The Point Wilson Light is an active aid to

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

located in Fort Worden State Park near

Port Townsend Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition to ...

Jefferson County, Washington Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. The county seat and only incorporated city is Port Townsend. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson County wa ...

. It is one of the most important navigational aids in the state, overlooking the entrance to

Admiralty Inlet Admiralty Inlet is a strait in the U.S. state of Washington connecting the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound. It lies between Whidbey Island and the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula. Boundaries It is generally c ...

, the waterway connecting the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

and

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

. The lighthouse was listed on the

Washington State Heritage Register The Washington Heritage Register is an official list of sites and properties found throughout Washington state, United States. The Washington Heritage Register is administered by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preserva ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1971.

History

Point Wilson's first lighthouse was built in 1879 by the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of the ...

as a companion to the

Admiralty Head Light The Admiralty Head Light is a deactivated aid to navigation located on Whidbey Island near Coupeville, Island County, Washington, on the grounds of Fort Casey State Park. The restored lighthouse overlooks Admiralty Inlet. It was the companion ...

built some 18 years earlier on the eastern side of Admiralty Inlet. A square wooden tower projecting from the roof of a two-story, Cape Cod–style keeper's quarters held a fixed fourth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

. The station also included a fog signal building with 12-inch, steam-powered fog whistle. In 1904, landfill was added to the site in an effort to protect the station, but time and tide having worked their destructive effects, a new lighthouse was commissioned. Completed in 1914, it was built of reinforced concrete with a octagonal tower designed to withstand the wind. It received the station's original fourth-order

that it continues to display. The beacon's height of made it the tallest light on

. The tower on the original lighthouse was removed and the building continued in use as residence for the keepers. The station was automated in 1976. Point Wilson Light remains in the hands of the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

, while the grounds are managed by

Washington State Parks The Washington State Park System is a set of State park, state parks owned by the state government of Washington (state), Washington, United States, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 ...

. Its site on the exposed point at Fort Worden State Park is under serious threat from shoreline erosion and rising sea levels.

References

External links

Fort Worden State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission * {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1879 Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state) Houses completed in 1879 Lighthouses completed in 1913 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Washington Washington Heritage Register National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Washington 1879 establishments in Washington Territory