Tillamook Rock Lighthouse--the most notorious in the nation.
See podcasts.
We'll view Tillamook Rock Lighthouse from the parks parking lot, just ahead.
Tillamook Rock (a volcanic sea stack, just like Haystack Rock), is located 1 mile out to sea, due west, and slightly to the North. Bring your binoculars.
The lighthouse is located on top of Tillamook Rock.
It is viewable from the grass, next to the parking lot.
It's one of the most desolate and unique lighthouses ever to exist in the US..., if not the entire world...
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (Also known as, "Terrible Tilly").
Follow along with pictures...
See pictures.
Terrible Tilly
Terrible Tilly is the battered, besieged, and occasionally submerged lighthouse clinging to the top of a bleak island, operated from eighteen eighty one to 1957. "Terrible Tillys" light was repeatedly over swept by winter storms that dashed water, rocks and fish, into the lantern room, 150 feet above normal sea level, often breaking lenses and windows. For lighthouse keepers, it was the most demanding post on the West Coast.
With 525 miserable days of construction, workers had to improvise to overcome the many challenges.
30 feet of rock was blasted to create a flat structure for workers to build on.
They struggled through 3 winters, huddled in canvas shelters and behind stone walls, lashed by wins, soaked by breakers and often stuck for months without supplies. The construction claimed one man's life, a construction surveyor, swept away by the surf, and drowned in his attempt to land on the rock.
Just days before the final completion, workers heard a ship approaching in the night.
The lighthouse was not prepared for lighting, so drift wood and lanterns were set on fire, to warn an English ship by the name of "Laputa", of the approaching dangers.
The next morning the workers found the "Laputa" had struck the rock, killing all sixteen passengers on board.
Only a collie pup survived by clamoring up the rock.
Days later, on January 21, 1881, the lighthouse, standing 133 feet above the water, was lit for the 1st time.
Once built, Tillie lost none of it's terror.
A crew of 4 was kept on edge, with the constant needs of the besieged stone building, and its critical beam of light. As you can imagine, the storms made for wretched conditions.
See pictures, Terrible Tilly, wretched conditions.
But Tillie saved countless ships, guiding them into the relative safety of the Columbia River.
The constant wear and tear on this lighthouse made it the most expensive to operate in the nation! Because of this, the lighthouse was finally abandoned and the light turned off on September 10, 1957.
This lighthouse is now a bird sanctuary and "cemetery at sea." It is designed to hold more than a half-million urns of human ashes, and is privately owned.
See podcasts.
See podcasts.
We'll view Tillamook Rock Lighthouse from the parks parking lot, just ahead.
Tillamook Rock (a volcanic sea stack, just like Haystack Rock), is located 1 mile out to sea, due west, and slightly to the North. Bring your binoculars.
The lighthouse is located on top of Tillamook Rock.
It is viewable from the grass, next to the parking lot.
It's one of the most desolate and unique lighthouses ever to exist in the US..., if not the entire world...
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (Also known as, "Terrible Tilly").
Follow along with pictures...
See pictures.
Terrible Tilly
Terrible Tilly is the battered, besieged, and occasionally submerged lighthouse clinging to the top of a bleak island, operated from eighteen eighty one to 1957. "Terrible Tillys" light was repeatedly over swept by winter storms that dashed water, rocks and fish, into the lantern room, 150 feet above normal sea level, often breaking lenses and windows. For lighthouse keepers, it was the most demanding post on the West Coast.
With 525 miserable days of construction, workers had to improvise to overcome the many challenges.
30 feet of rock was blasted to create a flat structure for workers to build on.
They struggled through 3 winters, huddled in canvas shelters and behind stone walls, lashed by wins, soaked by breakers and often stuck for months without supplies. The construction claimed one man's life, a construction surveyor, swept away by the surf, and drowned in his attempt to land on the rock.
Just days before the final completion, workers heard a ship approaching in the night.
The lighthouse was not prepared for lighting, so drift wood and lanterns were set on fire, to warn an English ship by the name of "Laputa", of the approaching dangers.
The next morning the workers found the "Laputa" had struck the rock, killing all sixteen passengers on board.
Only a collie pup survived by clamoring up the rock.
Days later, on January 21, 1881, the lighthouse, standing 133 feet above the water, was lit for the 1st time.
Once built, Tillie lost none of it's terror.
A crew of 4 was kept on edge, with the constant needs of the besieged stone building, and its critical beam of light. As you can imagine, the storms made for wretched conditions.
See pictures, Terrible Tilly, wretched conditions.
But Tillie saved countless ships, guiding them into the relative safety of the Columbia River.
The constant wear and tear on this lighthouse made it the most expensive to operate in the nation! Because of this, the lighthouse was finally abandoned and the light turned off on September 10, 1957.
This lighthouse is now a bird sanctuary and "cemetery at sea." It is designed to hold more than a half-million urns of human ashes, and is privately owned.
See podcasts.