News & Events

150th Art Show!

We will be displaying the entries submitted to our 150th Lighthouse Birthday Children’s Coloring Contest as well as submittals by local artists during the month of August in the Yaquina Room located inside the YH Interpretive Center. This is a chance for YOU to have your favorite piece of art featuring Yaquina Head Lighthouse displayed for the community and visitors to Yaquina Head in honor of the lighthouse’s 150th birthday.  The show will be hung during the month of August and will be available for public viewing through the Labor Day Holiday.  

We are seeking matted photos and paintings/drawings for an art display to honor Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  Other art forms may be considered on a case-by-case basis depending upon our ability to properly display them. Please contact Amy at foyl@yaquinalights.org or at (541) 574-3129 for more information on how to submit your entries.  

 

 

Yaquina Head Weatherstation

Our latest project at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area funded the purchase of a weather station that is located down on the lighthouse circle. Now we all can see what is happening out on the Yaquina Headland in real time! Click Here for a peek.

 

Look for our film project, now being shown in the Yaquina Room inside the Yaquina Head Interpretive Center, on our new YouTube Channel! You can find the combined films HERE. We will be adding video content of Yaquina happenings as we go along.

A new LED Lamp and the Evolution of Yaquina Head Lightsources

• 1873, wicked, lard oil lamp
• 1887, wicked, kerosene lamp
• 1911, incandescent oil vapor, mantles (not wicks), kerosene lamp
• 1933, electric, first incandescent bulb
• 1939, electric, incandescent bulb, but characteristic changed from steady white (since 1873) to flashing white, 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off, which it still is today. (The first device used to flash the lamp was a mechanical one from an ordinary traffic light.)
• 1965, electric, halogen, T-20, 1,000 watt Airway Beacon Bulb with glass safety-envelope
• 2010, electric, halogen, T-20 BP, 1,000 watt Airway Beacon Bulb, without glass safety-envelope
• 2018, electric, newer model halogen bulb, short life span
• December 2, 2018, electric, LED (36 individual LEDs).* Yaquina Head became the second US lighthouse, and the first on the West Coast, to use LED technology. The first LED system in the US was installed at Eatons Neck Lighthouse, on Long Island in New York.

*Notes on the LED Light: There are a few major advantages to this light over the previous systems. First, the old bulbs had a 2,000 hour expected life, which meant they would have to be replaced every 2.5-3 months. Due to unavailability, the T-20 BP bulbs were replaced by a newer model in early 2018, which were considerably cheaper but burning out so quickly that techs had to come up from Coos Bay almost every month to replace them. The LED fixture requires no regular maintenance, and the LEDs are good for 10-15 years. Even if one of the LEDs fails for some reason, the remainder will stay illuminated. Additionally, the LEDs are much more efficient than the incandescent and halogen bulbs used in the past. There will be a power savings of approximately 70%.

 

 

  Help To Uncover the Secrets of the Past, Find a Shipwreck of Your Own!

   

https://fromthepage.com/yaquinalights/1871-1900-yaquina-head-lighthouse-letter-books/1892-lighthouse-keeper-logs/display/21786

  • Fresh breeze N. West thee 24 hours, first part of 24 hours little high dry fog. Last part of 24 hours fair weather. Sea quite smooth. Keeper went to Newport. 1st ass’t and 2nd ass’t painting roof of woodshed & whitewashing tight board fence. At 6. P.M. sighted three ship’s boats coming toward the cape and landed, it proved to be the entire crew of the ship St. Charles that blew up by coal gas at 8.40 A.M. the 17th. The Captain and crew taking to the boats. The Capt and two of the crew are badly burned and are at the Station taking care of them the best that we can. Gave the entire crew supper and lodging and breakfast. Have telegraphed to agents particulars concerning the accident.

We have historic letters, logs, and inspectors reports that need to be transcribed! Help to reveal the unknown history of the Lighthouse! Just recently a volunteer found an account of not one, but two maritime disasters. The above is an example of the beginning of the St. Charles disaster at sea, following is a link to the story of the St. Charles along with a gruesome Newspaper article from Sacramento regarding the events https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/42197300/

There’s a list of shipwrecks here Oregon shipwrecks at Wikipedia .

Surely there are more buried in our logs, to find your own just Transcribe them here!