Wikimedia Commons/James A. Tweedle

After a century of service, nearly a decade of lobbying and several years of restoration work, the North Head Lighthouse will be closed off again for just a few more seasons.

Washington State Parks announced Wednesday that the North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment State Park will be closed until July 1, 2019, as part of a years-long effort to restore the historic structure.



The lighthouse was first lit in 1898 on the northwest side of the dangerous cape at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse had been built three decades earlier on the other side of the cape, but officials decided to construct a second beacon due to the high number of shipwrecks at a place nicknamed “the graveyard of the Pacific.”

Portions of the lighthouse have been closed on and off over the last four years, and further closures might be necessary after July to finish restoration work on the lighthouse’s original outbuildings. This closure is for the third phase in the project, where crews will be doing stone and stucco work to help restore the structure to its original state.

Don't Edit

Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Ranger Brian Hageman joins visitors in the lantern room of the North Head Lighthouse on a tour in 2004.

Don't Edit

The effort is thanks to Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse, a group that formed in 2009 to bring the building back up to shape. Janet Easley, co-chair of the group, said it's a relief to come to the end of what's been a long and arduous process.



“It’s really wonderful, really satisfying.” Easley said. “We really worked quite intensely for a few years.”

The group has had to lobby Washington State Parks, the Washington Department of Ecology, their local U.S. representative, and the U.S. Coast Guard, which originally held the title to the lighthouse, she said. The parks department has been footing the bill for the restoration, with help from funds raised by the group.

In June, the North Head Lighthouse will celebrate its 121st anniversary, and the group plans to hold a celebration on one of Washington State Parks’ three fee-free days that month. If repairs are finished, they plan on hosting guided tours of the lighthouse.

Easley said she’s looking forward to what will be a “glorious reopening.” It will also mark the end of a long journey for her and the other keepers of North Head Lighthouse.

“It was amazing to see what a small group of people was able to do,” Easley said. “It’s a very satisfying project.”

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

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Oregonian file photo

The North Head Lighthouse, photographed in 1956.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Bruce Ely/The Oregonian

Salvage crews refloat and free the barge Millicoma after it ran aground near the North Head Lighthouse in 2007.