After Congress appropriated $90,000, construction work began on the Yaquina Lighthouse
on September 1, 1871 but was often delayed due to the tempestuous Oregon winter.
Lighters shuttling materials to shore in the cove on the south side of the head often
had difficulty landing, and at least two overturned in the surf and lost their cargo.
The tower, built with 370,000 bricks made by the Patent Brick Company of San Rafael,
California, is double walled for insulation and dampness protection. At ninety-three feet,
Yaquina Head is the tallest tower on the Oregon Coast. The tower’s light shines 162 feet
above the ocean and can be seen nineteen miles out to sea. Finally, after almost two years
of toil, the tower’s fixed white light, produced by a Barbier & Fenestre first-order
Fresnel lens and a four-wick, lard-oil lamp, shone for the first time on August 20, 1873.