125th Anniversary Celebration for the Umpqua River Lighthouse, Dec. 31

(Roseburg, Ore.) Earlier this year the Douglas County Museum celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a “Mammoth” party, and to end the year, they have another epic milestone to celebrate, the iconic Umpqua River Lighthouse is turning 125 years old. In commemorate of the epic event, the Douglas County Commissioners authorized giving her a new coat of paint. The Douglas County Museum, in conjunction with the Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum, the Douglas County Museum Foundation and the Douglas County Coastal Museum Advisory Board are hosting a celebration on Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The free event will feature live music, wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and showcase a photo gallery of images submitted through a photo contest organized by the Museum Foundation. She is not the first lighthouse built at the mouth of the Umpqua River. The first Umpqua River Light was built in 1855 and was illuminated on October 10, 1857. The 1857 lighthouse is recognized as the first light along the Oregon Coast. Built along the river channel, the original light was vulnerable to seasonal flooding, gale force winds and violent storms. This led to a rapid erosion of the structure, as well as the sand embankment of the light. In January 1864, after being declared abandoned, the building’s foundations became too unstable and the structure collapsed. On December 31, 1894, after 4 years of construction, Marinus Stream, the first head keeper of the new Umpqua River Lighthouse, lit the oil lamp inside the tower’s first-order Fresnel lens, thus beginning the lighthouse’s beacon career. The lighthouse, this time built on the cliffs 100 feet above the river, is a sister to the one at Heceta Head. She stands sixty-five-feet tall and has a focal plane of 165 feet above sea level. The tower, consisting of brick overlaid with cement plaster, is five feet thick at the base and tapers to twenty-one inches at the parapet. The tower’s first-order Fresnel lens was manufactured in Paris, France, in 1890 by Barbier & Cie, and is a truly a magnificent gem. The two-ton, handcrafted 616 prism lens was originally illuminated by a Funck mineral oil lamp. She has twenty-four bull’s-eye panels and completes a revolution every two minutes, producing a signature of two white flashes followed by a red flash. Every seventy minutes the original keepers would have to wind up the weight mechanism that rotated the lens. In 1934, a generator building was built near the lighthouse, and the station was electrified. The light was finally automated in the 1960s. Before automation, the light was active from one hour before sunset until one hour after sunrise, and curtains were drawn around the lantern room during the day to protect the lens from the sun. Today, the automated light is active twenty-four hours a day and remains as one of the last first-order Fresnel lens with red and white beams still operating in the world. The Umpqua River Lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. She is located adjacent to the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park and the Coastal Visitor Center, which also houses the Umpqua River Lighthouse Museum in Winchester Bay, Oregon. During a ceremony on April 14, 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard officially passed Douglas County control of the operation and maintenance of Umpqua Lighthouse and its coveted Fresnel lens. Visitors can tour the lighthouse and adjacent museum year around. The museum features exhibits on the lighthouse, as well as local and U.S. Coast Guard history on the Umpqua River. As mentioned above, the Douglas County Museum Foundation is hosting a photo contest to honor the Umpqua River Lighthouse. See below for links and contest information. Entry Form: http://umpquavalleymuseums.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/LH-Photo-Contest.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0lfoLt9QwdsCL6hjEee7g6OliDKKscknTUTNzOMTBGnz8k-RoGWv-bBIw
Information: http://umpquavalleymuseums.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/PhotoRules.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1TFV4kmNLNoyvER1PgROCaSRfCbsHZ8uRNkwnBU5EfwFMR4VHY7-_gaww Mark your calendars and plan to join us on New Year’s Eve for a fun-filled evening of history and celebration at the Umpqua River Lighthouse and Museum, located at 1020 Lighthouse Road in Winchester Bay, Oregon. It is going to be Epic!