New Dungeness Lighthouse History Part #4

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 Auxiliary 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.

2008 - Exterior of the Keeper's Quarters was repaired and painted by volunteer members.

2009 - Sitting Room and Office in original Lighthouse were restored.

2009 - Current View on right (photo by Pam Gray).