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What Keeper Thomas heard was the slamming of the crowded passenger liner Governor into the freighter West Hartland. The Governor soon began to sink in 600 feet of water. Because of Thomas' quick actions, all but eight people were rescued from the wreck.

Point Wilson marks the west entrance into the Puget Sound. It is the turning point from the Strait of Juan de Fuca into Admiralty Inlet.

The turn was first marked by a church bell. Recognizing that the point was often shrouded by fog, in 1865, Captain J.W. Sheldon donated a ship's bell to the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in the town of Port Townsend with the condition the bell be rung on foggy days. Several years later, a steamer used the sound of the bell to guide it into Port Townsend harbor. An evangelist on board, John Yates, was so touched that he wrote the hymn, "The Harbor Bell."

Eventually, a light station was built at Point Wilson, two miles northwest of Port Townsend. The original light was a 46-foot frame tower rising from the keeper's dwelling with a fog signal building nearby. It first shown its light, a fixed white light with a red flash every 20 seconds, on December 15, 1879. The light could be seen for 13 miles. A rotating apparatus replaced the original light in 1894.

Lens in Point Wilson Lighthouse

High tides and stormy weather took their toll on the sandy beach on which the tower was built. By 1904 much of the beach had eroded and threatened the tower. The problem was temporarily fixed by 1500 tons of rock reinforcement piled on the east and west sides of the tower. However, the tower couldn't stay there for long.

The current lighthouse was built in 1914, and the original lighthouse continued as the keepers' dwelling minus its tower. The new lighthouse feature a 49-foot tower built in an octagonal shape to reduce wind pressure. The light still shines from a fourth-order Fresnel lens, a white light on for 15 seconds, then off 5 seconds, with one red flash during the occultation. The light was automated in 1976.

Like Point Bonita and Point Loma, the light went out during World War II as a defense to nearby Fort Worden and the Puget Sound.

Today, a computer, located at the Coast Guard Air Station at Port Angeles, maintains the light. The keepers' quarters were occupied by Coast Guard personnel until 2000. During the winters of 2005 and 2006, high winds and waves pummeled the low-lying lighthouse property flooding the basement of the keepers' dwelling and ripping the fog horn from its soundwall. The State of Washington has considered purchasing the property from the Coast Guard and combining it with nearby Fort Worden State Park, however, in 2007 the scheduled review of this proposal was delayed. Moving the lighthouse and associated buildings, which will likely cost between $3 and $5 million dollars, is considered the only long-term solution for saving the station. In the meantime, the Coast Guard is filling in the holes that have developed in the wall of rock armor that has been built around the point.

Photo Gallery: 1 2 3 4 5 6

References

1. Lighthouses of the Pacific, Jim Gibbs, 1986.
2. Umbrella Guide to Washington Lighthouses, Sharlene and Ted Nelson, 1998.
3. Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, Randy Leffingwell and Pamela Welty, 2000.

The lighthouse and tower are open to visitors from May through September on Saturdays during the hours of 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. For information, call (360) 385-5520 or (360) 582-3890.