Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Earlier this year, we asked readers to pick their favorite Oregon State Parks. Now, we're headed to the top 15 to check in, bringing back a comprehensive guide to each one.

Every night, when the sun began to set over the ocean at Cape Blanco, James Langlois filled his heavy brass can with oil, carefully carrying it up the spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse. As darkness set in, he poured the oil into a lamp inside a beautiful and expensive Fresnel lens, illuminating a bright, white light that could be seen for 23 miles out to sea.



Langlois tirelessly fulfilled his duty – carrying oil through the night, cleaning the inside of the lens at dawn – almost every single day during his 42 years as head keeper at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Some nights the wind would howl and hurl debris through the windows, which he would then have to fix. Sometimes, despite the light, ships would wreck on the rocks just beneath the surface of the ocean, including one in 1903 that struck a reef in dense fog, forcing all aboard to abandon ship.

Langlois dutifully recorded the incident in the station’s logbook: “21 persons lost with the wreck, ship sinking in about three quarters of an hour after striking. Ship a total loss … Keeper patrolled the beach north and south of the station but found nothing of the wreck or any of the drowned crew or passengers.”

Today, Cape Blanco is a beautiful place for rest and recreation, nestled on a gorgeous headland on the southern Oregon coast. But before it became a state park, the westernmost point in Oregon was a rough and rugged place, testing the mettle of all who called it home.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

CAPE BLANCO LIGHTHOUSE

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse isn’t the tallest on the Oregon coast, nor was it the first one lit, but for decades it might have been the most remote. The lighthouse was first lit in 1870, built on the westernmost point on the Oregon coast, a high headland subject to strong gales, surrounded by shallow reefs and towering rocks, initially inaccessible by any roads.

The lighthouse helped keep ships away from that particularly dangerous stretch of coastline, but the same conditions it warned against kept the keepers isolated from the outside world. In the early days, supply ships only came every six months, carrying flour, sugar, coffee and newspapers. Even after a road was built in 1885, it was often easier to reach Port Orford by travelling along the beach at low tide.

While most Oregon lighthouse keepers rotated their stations every few years, the men and women stationed at Cape Blanco were a dedicated bunch. Two keepers, Langlois and his replacement, James Hughes, served at the cape their entire careers, 42 years and 36 years respectively.

In 1980, the lighthouse was automated and today it remains lit, though with modern technology ships no longer rely on the light to avoid the reefs off the cape. Instead it’s a tourist attraction, where a $2 ticket buys you a guided tour through the lighthouse, up the same stairs Langlois climbed every night, to the same lens that projected the light out to sea.

Lighthouse tours run from April through October, Wednesday to Monday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The lighthouse is closed Tuesdays and in the off-season. Tickets cost $2 for adults, free for kids 15 and younger.

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Courtesy of Oregon State Parks

CAMPGROUND

The campground at Cape Blanco is small, but more spacious than most on the Oregon coast. Tall hedges separate most campsites, acting to block both noise and wind, while also offering some privacy. At 52 sites, it’s smaller than most state park campgrounds on the coast, but there are also four cabins, a group camp and horse camp that offer additional space.

Make reservations online at oregonstateparks.com or by phone at 800-452-5687.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

THE BEACH

The beach at Cape Blanco is accessible via a narrow road at the back of the campground. Cars are allowed to drive onto the sand, but the road down is extremely rough, necessitating a high-clearance vehicle. The long, sandy beach is beautiful, though often windy, and if you’re so inclined you can follow it all the way south to Port Orford, just like the old lighthouse keepers and their families.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

HUGHES HOUSE

In 1860, Irish immigrant Patrick Hughes began a livestock and dairy business on Cape Blanco, where he lived with his wife, Jane, and seven children. One son, James, worked at the lighthouse under James Langlois, and took over as head keeper in 1918.

The dairy industry paid well, and in 1898, Hughes built a beautiful two-story home to house his family. But while the family’s dream home was complete, the happiness wasn’t meant to last: Patrick Hughes lived in the house for only three years before his death in 1901.

Despite having so many children, by the mid 1940s all of the Hughes family had either died or moved away. Only Annie Doyle, wife of the Hughes’ youngest son, Francis, remained, living alone in the house for 13 years before her death in 1959. The house sat abandoned until 1971, when the state of Oregon acquired the property, and was persuaded to renovate the home as part of Cape Blanco State Park.

Today, volunteers with the Cape Blanco Heritage Society maintain the historic home and give free tours to the public, offering a small glimpse into one family’s luxurious lifestyle on the rugged coastal cape.

Tours of the Hughes House run from April through October, Wednesday to Monday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The house is closed Tuesdays and in the off-season. Tours are free to the public, though the heritage society asks for donations.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Inside the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1870 and automated in 1980.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Fresnel lens inside the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1870 and automated in 1980.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Fresnel lens inside the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1870 and automated in 1980.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The view looking north from Cape Blanco.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A view of the beach looking south from an access road on Cape Blanco.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse, seen on the cliffs from the beach just south.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse was constructed in 1870 and was automated in 1980.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A volunteer talks about the lens inside the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse was constructed in 1870 and was automated in 1980.

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