Welcome To Bandon Visitors Guide 2010

• Coquille River Lighthouse: A Beacon of Local History

Published: Thursday, May 21st, 2009 Coquille River Lighthouse: A Beacon of Local History For more than a century, a beacon of safety has stood guard at the mouth of the Coquille River, protecting ships from the perilous waters that flow over the Coquille bar.

The Coquille River Lighthouse is a testament to the times in which it was built, and to the bravery of its keepers and life-saving service members who acted together to rescue the shipwrecked on Bandon's coast.

The lighthouse served both as a river entrance and seacoast light. The Coquille River was and is well known for its dangerous bar entrance, which is narrow and subject to very large bar swells and strong currents. The light was essential to navigation.
Built in 1896, the Coquille River Lighthouse is the Oregon coast's smallest.

The lighthouse displayed a fourth order Fresnel lens. It could be seen about 12 1Ú2 miles in clear weather - an oil lamp was the light source.
The foghorn, known as a DaBoll Trumpet, had a functional anomaly. At certain times, due to air currents, water temperature and barometric pressure, the sound would fail at sea. After much experimentation, a fog siren was developed and installed in 1910 in place of the DaBoll Trumpet. Mariners loved the siren because it was a reliable sound source and was more efficient than the DaBoll horn. Bandon residents, however, hated the horrible sound it made.

When first constructed, the lighthouse rose from a small, rocky islet, called Rackleff Rock, just a little way from the mainland. Engineers blasted the rock to lay the foundation for the lighthouse. A footbridge led from the islet back to the mainland, where the keepers' dwelling, barn and cistern were located. At times, the lighthouse was completely surrounded by water.

Around the turn of the century, Bandon was the busiest port between the Columbia River and San Francisco - and the most treacherous. During nighttime, ship captains lined up on the lighthouse beam and followed it in to near the river's mouth and dropped anchor. At daylight, they could check the swell conditions over the bar and judge whether or not they could safely enter the river. Even today, the jetties continue to help stabilize the feared bar; dredging keeps the bar navigable.

The 1936 Bandon fire destroyed most of the city. Fortunately, the lighthouse on the opposite side of the river escaped the firestorm, except for thick smoke and ashes that fell down on the lighthouse like snow. The keepers kept the light going; it's said they turned the light toward Bandon to help people see where the river was, so they could escape across to the lighthouse side and take refuge.

In 1939 the Coquille River Lighthouse was de-commissioned. The years that followed proved very difficult for the picturesque buildings. The keepers' dwelling and outbuildings, as well as the lighthouse structure, were vandalized and ransacked. Eventually, the keepers' house and buildings were completely removed.

In 1963, Bullards Beach became an Oregon State Park. Park managers assumed the administration of lighthouse. The state park system and the Corps of Engineers combined their efforts to restore the building, and in 1976 some structural, cosmetic and stabilization repair was accomplished.

In 1979, interpretive displays were installed and the lighthouse was opened to the public. Since then, the lighthouse has had some minor cosmetic and repair work. The historic structure is supported entirely by donations and volunteer help.

In 2007, a major restoration project for the lighthouse began. Through a cooperative effort of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers Foundation, the lighthouse exterior has been repaired and repainted with a base coat of paint. All of the leaks and cracks were repaired and a reassessment of the cast iron work was done.

This project continues and it is hoped that full restoration, including the possible replacement of the original lens with a replica, will be completed by 2011.

- contributed by the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers Foundation, Inc.

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