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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Florence in Lane County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)
 

A Battle With the Elements

 
 
A Battle Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
1. A Battle Marker
Inscription.
Can you feel the sea wind?
The lighthouse can, too!


For a lighthouse, standing out in the sea spray and storm winds is part of the job description. For more than a century of working life, Heceta Head Lighthouse has taken a constant barrage from the elements.

Please come inside the oil house to learn more about how Oregon State Parks is working to preserve and restore this important resource. If the oil house is closed today, visit our website (www.oregonstateparks.org).

In an age when navigation beacons can be made smaller, cheaper, and easier to maintain, why save the old lighotations? Imagine this headland without the picturesque buildings and its story. Historic lightstations are legacies of our past and gifts to the future.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Man-Made FeaturesParks & Recreational AreasWaterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Lighthouses series list.
 
Location. 44° 8.238′ N, 124° 7.677′ W. Marker is near Florence, Oregon, in Lane County. Marker can be reached from Cape Creek Road west of Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. 101) when traveling west. Marker is located
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near Heceta Head Lighthouse, beside the oil house, on Summer Street, beyond the end of the path leading up from the Heceta Head State Scenic Viewpoint parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 725 Summer Street, Florence OR 97439, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Designed for Seafarer Safety (a few steps from this marker); Road Behind And Sea Beyond (within shouting distance of this marker); Hard Work at a Lonely Light (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Heceta Head Lightstation (approx. 0.3 miles away); Technology Spans (approx. 0.4 miles away); Giant Spruce of Cape Perpetua (approx. 10.1 miles away); Harbor Theater (approx. 11.9 miles away); The Kyle Building (approx. 11.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Florence.
 
Regarding A Battle With the Elements. National Register of Historic Places (1978)

In 2011, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department began a major effort to restore the lighthouse. Years of sea spray, storm winds, and disuse had taken their toll on the beloved landmark. One of the preservation tasks was to remove cement stucco that had sealed in water so the lighthouse could "breathe" and air out in the damp coastal environment. The historic metalwork and masonry were restored or replaced, the
interior and exterior were repainted,
Marker detail: Original Red Brick image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
2. Marker detail: Original Red Brick
In an effort to improve the Lighthouse, the exterior was stuccoed in the 1890s. More recently we have learned that the walls need to breath to prevent mold from growing on the inside. The windows were also once covered and filled in.
new windows and a new vent ball (the round knob on top of the lighthouse) were installed, and the interior bricks were cleaned. The lighthouse you see today looks much as it would have in 1894.
 
Also see . . .
1. Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint.
Heceta Head is named for Bruno de Heceta, a Spanish navigator and explorer, who surveyed the Oregon coast in 1775. The lighthouse was constructed between 1892 and 1893 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. (Submitted on January 28, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. 100 celebrate the reopening of Heceta Head Lighthouse at coastal event. Oregon State Parks website entry (Submitted on September 22, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.) 
 
Marker detail: The Eye image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
3. Marker detail: The Eye
Heceta Head Lightstation, circa 1913-1915. Though beachgoers could once visit the "Eye," it has since eroded.
A Battle With the Elements Marker (<i>wide view; marker visible at left side of oil house</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
4. A Battle With the Elements Marker (wide view; marker visible at left side of oil house)
Hecta Head Lighthouse image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
5. Hecta Head Lighthouse
Interior Spiral Staircase (<i>showing original red brick</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
6. Interior Spiral Staircase (showing original red brick)
Lighthouse Tower Preservation image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, June 26, 2015
7. Lighthouse Tower Preservation
The brick walls of the tower support steel landings that hold up the stairway.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 22, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 25, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 192 times since then and 5 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on January 25, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on January 28, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   7. submitted on April 27, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024