Cape Arago Lighthouse, Gregory Point, Charleston, Coos County, OR

See also HAER OR-156 for footbridge leading to lighthouse

Significance: Completed in 1934, the Cape Arago Lighthouse was the third light constructed at the Cape Arago Light Station that was established in 1866. The lighthouse is significant for its association with the Federal government's efforts to provide safe maritime transportation into the Coos Bay harbor and along the Pacific Northwest coast during a time when Oregon's economy was dependent on the sea for transport and trade. Mariner relied on the third Cape Arago Lighthouse to safely guide vessels along the southern Oregon coast from the early 1930s until the light was decommissioned in 2006.

The Cape Arago Lighthouse is also significant architecturally as the only pre-World War II lighthouse constructed of reinforced concrete in the state. The lighthouse represents the introduction of modern building materials and technologies into a traditional form. The tower, illuminated by a fourth-order Fresnel lens, was designed with an attached fog signal building that housed the station's work, engine, and watch rooms. The lighthouse retains integrity of design, location, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and is one of nine extant coastal lighthouses in Oregon.

The Cape Arago Lighthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 under the registration requirements as defined by the multiple property submission "Lighthouse Stations of Oregon" completed in 1991-92. The 1938 footbridge that connects the mainland to the lighthouse island is also listed in the National Register as part of the Cape Arago Light Station. The footbridge is documented in a separate survey, HAER OR-156.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1514

Survey number: HABS OR-189

Building/structure dates: 1934 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 73002338

light stations lighthouses reinforced concrete construction maritime charleston or cape arago lighthouse cape arago lighthouse gregory gregory point charleston coos coos county oregon historic american buildings survey us coast guard photo design library of congress national register of historic places

1934 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html