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It’s not easy to get up close to Oregon’s Cape Arago Lighthouse as Lighthouse Digest subscriber Richard C. Houck did to take these photographs. Houck had some serious Coast Guard connections that gained him the necessary access to the area.
The site of the lighthouse is reached via a short unimproved private lane, two locked gates and a high fence. In fact some of the locals on the private lane have voiced their annoyance at the lighthouse aficionados who try to pass down the narrow lane that has no turn around without encroaching on their private property. Also, you can’t see the lighthouse from the locked gates.
Once inside the site it is necessary to cross an old bridge to get to the island where the lighthouse is located. Although crossing the bridge is considered dangerous, Houck was granted special permission to use it.
For a number of years, two previous towers that were used as lighthouses stood side by side at this location. The original 1866 tower was blown up in 1937 and the 1909 lighthouse was demolished in the 1960’s. The current tower, shown here, was renovated by the Coast Guard in 1993 and deactivated in 2006.
This story appeared in the October 2007 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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