Today is National Lighthouse Day and while the landlubber Ranch hands don’t live anywhere near a lighthouse, I am a big fan of the Heceta Head Lighthouse near Florence, Oregon where I visited a couple of years ago when my daughter still lived in the area. Living in a land locked state, I originally thought I’d have to draw or paint a lighthouse to participate in this blog hop hosted by Rosy and her brothers and then realized in the middle of the night I might actually have a photo from that trip. Voilá!
Obviously Colorado has no lighthouses, so it seemed somewhat fitting to use this particular image which is more like a hint of one because you can only see a smidge of the house (far right) and its beacon at dusk. I’ve visited it twice now, viewing it only from the beach below.
Built in 1894, the 56-foot tall lighthouse shines a visible beam for 21 nautical miles (around 39 km/24 mi.), making it the strongest beacon along the Oregon Coast. It was named after Spanish explorer Bruno de Heceta, who explored the region in the late 18th century. It had been used as a fishing and hunting area used by native tribes who hunted sea lions and gathered sea-bird eggs among the shoreline rocks. Legend has it area tribes built a great stone wall (which is now the cliffs) and tricked the Grizzly Bear brothers to their deaths there. White settlers moved to the region around 1888 claiming the surrounding land and the US Lighthouse Service approving the building a lighthouse the same year with construction beginning in 1892. Stones were brought from the nearby Clackamas River with bricks coming from San Francisco. The entire project consisting of lighthouse, a light keeper’s house and a couple of kerosene oil storage buildings were completed in August 1893 for a cost of $80,000. Heceta Head Lighthouse and Keepers Quarters were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 for their architectural and engineering significance. The lighthouse is located at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint, a state park.
Both times that I visited this area, the coastline was shrouded in clouds and somewhat eery (even when I visited it during the day before digital cameras were popular, thus explaining no clearer image from that trip). It seems natural that a lighthouse was built to guide ships along Oregon’s rocky and cloudy coastline.
Happy National Lighthouse Day. We hope all your travels are well-lit with no crashing into rocks.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Nice photos. I love lighthouses, they are a beacon of hope.
Thank you. We think so too.
Beautiful photos.
Thanks!
Wooftastically interesting & wagnificient photos!
💜nose nudges💜
What beautiful pictures of that lighthouse. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you. Our pleasure.
I have always lighthouses as well. Something so mysterious about them. We took a trip out east earlier this summer and saw a bunch.
They ARE mysterious! But ever so cool.
I like light houses too. My favorite one is at Montauk Point, at the very end of Long Island. I remember going there with my Girl Scout troop when I was about 10 years old. And again, many years later as an adult. There is a restaurant “complex” there – a rustic little dine-in place with a balcony overlooking Great South Bay, an attached snack bar (where they made the best soft-shell crab sandwiches!), and a store where you could buy fresh-caught lobsters to bring home to cook yourself. They even let you pick out the lobster(s) you want. And you could get soft-serve ice cream, too. And they had a little village square with cutesy, old-timey stores. I haven’t been there in about 25+ years, so I’m not sure if or how it’s changed. But the light house is still there, and is probably a couple centuries old by now. I’ll have to “google” it one of these days.
There is something very magical about lighthouses along the upper East Coast. I love seeing wind swept cliffs with those beacons of safety in New England.
Actually, I discovered that Colorado does have a functioning lighthouse. It’s on Dillon Res but it is tiny by seaside standards. But, wow, the lighthouse that you featured is beautiful, and its view is stupendous! Great photos!
Thanks. I saw the Dillon Res Lighthouse. Who knew?! Thanks for sharing that little tidbit about Colorado. Too cool!
Oh we loved seeing the lighthouse light!!!! Beautiful photos
hugs
Hazel & Mabel
Thanks Hazel and Mabel. It was very cool seeing it work.
At my age I look for single level lighthouses.
I’m with you but fear there aren’t a whole lotta California ranch models in lighthouses. 😊
Wow, you got amazing photos! My favorite lighthouses are in Maine, but I don’t really know the history of them. You’ve inspired me to look into it!
Those photographs are stunning!
Many thanks, Helen. Kind of you to say.
I love lighthouses and need to explore along the Gulf to see if we can find any to explore! Oregon is so beautiful and your lighthouse photo is amazing.
🐬Thanks!
A lighthouse here in the desert is called by it’s original Native American word, “Hallucination”.
Oddly enough, I learned today there is a small one at Lake Dillion (a large reservoir) near Frisco, Colorado. Go figure.
The Point Lowly Lighthouse, which Benji and I visit frequently, is the oldest European structure in the area. Built in 1883 it predates everything. The lighthouse is 22.6 metres in height. Loved your photographs. Unlike you, Benji and I have never been out to the lighthouse at night. Must do sometime.
How cool is that place? Not having an ocean I was particularly enthralled by this one on the Oregon coast. The only reason I was there at dusk was our little group was late in getting started and it was a lengthy drive from their house. But it turned into quite the opportunity, didn’t it?
thank you for sharing this special day with us. The photos are lovely and OMCS Colorado does have a Lighthouse Click on Romping and Rolling in the Rockies on the bloghop list. . They googled and found one and it is on the highest elevation of any Lighthouse in the USA
Hugs madi and mom
Awesome! Will do. Thanks!
Those photos are stunning. But we have been reading other posts in this blog hop and so can inform you that Colorado does in fact have a lighthouse, at an altitude of over 9000ft!
Thanks. I heard about that little lighthouse. Gonna have to check it out!
Many thanks. You’re so right, the lighthouse located at Frisco, Colorado at the marina in Lake Dillon is the highest lighthouse in the U.S. Course the elevation there makes up most of that. 😉
My most favorite lighthouse is Heceta Head….What wonderful photos, you truly captured its essence!!!
I love that place too! So fascinating and picturesque.
Love the 411 and the breathtaking pictures!
Why, thanks-so kind of you to say that. It’s a very beautiful spot along the coast.
I love lighthouses. Climbing them? Okay, maybe not so much. lol
Yeah, putting away the groceries could be quite the challenge. 😃
I would eat out . . . LOL
Don’t think there’d be many Cuban sandwich joints in the neighborhood. Just saying. LOL
Buahahaha! You’ve got a point!
Also being among one of the many land-locked states, we rarely ever get to see lighthouses either. I am glad you had the middle of the night epiphany!
Funny how those things percolate while you’re snoozing!
Your photos are much more than photos, they are art. Amazingly beautiful place.
Thank you, Kosmo. What a nice thing to say. 😍
I love the Bay of Biscay (I believe) lighthouse pics: https://wallpaperstudio10.com/wallpaper-life_lighthouse-85264.html
😊
Lighthouses are a wonderful place to explore. I always stop too.
Have a fabulous day. ♥
And best wishes right back atcha!
your photos are delightful! I have seen people who have transformed lighthouses into actual homes, how cool is that?
Thank you. Getting groceries into the kitchen might be quite a chore, but what an amazing experience!
that are super photos… the light in the darkness… BRAVO!
Thank you. I got lucky that evening. 😉
Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Why thank you! It was one of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve seen along the coast.
You are wekcome. Its wonderful that you captured it! !
😊
Absolutely gorgeous pictures!
Both Mary and I like lighthouses, too.
Have a wonderful day,
Pit
Thank you! Being far away from the structure itself, Mother Nature must have taken pity on me and provided a nice sunset. It took my breath away before I realized I needed to start photographing it with a small point & shoot camera.
🙂
Those are awesome photos. Thanks for sharing and who knew there was a national lighthouse day. I didn’t but do now thanks to you.
I didn’t either but for the fact that Rosy and her brothers mentioned it. I was so intrigued with this place in Oregon. So gorgeous and so unlike anything in Colorado.