Garys Harbor Lighthouse with fog signal building Photograph courtesy University Washington

The Westport area had become a major logging port in the late nineteenth century. By the time the lighthouse was built, at least 50 ships had foundered near the entrance to Grays Harbor. A lighthouse was commissioned for the area in 1897, and Point Chehalis, on the south end of the bay was selected for the site.

C.W. Leick, who designed Grays Harbor Lighthouse, considered it his masterpiece. Standing 107 feet tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in Washington, and the third tallest on the West Coast. The base of the lighthouse rests on a 12-foot-thick foundation of sandstone. The lighthouse walls, which are four feet thick at the base, are made of brick with a coating of cement on the exterior. 135 metal stairs bolted to the wall lead to the lantern room. Originally windows lit the interior of the tower, but to cut down on maintenance they were cemented over when electricity was added to the station.

In 1898, the lighthouse stood just 400 feet from high tide. Massive amounts of accretion, due in large part to the jetty system at the entrance to Grays Harbor, have since built up, and the lighthouse currently stands approximately 3000 feet from high tide.

A fog signal has long been associated with the lightstation. The first fog signal building, built between the sea and the lighthouse, went into operation in March 1899. The signal consisted of two steam whistle trumpets pointing seaward. To produce the necessary steam, a windmill pumped water to the building where a coal fire converted the water to steam. 200 pounds of coal were consumed to produce the steam needed for just one hour of fog. The smokestack of the fog signal building rose almost half as high as the lighthouse itself.

In 1916, the fog signal building burnt down and a new oil fueled signal was built closer to the ocean. Today, an automatic fog signal is located at the end of the south jetty in Westhaven State Park.

Grays Harbor Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

The beacon originally shone from a unique third-order clamshell Fresnel lens manufactured by Henry LePaute of Paris in 1895 with a signature of an alternating red and white light every 15 seconds. Red glass, placed on one side of the light source, cut the light transmission by as much as 90%. To overcome this reduction, the bull's-eye in front of the red glass is much larger than the bull's-eye that produces the white flash. With this modification, the white sector can be seen 25 miles out to sea, the red sector, 23 miles

The Fresnel lens assembly originally floated in a trough containing twenty gallons of mercury. This setup provided near frictionless movement and allowed the lens to be rotated by a weight that hung inside the tower. When the light was electrified, a one-sixth horsepower motor was used to turn the giant lens.

The accommodations for the keepers consisted of a single dwelling for the headkeeper, and a duplex for the assistants, located just east of the lighthouse. These structures are no longer standing.

In August 1992, the Fresnel lens was turned off. A smaller light, manufactured in New Zealand was mounted to the balcony. Amazingly, the new light operates on a 35 watt bulb and can been seen 19 miles with the white sector, 17 on the red sector. The lantern room still holds the original Fresnel lens.

During the 1990s, health concerns arose over the mercury filled drum, and the tower, called the Westport Lighthouse by locals, was closed to the public. One hundred years after the dedication ceremony, in 1998, Westport-South Beach Historical Society negotiated a lease agreement with the Coast Guard, and began cleaning up the lighthouse. In 2001, the building was deemed safe, and public tours resumed. The Westport-South Beach Historical Society was granted owndership of the Grays Harbor Lighthouse in 2004 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act and enacted a five-year plan to restore the lighthouse and its third-order Fresnel lens.

References

1. Umbrella Guide to Washington Lighthouses, Sharlene and Ted Nelson, 1998.
2. Lighthouses of the Pacific, Jim Gibbs, 1986.
3. Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, Randy Leffiingwell and Pamela Welty, 2000.
4. Westport Maritime Museum, Grays Harbor Lighthouse website.
5. "Grays Harbor's Beacon in the Night Opens Once More," Daily World Local News, Ashley Shomo, 2001.

Tours of the tower are offered by the Westport Maritime Museum. The tower is open daily from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. from April through September. During October, November, February and March, the lighthouse is open Friday through Monday from noon until 4 p.m.