Grays Harbor Light, Maritime lighthouse in Westport, Washington, United States.
Grays Harbor Light is a 107-foot octagonal brick tower coated in cement, resting on a 12-foot-thick sandstone foundation on Point Chehalis. Its walls are four feet thick at the base, and 135 metal stairs bolted to the wall lead to the lantern room, which still holds the original third-order Fresnel lens.
Congress first funded a light at Grays Harbor in 1884 with $15,500, raised in 1893 and 1895. Construction to Carl Leick's plans finished on 26 March 1898, and a third-order Fresnel lens was installed that June. The station was electrified in 1931 and automated by the Coast Guard in the late 1960s.
The lighthouse is run by the Westport-South Beach Historical Society, which took ownership in 2004 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act and gives regular tours. The original third-order Fresnel lens, switched off in August 1992, still stands in the lantern room.
The interior is accessible through guided tours organized by a local historical society that maintains the building. Visitors should ask about current hours upon arrival since timing can vary with the season.
When construction began in 1897, the tower stood about 400 feet (120 m) from the water's edge; accretion linked to the Grays Harbor jetty system has since pushed the high-tide line roughly 3,000 feet (910 m) away. The original third-order Fresnel lens, switched off in August 1992, still occupies the lantern room.
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