Oregon Coast Lighthouse~ Cape Blanco

Cape Blanco Fresnel Lens~ Photo by Lance & Cromwell

Cape Blanco is the last stop on our Oregon Coast Lighthouse Tour… it’s  located on the beautiful Southern Oregon Coast in the Cape Blanco State Park, 9 miles northwest of Port Orford, Oregon. There you will find the lighthouse and the Historic Hughes House open for tours from April to October.  For your lodging needs, Port Orford has a wide selection of vacation homes featuring river, lake & ocean front views.

Sitting on top of a 200 foot tall white chalky colored cliff, Cape Blanco or White Cape got its name from the early Spanish explorers. Cape Blanco lighthouse has the distinctions of being the southernmost of Oregon’s lighthouses…  the furthest point west in the state… the oldest continuously operating light in Oregon…  sits on the highest focal plane above the sea at 256 feet and…  had Oregon’s first woman keeper!

The light was proposed in 1864, and the first-order fixed (non-rotating) Fresnel lens was lit for the first time on December 20, 1870. In 1936 the original lens was replaced with a smaller, second order rotating Fresnel lens. In 1992, vandals broke into the lantern room and smashed several sections of the lens, including one of the eight bull’s-eyes. Two years later… Cape Blanco’s Fresnel lens shone again!

Cape Blanco is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  All tours are guided by trained volunteers, making your visit informative and memorable. NOTE: gates close when the final tour times are booked, about 3:15

I hope you have enjoyed our blog tour of “Lighthouses of the Oregon Coast” as much as I have.

~ Thanks & have fun AT THE BEACH!