Yaquina Bay Park
Newport, Oregon Coast

12. Lighthouse Keeper's Office

Charles H. Pierce, a former Civil War captain in the Union army, brought his wife and nine children from Cape Blanco to serve as headkeeper. Their tenth child was born at Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

With increased maritime traffic along the Oregon Coast, the Lighthouse Board decided the area would be better served with a coastal light at Yaquina Head, just four miles north. The completion of Yaquina Head Light in 1873 eliminated the need for the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. On October 1, 1874, Captain Pierce extinguished the light, returning with his family to Cape Blanco. The fifth-order Fresnel lens was transferred to the Yerba Buena Light station in San Francisco Bay, where it was lit in 1875.