New England Lighthouse Treasures

Yesterday, the New Dungeness Light Station Association celebrated 150 years of continuous operation for their New Dungeness Lighthouse with a community picnic at Pioneer Park in Sequim, Washington. The Celebration was held at the park because to visit the Lighthouse requires visitors to walk 5-miles across the sand from the Dungeness State Park or paddle a canoe or kayak from Dungeness Bay. Members of the Lighthouse Preservation Society can also enjoy a unique vacation experience as a Lighthouse Keeper maintaining the Light Station and guiding visitors.

New Dungeness Lighthouse, located at the end of the 5-mile long Dungeness Spit, was First Lit on Dec 14, 1857 exhibiting a Fixed White Light illuminated by a Third-order Fresnel lens 95-feet above sea level to a visible range of 12 nautical miles. The barely visible treacherous spit extending into the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was nicknamed Shipwreck Spit by Mariners.

The Lighthouse has been located in Dungeness National Wildlife refuge, a bird sanctuary with public access since 1915.

Due to structural damage, the brick Tower was shortened 27.5-feet and refitted with a Fourth-order Fresnel lens in 1927. Currently, the Lighthouse exhibits a Flashing White Light every 5-seconds illuminated by a modern VRB-25 optic 67-feet above sea level to a visible range of 18 nautical miles.

Coast Guard Light-Keepers remained at the Station after the Light was automated and the Fresnel Lens was replaced by modern rotating bulls-eye lens in 1976. Surprisingly, the Coast Guard determined the automated Lighthouse was important to keep a Light-keeper manning the Light Station until March 1, 1994. Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel maintained the Light Station until the Lighthouse was leased to the New Dungeness Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society on Sep 3, 1994. The mission of the Chapter is To Protect, Preserve, and Man the Lighthouse.

Since 1994, the New Dungeness Light Station Association has successfully staffed the Lighthouse with volunteer Light-keepers who gladly pay a fee to work one week at the isolated distinctive Light Station described by former Coast Guard Keeper, William Byrd as paradise at the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Lighthouse.

For Google Map Directions, please visit the Google Map of New Dungeness Lighthouse

For other Lighthouse Lodging, please visit the American Lighthouse Inns

Technorati Tags: lighthouse, New Dungeness Lighthouse 150th Celebration, New Dungeness Lighthouse, Celebration, Washington

This entry was authored and posted by Debbie Dolphin on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 3:42 am and is filed under Celebration. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Comments may be held for moderation, and I reserve the right to delete inappropriate or off-topic comments.