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Columbia River - Willamette River Lighthouse, ca.1910.
Image scanned from notecard purchased in 2006.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka. |
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Columbia River looking downstream from Kelley Point, with mouth of the Willamette River entering from left behind pilings.
Image taken September 13, 2003.
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Willamette River Lighthouse ...
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Between 1895 and the 1935 a lighthouse existed at the mouth of the Willamette River with the Columbia, near Kelley Point.
The lighthouse was a two-story, octagonal dwelling on a rectangular cluster of pilings (see "The Golden Age of Postcards" below). The light was a post lantern mounted on a railing of the dwelling.
When operational the lighthouse showed a flashing white light every 4 seconds, and a fog bell sounded every 10 seconds. The lighthouse was funded in 1894, established in 1895, and deactivated in 1935 when the station was electrified and automated and the light and fog signal moved to a low piling near the Kelly Point beach. The house was acquired by the Portland Mercantile Exchange and was moved to Kelley Point. It was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.
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Willamette River Light ...
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The Willamette River Light was established in 1935 when the then-in-service lighthouse was deactivated and the newly electrified light and bell was moved to the end of a dike radiating from Kelley Point.
From the 1942 "Coast Pilot":
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"... The Willamette River Light is located on the end of the dike at the eastern side of the entrance to the river at Kelly Point. The light is shown from a house painted with black and red horizontal bands, on a while pile structure, 24 feet above water. A fog signal is sounded on an electric bell; the signal is not sounded from June 1 to August 31. ..."
The 1947 USC&GS Chart #6155, "Port of Portland including Vancouver", shows "Old Lighthouse" close to the tip of Kelley Point, and "Bell" further into the Columbia River off the shallows. The 1959 chart has the lighthouse gone, but the bell marking is still there.
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"The Golden Age of Postcards" ...
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The early 1900s was the "Golden Age of Postcards", with the "Penny Postcard" being a popular way to send greetings to family and friends.
Today the Penny Postcard has become a snapshot of history.
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Penny Postcard: Columbia River - Willamette River Lighthouse, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, ca.1910, "Light House at the Junction of Columbia and Willamette Rivers.". Published by Portland Post Card Co., Portland, Oregon. In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
"... A tinted photographic postcard. The legend in red at upper left reads
"Lighthouse at junction of the Columbia and the Willamette Rivers." The
lighthouse, which stands in the middle of the water, is a wooden structure
with a metal roof. The wooden pilings and beams supporting the living
quarters are built in a square, but the building itself is octagonal. On
the lowest level is a fenced deck surrounding the building; the level
above that features four tall gable windows, one looking to each of the
four directions. At the top is a fenced widow's walk. On the left side of
the building can be seen a lantern and a tall pole, perhaps a lightening
rod. On the shore beyond the lighthouse are trees. The lighthouse was
built near Kelly Point in 1895. In 1935 the lighthouse was electrified and
no longer needed keepers to light the lantern or ring the fog bell. It was
sold and moved during the 1940s and burned during the 1950s ..."
[University of Oregon Photo Archives Website, 2006]
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Penny Postcard: Columbia River - Willamette River Lighthouse, ca.1910.
Penny Postcard, Postmarked 1910, "Light House at the Junction of Columbia and Willamette Rivers.". Published by Portland Post Card Co., Portland, Oregon.
Card #6080.
Card is postmarked July 23, 1910.
In the private collection of Lyn Topinka.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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