Barbie's Adventures: Heceta Head Lighthouse

Recently Barbie made a trek over to the beautiful Oregon Coast to visit Heceta Head Lighthouse, which had just completed its two year renovation and reopened in June of this year.  It has the brightest light of all the lighthouses on the entire Oregon Coast. 

 

The lens was made in England and is the largest lens of its type in the United States. The beam can be seen for twenty-one miles out to sea.

Before the Renovation

After the Renovation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heceta (Ha-see-tah) Head Lighthouse is located at the mouth of Cape Creek, which is 13 miles North of Florence, Oregon.  It was built between 1892 and 1893, but it wasn’t lit until 1894.  The Fresnel lens was received in 1883, but the lamps didn’t arrive from New York until March of 1884.  Originally a five wick kerosene lamp lit the beacon, but today it has an electric bulb.  The tower itself stands 56 feet high, but since it is on a bluff, it is actually 205 feet above sea level.



Lighthouse Keeper's House

There is a lighthouse keeper’s house nearby, which dates back to 1894.  It was used as a living quarters for the light keeper who kept the light in working order.  Along with his lighthouse duties, he hunted, fished, kept a garden, raised chickens and cows, and tended his horses.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

In 1978 both the lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers house were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.



 

 

The Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the United States, and location where Barbie is sitting is one of the most famous shots on the entire Oregon Coast.







View as you make the 1/2 mile walk to the light house

 

 

 

 

 

If you get a chance to visit the Oregon Coast, try to include the 1/2 mile walk past the well maintained Keepers house and up to the lighthouse. 

 

 The recent changes have returned the lighthouse to its original condition, and tours are given including a walk up the spiral staircase to the turning light mechanism.  Who knows how many lives were saved by this early navigational aid?

One of the most famous shots on the Oregon Coast