Yachats, OR

Perched on a breathtaking bluff 150 feet above the sea, Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of the most-visited lighthouses in the United States, drawing thousands of visitors each year to sense its history, feel its romantic aura, and enjoy its spectacular setting.
In 1775, Don Bruno Heceta, sailing for the Royal Spanish Navy, set out from San Blas, Mexico with forty-five men and sufficient provisions for a year-long mission to reach the Arctic Circle. Heceta made it as far as the Columbia River before turning back due to concern for his scurvy-stricken sailors, and during his shortened journey, he made note of the prominent headland that now bears his name.

In 1888, the Lighthouse Board recommended that first-order lighthouses be constructed at Heceta Head and Umpqua River to light the dark gap that existed in the ninety miles of coastline between the lighthouses at Cape Arago and Yaquina Head. The Board estimated Heceta Head Lighthouse would cost $80,000, and on March 2, 1889, Congress appropriated this sum for purchasing the site and constructing the lighthouse. The site was acquired from a private party along with a right-of-way for constructing a seven-mile-long wagon road to connect the lighthouse with the nearest public highway.

Construction of the lighthouse and other structures at Heceta Head began in 1892. Lumber was procured from local mills, while masonry and cement came from San Francisco and the rock used in the base of the tower was quarried from the Clackamas River near Oregon City. Laborers were paid $2 for a ten-hour workday, while the highest-paid carpenter received $4 a day. Montgomery and Page, the contractors for the dwellings, barn, and oil houses, employed a force of sixty-four men and completed their work in January 1893. Due to a landslide at the site of the tower that required additional excavation, the lighthouse was not completed until the following August. The lens was landed at the station in October and set up over the next two months, but delays in receiving the lamps from the general lighthouse depot on Staten Island, New York postponed the first exhibition of the light until March 30, 1894.

The masonry tower stands fifty-six feet tall and has a focal plane of 205 feet above sea level. The light is the most powerful on the Oregon coast and can be seen up to twenty-one miles out to sea.