State parks officials had hoped the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse would open this month, after a $1.8 million renovation. But extensive rot and crumbling brick mean the building remains closed and wrapped in plastic.

Perched on the peak of a massive sand dune, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse enjoys a sweeping view of the ocean, Newport Harbor and the shipping channel. Built in 1871, it’s thought to be the town’s oldest structure.

“It’s a wonderful old building,” said Brian McBeth, who oversees historic preservation projects for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

The old lighthouse served as a base for captains to ship lumber and fish out to market, a much more efficient proposition in those days than taking a covered wagon.

McBeth said money is tight on this renovation. So they’re focused on fixing just the buildings’ envelope, which consists of the outside walls, the roof and the foundation. The inside and things like heating, lighting and fire suppression, will have to wait for another day.

The leaking shingle roof is being replaced with a metal roof. The old sash windows and shutters are being restored and the brick foundation reinforced. Even the chimney is being decommissioned to keep water out.

“Water is the enemy,” McBeth said.

Inside the building, temporary braces have been built to keep everything square during renovation. But the rooms themselves are largely untouched.

There’s a little pump organ, a desk, framed pictures, a spinning wheel and fancy furniture. There’s also a beautiful, extremely steep, wooden staircase leading up to the lantern housing, which is perched on the peak of the roof.

Everything is built with old-growth, straight-grained wood.

Aaron Jennings, with Pacific Tech Construction, said unlike for many other jobs, they can’t just go down to Home Depot for fixtures and parts.

“There’s nothing off the shelf here,” Jennings said. “It’s all custom-made and custom-ordered and custom-fabbed specifically for this project.”

Newport actually has two lighthouses. This one was only used officially for three years, until the taller, stronger and more powerful Yaquina Head Lighthouse could be built.

“It was very short-lived,” McBeth said. “They kept using the building and the tower for Coast Guard purposes, as a lookout, as a residence.”

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was used as an office in the 1930s while building the adjacent Yaquina Bay Bridge. But by the 1950s the lighthouse had fallen into disrepair. The Oregon Department of Transportation had actually made the decision to demolish it.

But then the town rallied and a group called "Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses" now keeps the doors open and everything shipshape.

The truth is: The lantern was never strong enough. It only used about as much power as a microwave oven. It’s in Alabama now, having some unexpected fractures in its cast-iron shell repaired.

Lighthouses are an old technology nowadays. Even with a really bright light, they don’t work that well in bad weather or fog.

McBeth said other systems have been used over the years, like large colored land-based panels that help a captain line-up with the harbor channel — and radio signals, broadcast from fixed points on land.

“You can dial in what direction it’s coming from, and so that becomes your reference point,” McBeth said.

Captains can now use GPS, similar to the system we use in cars.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was officially restored as a privately maintained navigation aid in 1996. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a nice tourist draw for the town.

Ashley Barger, manager of the nearby Wind Drift Gallery, said she’s glad the building is being renovated.

“I’ve never been inside. But I do know that there’s a fun haunted tour once a year, where they go to all the haunted places,” Barger said. “It’s supposed to be one of the most haunted locations in our town.”

Rumor has it an isolated figure passes a window at night. It’s attributed to a young girl named Muriel who died mysteriously in 1899. There’s another story about a worker who fell to his death during construction, his body forever trapped within the walls.

But such stories should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

In any case, this building and its restoration mean a lot to the community.

The refurbished lantern is now expected to be installed at the beginning of September, with doors opening a couple of weeks afterwards.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/07/newport-yaquina-bay-lighthouse-reopens-september/