Location | Portland, Oregon, US |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°39′02″N122°45′53″W / 45.65056°N 122.76472°W |
Tower | |
Foundation | cluster of wooden pilings |
Construction | wood |
Automated | 1935 |
Height | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
Shape | octagon |
Light | |
First lit | 1895 |
Deactivated | 1935 |
Light source | 20 candlepower oil lantern on small platform attached 1' below N corner of main platform |
Characteristic | FR |
The Willamette River Light was a navigational lighthouse at the mouth of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon near Portland, which marked the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. It existed as a lighthouse with keeper from 1895 to 1935, [1] and as an unattended light from 1935 onwards. The original building burned down in 1955. [2] The only visible remains of the station today are broken wooden pilings sticking out of the water near Kelley Point Park. [3]
As early as 1892, it was recognized that a light and fog signal at the mouth of the Willamette River would be "would be of great service to the commerce of that river" as the channel was narrow and could be difficult to locate in fog and other adverse weather conditions. Navigation was further complicated at the time by the presence of several small, low-lying islands around the mouth, that were often flooded, such as "Coon Island" (now part of Sauvie Island), "Pearcy Island" (now part of the mainland) and "Nigger Tom Island" (where Kelley Point Park lies today; now part of Pearcy Island), as well as numerous sloughs and backwaters. Many of these features no longer exist today, due to a combination of human activity and natural forces. Only Pearcy Island still appears on topographical maps, even though it is no longer an island. [4]
It was estimated that the proposed station could be established for a cost not exceeding $6,000 (approximately $202,434.73 in modern dollars). Funding in this amount was authorized on February 15, 1893, however, actual appropriation of funds would not be made until the sundry civil appropriation act authorized on August 18, 1894, with work commencing early the next year. The lighthouse would ultimately be built off the northern end of Nigger Tom Island (now Kelley Point). Designed by architect Carl W. Leick as an elegant one-and-a-half-story octagonal wood frame structure with 5 rooms atop wooden pilings, it was very similar to the later Desdemona Sands Light, which Leick also designed. The station was completed by October 30, 1895 and went into operation on December 31 of that year. [5]
Rather than a dedicated rooftop lantern room, the light was a small oil lantern or "steamer lens" of 20 candlepower resting on a "small platform 1' below & projecting from N corner of main platform just in front of flag staff." [6] It displayed a fixed red characteristic 23 feet above the water via a colored globe. [7] The fog signal was a 1,200 lb bell operated by a No. 3 Gamewell mechanical striking mechanism, sounding once every ten seconds. [6]
Circa 1935, the decision was made to electrify and automate the station, eliminating the need for a keeper on-site. The light and fog signal were moved to a small platform at the end of a newly-constructed dike or breakwater built off the northern tip of Kelley Point, while the now-empty dwelling was eventually sold as office space to the Portland Mercantile Exchange. During the 1940s, the Mercantile Exchange had it moved a short distance by crane from its original location to lower pilings on Kelley Point Beach, where it was used as a watchtower to notify their main office in downtown Portland of incoming vessels on the river. The old station was abandoned for the final time after the Mercantile Exchange built new offices across the river on Sauvie Island in the early 1950s. [1] Sometime in 1955, it caught fire and burned. The only visible remains of the station today are broken wooden pilings sticking out of the water near Kelley Point Park. [3]
The Multnomah are a tribe of Chinookan people who live in the area of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Multnomah villages were located throughout the Portland basin and on both sides of the Columbia River. The Multnomah speak a dialect of the Upper Chinookan language in the Oregon Penutian family.
The Multnomah Channel is a 21.5-mile (34.6 km) distributary of the Willamette River. It diverges from the main stem a few miles upstream of the main stem's confluence with the Columbia River in Multnomah County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The channel flows northwest then north around Sauvie Island to meet the Columbia River near the city of St. Helens, in Columbia County.
The Cape Arago Lighthouse is a lighthouse located in Charleston, Oregon. It is located 2.6 miles (4.2 km) north of Cape Arago.
Historic ferries in Oregon are water transport ferries that operated in Oregon Country, Oregon Territory, and the state of Oregon, United States. These ferries allowed people to cross bodies of water, mainly rivers such as the Willamette in the Willamette Valley, and the Columbia, in order to transport goods, move people, and further communications until permanent bridges were built to allow faster crossing of the water. The early ferries were used by wagons and pedestrians, while later ones transported trains and then automobiles. Oregon has a few automobile ferries still in operation.
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Point Adams Light was a lighthouse near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon Coast of the United States. The lighthouse was designed by Paul J. Pelz, who also designed Point Adams's sister stations, Point Fermin Light in San Pedro, California, East Brother Island Light in Richmond, California, Mare Island Light, in Carquinez Strait, California, Point Hueneme Light in California, and Hereford Inlet Light in North Wildwood, New Jersey, all in essentially the same style. It operated from February 15, 1875, until 1899, when it became obsolete by the extension of the south jetty and the establishment of the Lightship Columbia in 1892. The lighthouse was considered a fire hazard and demolished in 1912.
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The Sauvie Island Wildlife Area is a state game management area on Sauvie Island in the U.S. state of Oregon. It contains more than 12,000 acres (4,856 ha) for mixed use including hunting, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, birdwatching and hiking. Established in 1974, it is located in both Multnomah and Columbia counties.
The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, about 19 miles (31 km) long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland suburb of Fairview, the Columbia Slough meanders west through Gresham and Portland to the Willamette River, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia. It is a remnant of the historic wetlands between the mouths of the Sandy River to the east and the Willamette River to the west. Levees surround much of the main slough as well as many side sloughs, detached sloughs, and nearby lakes. Drainage district employees control water flows with pumps and floodgates. Tidal fluctuations cause reverse flow on the lower slough.
Desdemona Sands Light was a lighthouse located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River to aid navigation of the Columbia Bar.
Kelley Point Park is a city park in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bounded by the Columbia Slough on the south, the Willamette River on the west, and the Columbia River on the north, the park forms the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the rivers. Marine Terminal 6 of the Port of Portland lies immediately east of the park along the Columbia, while Terminal 5 is along the Willamette slightly south of the Columbia Slough. The park is at 45.6498384°N 122.7637106°W and rises to an elevation of 39 feet (12 m) above sea level. Sauvie Island is west of the park across the Willamette River. Hayden Island is slightly upstream of the park on the Columbia River opposite Marine Terminal 6.
The Willamette River is a 187-mile (301 km) tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in mountains south and southeast of the twin cities of Eugene and Springfield. Formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield, the main stem meanders generally north from source to mouth. The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg, where the stream turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downriver from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth, the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island. The main channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean, and the smaller Multnomah Channel enters the Columbia about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) further downstream near St. Helens in Columbia County.
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