Umpqua River Lighthouse

Can you spot the lighthouse in this photo?

It isn’t where you’d expect it to be.  Need help?  About a third of the way in from the right, look straight down from the end of the rock jetty which extends out into the ocean.  There you’ll see the top of the Umpqua River Lighthouse.  And by the way, inside the “triangle” in the ocean at the center of the photo they farm mussels and oysters.

This lighthouse stands 61 feet tall and is located at a Coast Guard housing complex about a mile inland near the mouth of Winchester Bay, Oregon.  It is 165 feet above sea level. This is actually the second lighthouse near this location.  The first was built in 1857 but was destroyed by a flood in 1864, hence the decision to built the replacement further inland and on higher ground.  This one was commissioned in 1894 and is still operational.

A unique feature of this lighthouse is the light it emits.  Instead of a standard white beacon it has a partially colored lens and emits two white bursts of light, followed by a red one.

Here are photos I found online:

(Photo credit:  lighthousefriends.com)

Here is the inside of the lens:

(Photo credit & copyright: Dennis Skogsbergh)