Cape Arago Lighthouse, located two miles southwest of Charleston, was built in 1934, replacing 9 two earlier structures dating back to 1909 and 1966. The 44-foot octagonal tower rises only 100 feet above sea level with a visibility of 16 miles seaward. The active lighthouse still stands after more than a half century since its construction.

When Oregon's first lighthouse, at the mouth of the Umpqua River, fell over after angry waters undermined it during an October 1863 storm, the US Lighthouse Board decided not to replace it. Instead it had a new station built near Cape Arago (then called Cape Gregory), 25 miles to the south. The prominent headland lies just south of the entrance to boomerang-shaped Coos Bay, where a rapidly developing lumber business had transformed the region into a bustling shipping center...

More Information