Management and its partners began a top-to-bottom restoration of the lighthouse tower and oil house. The restored exterior and interior now match the condition and appearance of the 1873 lighthouse. Today, the community at Yaquina Head changes daily as visitors arrive to experience this historic lighthouse.
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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