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The Evergreen State, with its reputation for rain, fog, and long winter nights, was once home to 26 lighthouses and three lightships. Automation and modern navigational methods have rendered many old lights obsolete. Washington State is fortunate to have 21 lighthouses still operating and two of their old lightships as museums. They are especially lucky that their oldest sentinel, Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, remains active and strong. It celebrates a milestone in its career this year — 150 years of service to mariners.
This patriarch of Washington State lighthouses, sporting bold stripes, an opulent prism lens and a commanding view of the Pacific Ocean, is one of the state’s most beautiful. Its history is compelling too. The lighthouse was one of the first built on the West Coast following the discovery of gold in California. It was also Washington Territory’s first navigational light and fog signal, with a first order lens and a half-ton bell. The Columbia River Bar, known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” saw many shipwrecks in the mid-nineteenth century. Cape Disappointment Light and its keepers rescued survivors and helped salvage the wrecks. One of the earliest keepers, Joel Munson, launched a lifesaving effort that later evolved into the Coast Guard’s prestigious training base at Cape Disappointment.
Washington Lightkeepers Association, a nonprofit group based in Seabeck, has organized a grand summer celebration of the state’s lighthouses in honor of the 150th birthday of Cape Disappointment Light and the 100th birthday of Mukilteo Light and Burrows Island Light. The celebration kicked off January 3, 2006 with the debut of a lighthouse license plate. Sale of the specialty plates, which feature a generic northwest lighthouse designed by Whidbey Island watercolorist Janet Orso, raised the profile of lighthouses
in the state and supports a grant fund for lighthouse and lightship preservation.
“The Great Lighthouse Hunt”, a two-week activity-filled salute to the state’s sentinels, takes place August 5-20, 2006. Boat trips, a road race, community picnics, a salmon bake, public concerts, a rummage sale, special exhibits, whale-watching, history programs, guided hikes and nature walks, campfire programs, an amateur photo contest and tours of the lighthouses are scheduled. A free souvenir map showing the location of the lighthouses will be available after July 1 at participating lighthouses or by writing to Washington Lightkeepers Association. The association also commissioned a special commemorative quilt featuring 12 Washington lighthouses. The quilt will be on exhibit at various sites until October and is being raffled to raise funds for the Great Lighthouse Hunt.
For more information on the specialty license plate, the Great Lighthouse Hunt, and the Washington Lighthouse Quilt, go to www.walightkeepers.com or write Washington Lightkeepers Association, P.O. Box 984, Seabeck, WA 98380.
The Great Lighthouse Hunt Activities
Aug.1-31-Ilwaco: Daily programs at Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center on Cape Disappointment & North Head lighthouses; call 360.642.3078 for times
Aug.1-31-Westport: Lighthouse Photo Contest entries on exhibit at Westport Maritime Museum; daily 10:00-5:00pm; prizes
Aug.1-31-Ilwaco: Tours of North Head Lighthouse; daily 10:00-4:00pm
Aug.1-31-Sequim: “Hikers Reward” for those who hike to New Dungeness Lighthouse and climb the tower; daily 10:00-4:00pm
Aug.4 & 25-Mukilteo: “Mukilteo Melodies” band concert at Mukilteo Lighthouse; call 425.513.9602 for information
Aug.4-Westport: “Run for the Lighthouses” 5K & 10K fun run at Grays Harbor Lighthouse; prizes; email webphotog@walightkeepers.com for information
Aug.5-Coupeville: “Lighthouse Day” at Admiralty Head Lighthouse; tours and many family-oriented activities;
10:00-4:00pm
Aug.5-6-Browns Point: Salmon Bake and Special Exhibit at Browns Point Lighthouse; noon-4:00pm
Aug.5,12,19-Vashon Island: Tours of Point Robinson Light; new gift shop open; noon to 4:00pm
Aug.5 & 12-Ilwaco: Guided hike to and tour of
Cape Disappointment Light; call 360.642.3078 for times
Aug.5,6,12,13,19 20-Hansville: Tours of Point No Point Light, noon-4:00pm
Aug.6-San JuanIslands: Boat trip 2:00-6:00pm from Orcas Island to Turn Point & Patos Island lighthouses; view Lime Kiln & Cattle Point lights from the water; see orcas
(Call 800.376.6566 for reservations)
Aug.6,13,20: Tours of Alki Point Light, West Seattle 1:00-3:30pm
Aug.10-12 & 17-19-San Juan Island: Sunset tours of
Lime Kiln Light and new exhibit; email limekiln@interisland.net
for information
Aug.12-Mukilteo: Lighthouse Birthday Party, Keepers Kin Reunion, Ice Cream Social, Kids’ Fun, A Night at the Lighthouse; all day
Aug.12-Hansville: Band concert at Point No Point Light, 1:00-3:00pm plus Rummage Sale
Aug.12,19,20-Seattle: Tours of West Point Light; noon-4:00pm; shuttle from Visitor Center Aug.12 & 20; Aug.19 no shuttle but rewards at the lighthouse for hikers
Aug.19-Ilwaco: Campfire Program about Cape Disappointment Light at park amphitheater at dusk
Aug.19-San Juan Islands: Boat trip 2:00-6:00pm from Orcas Island to Turn Point & Patos Island lighthouses; view Lime Kiln & Cattle Point lights from the water; see orcas
(Call 800.376.6566 for reservations)
Aug.5-20-Seattle: Grounds of West Point Light set up for picnickers, noon until sunset; bring a basket and enjoy a picnic by the light
Aug.20-Anacortes: Boat trip to Burrows Island Lighthouse; call 360.830.0582 for details.
This story appeared in the
June 2006 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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