Marker Name: Depoe Bay and the World’s Smallest Harbor
Marker Text: YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS: The body of water known as Depoe Bay lies to the west of Hwy 101 between North Point and South Point. The six and a half acre Depoe Bay Harbor lies to the east and southeast of the bridge.
THE BEGINNING
Standing here today, imagine what Depoe Bay harbor looked like to the Native Americans who used the natural estuary for fishing, shell fishing and seal hunting, and to the European explorers of the Northwest coast.
FIRST DEVELOPMENT OF THE HARBOR BASIN
In 1937, Congress authorized development of the inner bay area (the harbor). Following development in 1939, the harbor was shallow ad anchored boats rested on their sides on the mud flats during low tide. The east side (the area where you are standing) had no sea wall and the forest reached to near the high tide line. Unwary fishermen who ventured into the harbor during high water often found themselves stranded at low tide.
Marker Text: YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS: The body of water known as Depoe Bay lies to the west of Hwy 101 between North Point and South Point. The six and a half acre Depoe Bay Harbor lies to the east and southeast of the bridge.
THE BEGINNING
Standing here today, imagine what Depoe Bay harbor looked like to the Native Americans who used the natural estuary for fishing, shell fishing and seal hunting, and to the European explorers of the Northwest coast.
FIRST DEVELOPMENT OF THE HARBOR BASIN
In 1937, Congress authorized development of the inner bay area (the harbor). Following development in 1939, the harbor was shallow ad anchored boats rested on their sides on the mud flats during low tide. The east side (the area where you are standing) had no sea wall and the forest reached to near the high tide line. Unwary fishermen who ventured into the harbor during high water often found themselves stranded at low tide.
Quick Description: A history sign about Yaquina Head.
Sign is located at the summit of Salal Hill.
Marker Name: An expanse of land and sea
Marker Text: The look of the shoreline has changed dramatically since Captain Cook sailed by here.
The chain of lighthouses, towns, and managed lands came long after Cook first recorded the region’s history.
Cook names a nearby cape
On March 7, 1778, Capt. James Cook and his crewmen sighted this portion of the coast. Cook, mindful of the weather, named the prominent headland 5 miles (8 km) to the north Cape Foulweather.
Lighthouse network
In 1871 the U.S. Lighthouse Service built a fifth-order lighthouse at Yaquina Head.
In 1938, Yaquina Head began broadcasting radio signals as part of a marine navigation facility.
The people’s land
More than 51% of Oregon is owned by the citizens of the United States.
Marker Name: Building the coast highway
Marker Text: Early in the era of automobiles, avid drivers pressed for a highway the length of the Pacific Coast.
Rock from the headland
Yaquina head’s accessible basalt - solid yet crushable - proved ideal material for road building, and it was quarried between 1917 and 1983.
“Three tons of blasting powder and a half a ton of dynamite was used in making the shot.” Journal (Newport, OR), 1930
Workmen sometimes carved tunnels deep into the basalt and set off massive charges of explosives. The blasts rocked the countryside, occasionally breaking windows south at Agate Beach.
Over time, the distinctive profile of the headland - a pair of rounded hills visible from both land and sea - changed dramatically.
Saving the headland
By the late 1970s, a number of nearby residents led a campaign to save the headland, claiming that the altered profile caused wind and fog to set in more heavily at Agate Beach.
Be a “Partner in Protection!”
In 1980, the campaign to preserve Yaquina Head resulted in the end of quarrying and the land was sold to the BLM.
Sign is located at the summit of Salal Hill.
Marker Name: An expanse of land and sea
Marker Text: The look of the shoreline has changed dramatically since Captain Cook sailed by here.
The chain of lighthouses, towns, and managed lands came long after Cook first recorded the region’s history.
Cook names a nearby cape
On March 7, 1778, Capt. James Cook and his crewmen sighted this portion of the coast. Cook, mindful of the weather, named the prominent headland 5 miles (8 km) to the north Cape Foulweather.
Lighthouse network
In 1871 the U.S. Lighthouse Service built a fifth-order lighthouse at Yaquina Head.
In 1938, Yaquina Head began broadcasting radio signals as part of a marine navigation facility.
The people’s land
More than 51% of Oregon is owned by the citizens of the United States.
Marker Name: Building the coast highway
Marker Text: Early in the era of automobiles, avid drivers pressed for a highway the length of the Pacific Coast.
Rock from the headland
Yaquina head’s accessible basalt - solid yet crushable - proved ideal material for road building, and it was quarried between 1917 and 1983.
“Three tons of blasting powder and a half a ton of dynamite was used in making the shot.” Journal (Newport, OR), 1930
Workmen sometimes carved tunnels deep into the basalt and set off massive charges of explosives. The blasts rocked the countryside, occasionally breaking windows south at Agate Beach.
Over time, the distinctive profile of the headland - a pair of rounded hills visible from both land and sea - changed dramatically.
Saving the headland
By the late 1970s, a number of nearby residents led a campaign to save the headland, claiming that the altered profile caused wind and fog to set in more heavily at Agate Beach.
Be a “Partner in Protection!”
In 1980, the campaign to preserve Yaquina Head resulted in the end of quarrying and the land was sold to the BLM.
Quick Description: This history sign is located in Heceta Head/ Devils Elbow State Park.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: Designed for Seafarer Safety
Marker Text: From top to bottom, Heceta Head Lighthouse is built to guide from afar.
The lights height was more likely chose to maximize its rage while minimizing the chances it would be hidden by fog. Unlike most Fresnel lenses of the day, which were made in France, the lens at Heceta Head was made in England, and is the largest English lens of its type in the U.S. Heceta’s light is the brightest light on the Oregon Coast.
Lighthouse Lingo
Fresnel lens: Parabolic type lens invented by French physicist Augustin Fresnel, classified by size intensity orders (first order being the largest). This lens is a first order.
Kerosene: fuel used in the lamp to produce light.
Lens: curved piece of glass used to bring together or spread light.
Bull’s-eye: convex lens used to concentrate (refract) light.
Characteristic: individual flashing pattern and/or color of light.
Clockworks: series of gears, chains, and counterweights used to rotate the lens (similar to a grandfather clock).
Revolving light: rotating beam of light that produces a flash or characteristic.
Gallery: railed platform located outside the lantern room.
Lantern room: area with glass panels surrounding the lamp and lens at the top of the tower.
How Does a Fresnel Lens Work?
Light shining through a flat plate of glass would disperse in all directions. But light shining through a Fresnel lens hits the angled cuts on the glass and is bent until it all faces outward in the same direction. The Fresnel lens is a technology invented in 1822. The eight sided lens continuously rotates around the light. One of the eight bull’s-eyes in the lens passes by the mariner’s eye every 10 seconds, creating a characteristic flash pattern used to identify the source and triangulate position. This flash can be seen 21 miles out to sea before it is obstructed by the curvature of the earth.
Quick Description: This history sign is located in Devils Elbow State Park.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: Road Behind And Sea Beyond
Marker Text: This headland has attracted and challenged centuries of travelers.
For centuries, Siuslaw, Yachats and Alsea Tribes were drawn to the rich marine resources at Heceta Head. As they hunted, fished, and traveled, they established trails. In the 1800s, many of those ancient paths were turned into wagon roads by Euroamerican settlers.
Where they could, 19th-century travelers took to the beaches -- the “expressways” of the era. It wasn’t all smooth riding though. When they came to headlands, beach travelers had to choose: make a risky low-tide dash around, or clamber up and over. Here at Heceta Head, travelers went upland, following a wagon road that passed just below the lightkeepers’ houses.
You are following the concrete trail along the cliff that the lightkeepers used to get to work day and night. The wooden boardwalk was replaced in the 1920s with the concrete path. The boardwalk had a handrail to hold onto and help show the way in the fog and at night.
Quick Description: This history sign is located in Devils Elbow State Park.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: A Rocky Refuge With a Fiery Past
Marker Text: Living life on the ledge
Heceta Head and neighboring islands give animals the rocky refuge they need to survive. Seabirds and sea mammals need the ocean and these islands for food and protection from predators and human harassment.
Seabirds rely on rocky cliffs and islands for safe nesting and resting sites. Seals and sea lions “haul out” on rocks to rest and give birth.
How was this rocky refuge formed?
Over 30 million years ago, lava oozed up through the floor of the Pacific Ocean and cooled into hard basalt rock, later covered by sand and mud.
In time, the seabed was squeezed upward as the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates converged. The power of wind, steams, and waves eroded the softer sedimentary rocks away, leaving the enduring basalt to form today’s headland and islands.
A Battle
With the ElementsCan 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 (a href="www.oregonstateparks.org">www.oregonstateparks.org).
In an age when navigation beacons can be made smaller, cheaper, and easier to maintain, why save the old lighstations? Imagine this headland without the picturesque buildings and its story. Historic lightstations are legacies of our past and gifts to the future.
Photo captions:
Long Description:
This marker describes the history and life of the keepers of the Heceta Head Lighthouse. It is located west of the Keeper's House.
Hard Work
At a Lonely LightWould you make it as a Heceta Head Lighthouse keeper?
Imagine living here, part of a tiny, isolated community whose lives revolved around the beacon of Heceta Head Light. You would:
Work day and night to keep the light in good repair, alternating dusk to dawn shifts with your assistant keepers.
Tend a large garden, plus chickens, horses, and cows.
Hunt elk and fish for salmon and smelt.
Send your children to the little wood schoolhouse.
Look forward to the arrival of the lighthouse tender ship, which brings supplies, news, and new faces.
Celebrate with a barn dance or a day-long wagon trip to Florence!
Three keepers were needed to keep Heceta Head Light shining true. In addition to nightly duties - winding the light's clockworks, keeping the lamp lit, and monitoring the beacon - they cleaned, polished, repaired, and painted the station during the day.
Heceta Head Lightstation
Illuminating the DarknessLighthouses are not just scenic structures - they are life-saving innovations.
In the 19th century, most traffic sailed by offshore. To steer true, and to avoid hazards such as reefs and shoals, ship captains needed land-based beacons, as illustrated on the map (right)
Between 1850 and 1870, the U.S. Lighthouse Service built a string of Lightstations that dotted the Oregon coast. However, this section along the Oregon coast remained "dark."
Components for the Heceta Head Lightstation were shipped in and unloaded onto the shore, then carried up the hillside on wagons.
In 1894, the five-wick oil lamp at the new Heceta Head Light was lit, helping to illuminate that darkness.
Continue along this short trail to discover the Historic Heceta Head Lightstation, maintained today as a partnership between the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the U.S. Forest Service. Along the way, you'll find spectacular views of the coast as you learn about the lightkeeper's house and lighthouse preservation.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: Designed for Seafarer Safety
Marker Text: From top to bottom, Heceta Head Lighthouse is built to guide from afar.
The lights height was more likely chose to maximize its rage while minimizing the chances it would be hidden by fog. Unlike most Fresnel lenses of the day, which were made in France, the lens at Heceta Head was made in England, and is the largest English lens of its type in the U.S. Heceta’s light is the brightest light on the Oregon Coast.
Lighthouse Lingo
Fresnel lens: Parabolic type lens invented by French physicist Augustin Fresnel, classified by size intensity orders (first order being the largest). This lens is a first order.
Kerosene: fuel used in the lamp to produce light.
Lens: curved piece of glass used to bring together or spread light.
Bull’s-eye: convex lens used to concentrate (refract) light.
Characteristic: individual flashing pattern and/or color of light.
Clockworks: series of gears, chains, and counterweights used to rotate the lens (similar to a grandfather clock).
Revolving light: rotating beam of light that produces a flash or characteristic.
Gallery: railed platform located outside the lantern room.
Lantern room: area with glass panels surrounding the lamp and lens at the top of the tower.
How Does a Fresnel Lens Work?
Light shining through a flat plate of glass would disperse in all directions. But light shining through a Fresnel lens hits the angled cuts on the glass and is bent until it all faces outward in the same direction. The Fresnel lens is a technology invented in 1822. The eight sided lens continuously rotates around the light. One of the eight bull’s-eyes in the lens passes by the mariner’s eye every 10 seconds, creating a characteristic flash pattern used to identify the source and triangulate position. This flash can be seen 21 miles out to sea before it is obstructed by the curvature of the earth.
Quick Description: This history sign is located in Devils Elbow State Park.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: Road Behind And Sea Beyond
Marker Text: This headland has attracted and challenged centuries of travelers.
For centuries, Siuslaw, Yachats and Alsea Tribes were drawn to the rich marine resources at Heceta Head. As they hunted, fished, and traveled, they established trails. In the 1800s, many of those ancient paths were turned into wagon roads by Euroamerican settlers.
Where they could, 19th-century travelers took to the beaches -- the “expressways” of the era. It wasn’t all smooth riding though. When they came to headlands, beach travelers had to choose: make a risky low-tide dash around, or clamber up and over. Here at Heceta Head, travelers went upland, following a wagon road that passed just below the lightkeepers’ houses.
You are following the concrete trail along the cliff that the lightkeepers used to get to work day and night. The wooden boardwalk was replaced in the 1920s with the concrete path. The boardwalk had a handrail to hold onto and help show the way in the fog and at night.
Quick Description: This history sign is located in Devils Elbow State Park.
Long Description:
This sign is located along the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devils Elbow State Park.
Marker Name: A Rocky Refuge With a Fiery Past
Marker Text: Living life on the ledge
Heceta Head and neighboring islands give animals the rocky refuge they need to survive. Seabirds and sea mammals need the ocean and these islands for food and protection from predators and human harassment.
Seabirds rely on rocky cliffs and islands for safe nesting and resting sites. Seals and sea lions “haul out” on rocks to rest and give birth.
How was this rocky refuge formed?
Over 30 million years ago, lava oozed up through the floor of the Pacific Ocean and cooled into hard basalt rock, later covered by sand and mud.
In time, the seabed was squeezed upward as the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates converged. The power of wind, steams, and waves eroded the softer sedimentary rocks away, leaving the enduring basalt to form today’s headland and islands.
A Battle
With the ElementsCan 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 (a href="www.oregonstateparks.org">www.oregonstateparks.org).
In an age when navigation beacons can be made smaller, cheaper, and easier to maintain, why save the old lighstations? Imagine this headland without the picturesque buildings and its story. Historic lightstations are legacies of our past and gifts to the future.
Photo captions:
Long Description:
This marker describes the history and life of the keepers of the Heceta Head Lighthouse. It is located west of the Keeper's House.
Hard Work
At a Lonely LightWould you make it as a Heceta Head Lighthouse keeper?
Imagine living here, part of a tiny, isolated community whose lives revolved around the beacon of Heceta Head Light. You would:
Work day and night to keep the light in good repair, alternating dusk to dawn shifts with your assistant keepers.
Tend a large garden, plus chickens, horses, and cows.
Hunt elk and fish for salmon and smelt.
Send your children to the little wood schoolhouse.
Look forward to the arrival of the lighthouse tender ship, which brings supplies, news, and new faces.
Celebrate with a barn dance or a day-long wagon trip to Florence!
Three keepers were needed to keep Heceta Head Light shining true. In addition to nightly duties - winding the light's clockworks, keeping the lamp lit, and monitoring the beacon - they cleaned, polished, repaired, and painted the station during the day.
Heceta Head Lightstation
Illuminating the DarknessLighthouses are not just scenic structures - they are life-saving innovations.
In the 19th century, most traffic sailed by offshore. To steer true, and to avoid hazards such as reefs and shoals, ship captains needed land-based beacons, as illustrated on the map (right)
Between 1850 and 1870, the U.S. Lighthouse Service built a string of Lightstations that dotted the Oregon coast. However, this section along the Oregon coast remained "dark."
Components for the Heceta Head Lightstation were shipped in and unloaded onto the shore, then carried up the hillside on wagons.
In 1894, the five-wick oil lamp at the new Heceta Head Light was lit, helping to illuminate that darkness.
Continue along this short trail to discover the Historic Heceta Head Lightstation, maintained today as a partnership between the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the U.S. Forest Service. Along the way, you'll find spectacular views of the coast as you learn about the lightkeeper's house and lighthouse preservation.