Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Oregon Coast Tour

At 7.9 m. [Southbound from Astoria], is the junction with a paved road.

Right here to WARRENTON...

A Coast Guard station is at POINT ADAMS, 5 m., which was named for Vice President John Adams in 1792 by Capt. Robert Gray. In 1775 Capt. Bruno Heceta (see below) observed the point. He named it Cabo Frondoso, which means "Leafy Cape." Though Heceta had reached the Columbia River, he did not realize the fact.

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POINT ADAMS... , near which in 1792 Lieut. William Broughton, an English officer, anchored the "Chatham" and set out to explore, using a cutter and launch. He entered a bay and a river, naming the river in honor of Sir George Young of the royal navy. The bay, in turn, took its name from the river.

Point Adams Light House

mtcorg, "Switching on the Lights - Lighthouses North Oregon," September 9, 2021

The first lighthouse built in the Oregon Territory gained appropriations for building in 1852. Cape Disappointment’s lighthouse lit up the dangerous bar of the Columbia River from the north side. The lighthouses site was in a part of the new Washington Territory by the time of completion in October 1856.

From Cape Disappointment across the river’s mouth to Point Adams on the Oregon side the distance extended four to five miles across before the late 19^th early 20^th century jetties came in. The mouth was an ever-shifting zone of sand bars changing with tides, winds, river seasonal flows and any combination. It was apparent that one lighthouse was not enough and so a first of north Oregon Lighthouse was decided upon.

Between 1873 and 1875, construction began on what became the Point Adams lighthouse and steam foghorn. The site selected being actually not on Point Adams – that site already taken up by Fort Stevens. The site chosen was a low sand ridge about one mile south of the point – the point is on the south shore of the river today, not the actual river mouth where it used to be.

Sand was an ever-present problem throughout the life of the station. Grasses and scotch broom planted in the area around the lighthouse attempted to keep the sand somewhat in check.

Being not on the river side, but on the Pacific approach to the mouth, exposed the buildings to the full wrath of winter storms. Storms were always causing needs for repair. Ditches dug to try and drain the ground. The structure of the lighthouse itself was like Yaquina Bay where the tower rises up from the keepers’ dwellings below.

In 1881, the light on Tillamook Rock to the south was lit and the Point Adams light signature changed from a flashing red and white to a fixed red. The foghorn discontinued.

By this time, Battery Russell went up right next to the lighthouse. The lighthouse served as an observatory for awhile and finally burned down by the Lighthouse Service in 1912, first of the north Oregon lighthouses to disappear.

Links

columbiariverimages.com: "Point Adams, Oregon"

Includes ... Point Adams ... South Jetty ... Clatsop Spit ... Point Adams Lighthouse ... Desdemona Sands Lighthouse ... Desdemona Sands Light ... Point Adams Life Saving Station ... Fort Stevens ...

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/point_adams.html

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway