Tillamook Rock Lighthouse On The Scenic Oregon Coast

The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is the only privately owned lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places.

The lighthouse is located 1.2 miles seaward off Tillamook Head just south of Seaside. The lighthouse stands 133 feet above sea level with a 62-foot tower on basalt rock islet.

It is not advised to visit the rock but some adventurers do try.

The rise and fall of the sea make landing from a boat nearly impossible.

There are no handholds due to the slipperiness of all the bird droppings from the birds that now live there.

Besides, the lighthouse is private, posted property and you are not suppose to trespass.

Lighthouse is Commissioned.

Commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering Columbia River and was replace by a whistle buoy in 1957.

It was nicknamed ”Terrible Tilly.” because of the terrible storm waves on the Pacific Ocean. The reputation of the light spread from coast to coast. It was known as an engineering triumph, but also as a challenging assignment for even the most rugged keeper.

Building The Lighthouse.

The construction took over two years to complete and took one man’s life. Workers had to remove 30 feet of rock to create a flat structure to build on. All the materials for the lighthouse were brought to the island by boat and hauled up the rock by derricks.

It was quite an undertaking but they finally finished after a total of 525 days of labor. The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse was finally lit for the first time on January 21, 1881.

The lighthouse was sold in 1980 to a real estate developer and a group of investors for $50,000. The structure was gutted and turned into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium.

The lighthouse was completely stripped of its interior furnishings right down to the stonewalls. The empty cavern was filled with racks to hold urns of ashes of the dead.

Windows and portholes are cemented over and the lantern panes removed and replaceed with solid metal plates.

The only interior reminder of its past is the circular iron staircase which in ghostly fashion winds up into the dark, sealed off lantern house.

" Tillamook Rock Lighthouse"

Located 1.2 miles seaward off Tillamook Head just south of Seaside
The lighthouse is not open to the public.

Lighthouse Thanksgiving

On one occasion a duck crashed into the lantern pane and fell dead.

The head keeper spotted the innate feathered friend and promptly rushed it to the kitchen where the keeper, who had the cooking duties, dressed the bird and shoved it into the oven.

A few hours later the keepers dined on their Thanksgiving duck which they labeled a true gift from heaven.

The Light Shinned On!

After Pearl Harbor, some of the coastal lighthouse were either blacked out or dimmed out.

Not so at Tillamook. Its light shined on.

Ironically the Japanese submarine I-25, that shelled Fort Stevens on the night of June 21, 1942 knew its location by the light at Tillamook Rock.

It was the first time a military installation had been fired on in the continental US since the War of 1812.

Some information here is from Oregon’s Seacoast Lighthouses by James A. Gibbs

Remember, Let The Waves Tickle Your Toes.

Return from Tillamook Rock Lighthouse to Oregon Coast Lighthouses