Warrior Rock Light is a lighthouse on

Sauvie Island Sauvie Island, in the U.S. state of Oregon, originally Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island, is the largest island along the Columbia River, at , and one of the largest river islands in the United States. It lies approximately ten miles northwest o ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, which helps guide river traffic on the Columbia River around the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

area. It once contained the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

's oldest

fog bell A fog bell is a navigation mark used as an audible aid to navigation in seafaring, especially in fog and poor visibility. Floating navigation signs with bells are called bell buoys. On ships, the ship's bell is used for sound signals. Due to more ...

. It is Oregon's smallest lighthouse, and the only lighthouse, or one of only two lighthouses, still operating in Oregon which are not on the Pacific Ocean, depending on whether the

Umpqua River Lighthouse Umpqua or Umqua may refer to: People * Umpqua people, an indigenous people of present-day Oregon ** Upper Umpqua language, the language of the Upper Umpqua people Places * Fort Umpqua, the name of two former military installations in Oregon * U ...

is considered to be on the coast or on the Umpqua River. WarriorRockLighthouse

History

By 1877, navigational needs near Sauvie Island caused the

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...

to place two small red post lanterns at Warrior Rock. U.S. Congress authorized a lighthouse for the site in 1888. The structure was designed by Carl Leick and constructed in 1889 as a small, wood-frame building atop a sandstone base. It had living quarters below and an

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. Th ...

beacon light with lens and a hand-cranked fog bell on top. The light was placed to warn of a bedrock reefArchive of LNM announcements District 13, week 32/2007, (file lnm13322007.pdf)
/ref> which projects into the Columbia at the east tip of Sauvie Island, at Columbia

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roa ...

87.2 (km 140.3). The fog bell was cast in 1855 at the J. Bernhard & Co. foundry in Philadelphia and first installed at the Cape Disappointment Light at the mouth of the Columbia River, though the noise level of the ocean and winds led to its retirement in 1881 for a louder model. It was subsequently installed at the West Point Light in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, but removed in 1887 to make way for a steam whistle. It was installed at Warrior Rock in 1889. Lightkeepers used a skiff to approach the island from St. Helens, and the lighthouse itself in times of high seasonal water. The 1920s-era lightkeeper rigged an aerial cable to get to the lighthouse from the keepers quarters during such times. The wooden house was replaced with a tall octagonal concrete tower in 1930 on the original sandstone foundation. Around the same time, the light was electrified. The site was an official water level gaging station from October 28, 1937, to November 18, 1937, and again from July 20, 1938, to September 9, 1938. The lighthouse was struck by a barge on May 27, 1969, destroying the foundation and disabling the light and bell. While the Coast Guard was evaluating whether to repair or replace the tower, the fog bell was removed. It fell into the river and cracked, putting it out of commission. It is now outside the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens, close to a half-scale replica of the original Warrior Rock Light without foundation. The replica is one mile (1.6 km) NNW of the original site at . The lighthouse presently operates with an automated beacon and bell. The exterior of the site is open to the public, and can be visited by a short boat ride from St. Helens, or a three-mile (5 km) hike from the north end of Reeder Road.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1877 Lighthouses completed in 1889 Lighthouses completed in 1930 Lighthouses in Oregon Transportation buildings and structures in Columbia County, Oregon Tourist attractions in Columbia County, Oregon Sauvie Island 1877 establishments in Oregon

History

See also

References