Yaquina Head Natural Area
Oregon Coast

9. Yaquina Head Lighthouse

The Yaquina Head lighthouse is a classic seacoast tower, a design more often found on the east coast. At 93 feet tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, and is very similar in design to the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse in central California. Construction began in 1871, and a planned 1872 lighting was delayed when it was discovered that part of the lens (shipped from France) was missing. It was finally lit on August 20, 1873. One of the persistent rumors about Yaquina Head is that it was built at the wrong location. The story goes that the light was designated for Cape Foulweather, seven miles north of Yaquina Head, but due to either the difficulty of transporting materials up the bluff at that location or a simple mistake, the contractor put the lighthouse instead at Yaquina Head.

The rumor is further supported by the fact that the nearby Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was discontinued soon after, because of Yaquina Head's proximity. The source of this rumor is rooted in a place name mistake: at the time the lighthouse was built, Yaquina Head was labeled incorrectly as Cape Foulweather on maps, and the lighthouse's intended location was also mislabeled as such. When the map error was corrected some years later, the myth arose that the lighthouse was supposed to have been placed at the actual Cape Foulweather. The details of the land purchase, surveying records and geographical description make it clear, however, that the lighthouse was in fact placed exactly where intended.