Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was constructed  to warn seamen of the treacherous river bar known by then as "the graveyard of the Pacific."

This is the oldest functioning lighthouse on the West Coast. In 1848 a lighthouse was recommended to be located at Cape Disappointment in what was then the Oregon Territory. $53,000 was appropriated in 1852.

After the lighthouse was designed, a first-order Fresnel lens  was ordered. When the lens arrived it was found to be too large for the tower. Rebuilding the tower took an additional two years. The first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest was finally lit in 1856.

In addition to the light, the station was equipped with a 1600-pound bell powered by a striking mechanism. The keeper's residence was about a quarter mile away.  The lighthouse was electrified in 1937.  In 1956, the Coast Guard intended to close the station, but retained the light when the Columbia River  bar pilots protested. The light was automated in 1973. The red and white flashing light was deactivated in 2008. An observation deck has been built for the Coast Guard to monitor traffic and bar conditions.

Location: Ilwaco
State: Washington
Photographer:  Eadweard Muybridge

A note on Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904):

The photographer, often called the Father of Motion Picture, was an English photographer who is well known for his use of multiple cameras to capture motion.  In addition to his moving picture studies he was also a talented landscape photographer.  In 1871 the Lighthouse Board contracted with Muybridge’s studio Helios to photograph the lighthouses on the west coast.  From March to July of that year Muybridge traveled on the Lighthouse Tender Shubrick, photographing the west coast lighthouses for the sum of $20 a day.