Before there were lighthouses on the Peninsula, ships bound for Portland and Astoria navigated their way through the high waves and shifting sandbars, focusing on fluttering white flags and notched trees along the shoreline by day and flickering signal fires by night. These methods were crude at best and, despite heroic efforts, the sea offshore of the Long Beach Peninsula became known as ‘The Graveyard of the Pacific’.
In 1788, British fur trader John Meares named the area Cape Disappointment after his inability to locate the river’s mouth.
The Peninsula’s first lighthouse, Cape Disappointment, had a bumpy beginning. As early as 1848, a government survey had recommended a lighthouse due to the great number of shipwrecks. Lighthouse construction materials were underway in 1853, stashed in the hull of the ship Oriole when it sank two miles off shore. While a few items were salvaged, the bulk of the shipment was lost.
We got the tip to head to Waikiki Beach in Cape Disappointment State Park to get a nice view of the lighthouse from the visitor’s center in Ocean Park.
Both Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and North Head Lighthouse were taken under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. In the early 1990s the Cape Disappointment light underwent a major renovation, complete with a new paint job with black and white stripes with a dark green top.
Cape Disappointment is the oldest functioning lighthouse on the west coast. I will share my photos from the North Head Lighthouse soon. You will need a Discovery Pass to get close to each of these lighthouses.
ht: Funbeach.com
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
I love lighthouses! Thanks for the history lesson….very interesting!
A BEAUTIFUL coast-line, but one can see why a lighthouse was so needed…..interesting!
If anything says “need a lighthouse” it would be the story you told of the ship sinking with the building supplies on board. Yikes! It’s a rugged coastline there and very picturesque.
Beautiful…that part of the coast!
What a gorgeous place, and fantastic views in your photos!
How do I get hold of that discovery pass? Anyways light houses have such symbolic meaning for life…and I love taking photos of them also. Looks like it has gone through a real reconstructive time.
Great post, Ellen! I enjoyed the history lesson, but did feel a bit sad thinking about the number of shipwrecks.
Thanks for telling us all about Cape Disappointment Ellen – I love hearing lighthouse stories. we have a lot of them on PEI. Loved your walking tale and foodie story as well. Dear’s breakfast choice is perfect holiday food but would probably do me for lunch too!
Okay, I am luuuuuuuuving it! Those pics, that ocean…and the history!
We have a few lighthouses here on LI. The one in Montauk at the end of LI was commisioned by George Washington. I love the stories behind them.
Hope you had a good holiday weekend. Another summer gone. 😦
Does a Coast Guard family live there?
I’m not sure Willow. I know there was a big cool house up above the North Head Light house that we walked past and there was a park ranger patrolling …
Another great one! I love lighthouses but don’t get to see them much.