History of the Dungeness Light House 1850 - Congress authorized the first sixteen lighthouses on the Pacific Coast, including New Dungeness. 1855 - The United States Coast Survey report showed the proposed location for a lighthouse on Dungeness Spit. 1857 - The light at New Dungeness was lit for the first time on 14 December, showing a fixed white light from a third order Fresnel lens. In addition to the Keeper's dwelling with its integral 91 foot tower, the facilities included one or more cisterns for the collection of rainwater, a privy, boathouse and ways and a fog bell. 1858 - On 11 February, Thomas Boyling and William Henry Blake reported for duty as the first full-time Keepers. 1862 - William Henry Blake married Mary Ann McDonnell. 1868 - 18 Tsimshian Indians of a party camped on the spit were massacred by a group of S'Klallams. The burial of the bodies by settlers gave Graveyard Spit its name. 1874 - The fog bell was replaced by a steam fog whistle 450 feet northeast of the tower. Operation of the steam whistle required the construction of two large cisterns with water shed and a frame building at the northwest corner of the original tower structure. 1875 - A tramway was built linking the boathouse with the fog signal building. 1880 - The fog bell and striking machinery were transferred to Point No-Point. 1884 - A Haines mineral oil (kerosene) lamp replaced the original lard oil lamp. 1894 - The boathouse and ways were rebuilt about 1000 feet west of the original site because of silting around the ways. A separate iron oil house for kerosene storage was built. 1904/5 - An additional Keeper's dwelling was built to provide housing for the head keeper and his family. 1905/6 - A new boathouse was constructed on a new wharf located just east of the previous boathouse and ways. The tower building was remodeled by adding a wing to the north, converting it to a duplex and walling off the doorways leading from the vestibule. 1906/7 - A new fog signal building was constructed north of the head Keeper's dwelling. It was equipped with two 25-horsepower oil engines and 6-inch air sirens. 1908 - A coal and oil storage building was erected near the new fog signal. 1911 - The Haines mineral oil lamp was replaced by an Incandescent Oil Vapor lamp. 1914 - The light was made occulting by installing a mechanism to obscure the light in a regular pattern, giving it a unique characteristic to distinguish it from nearby lights. 1915 - The Spit was designated a wild bird reservation with public access permitted. 1922 - A radio beacon was installed and operated by the U.S. Navy. 1927 - Because of deterioration of the upper portion of the brick tower, the top 27 1/2 feet were removed and the lantern from Admiralty Head was installed on top of a new gallery level, reducing the height from ground level to top of lantern to 63 feet. A fourth order Fresnel lens rotated by a clockworks mechanism was installed. 1930 - A well was drilled to a depth of 665 feet producing an artesian flow of 80 gallons per minute. 1933/34 - Armored marine cable was laid across Dungeness Bay to bring electricity to the Spit. 1940 - The two sirens were replaced by diaphones in the fog signal building. 1957 - Duplex tower dwelling was remodeled, adding bathrooms upstairs in what had been bedrooms. 1962 - The Keeper's house was remodeled, adding a bathroom in the former pantry, replacing the heating system and re-arranging the kitchen. 1971 - An electric foghorn, located about 500 feet east of the Keeper's house, replaced the air-driven diaphones. 1976 - The light and fog signal were automated, a rotating aero-beacon replacing the fourth order Fresnel lens. The staff was reduced to a single Keeper and his family. 1984 - The fog signal building, boathouse, and wharf were razed. 1988 - The windows on the Keeper's dwelling were replaced. 1993 - The New Dungeness Light Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places. 1994 - On 1 March, Seth and Michelle Jackson, last of the Coast Guard Keepers, left the station. Coast Guard Auxilliary volunteers staffed the station until 3 September, when the New Dungeness Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society assumed responsibility for staffing and maintenance of the Station under license from the U.S. Coast Guard. 1998 - The Coast Guard moved the standby fog-signal from the northeast corner of the tower building to the roof of the transformer house, making that the primary signal. 1999 - The vinyl-framed windows in the Keeper's dwelling were replaced with modern windows of an historically accurate style. In July, a driftwood fire fanned by western winds burned around the Light Station toward the end of the Spit. The Keepers were evacuated by U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter. Home | The Lighthouse | Keepers | History | Dungeness Wildlife Refuge | Join | Getting Here  |  Photo Gallery