“Terrible Tilly” Oregon Coast Lighthouse
~ This entry was posted on September 20, 2009
Oregon State has nine lighthouses along the coast that guarantee your next trip to the beach will be a memorable one… Let’s start in the north and work our way south exploring the Lighthouses of the Oregon Coast. There is plenty of lodging to choose from nearby in Seaside and Cannon Beach if you want to stay in the area before your next stop.
The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse or “Terrible Tilly” as it came to be known sits 1 mile west of “Tillamook Head” between Cannon Beach and Seaside Oregon. It was commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering the mighty Columbia River and operated until 1957 when it was replaced by a whistle buoy. Sitting on a basalt rock islet, the 62-foot tower displayed a first-order Fresnel lens that sat at 133 feet above sea level. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is included on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only privately owned lighthouse along the Oregon Coast.
After it was decommissioned, it was sold several times to private investors, and was eventually used as a columbarium, a storage place for the ashes of the deceased. There is no public access but you can view this majestic lighthouse using a trail that runs from Ecola State park near Cannon Beach on the south to Seaside Oregon from the north that takes you around Tillamook Head. Remember, for access to Ecola State park, there is an Oregon State park day use fee or use your annual parking permit or Oregon Pacific Coast Passport.
Next up is my favorite lighthouse, Cape Meares near Tillamook Oregon…
~Thanks & have fun AT THE BEACH!
