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The word Coquille comes from the Native American word for the
site - Koh-kel. The French explorer LaPerouse sailed past
the area in 1796, and the first settlers arrived in 1853. The
river seemed a natural location as a port for exporting lumber
and other goods from the Coquille River Valley.
However, most vessels bypassed the Coquille River.
Shifting sands made the entrance to the Coquille River
extremely hazardous to shipping. At times, the river bar
was a mere three feet below water. In 1880, work began on
a south jetty to bring the channel depth to ten feet.
Even with this addition, by 1887 shoals had formed leaving
a depth of only five feet.
The improvements did eventually lead to an increase in river traffic.
Sawmills and shipyards were built in the town of Bandon
on the south side of the river mouth. The increase in traffic created
the need for a navigational aid to mark the river. A lighthouse
was approved in 1891, but questions of land ownership delayed
construction until 1895.
The Coquille River Lighthouse was first lit on February 29, 1896.
The station consisted of a 40-foot tower and octagonal fog signal room.
The tower housed a fourth-order Fresnel lens.
The oil house stood on an adjacent platform. The lighthouse
was built on an island and connected to the mainland by a wooden
walkway. The keeper's residence was a duplex on the mainland.
When the north jetty was completed at the turn of the century,
the lighthouse was connected to the mainland.
Despite the two jetties and the lighthouse, shipwrecks still
occurred in the area. The schooner C. A. Klose (1904)
and Advance (1905) both ran aground on the north jetty
adjacent to the lighthouse. Fortunately, both were pulled off the
rocks by tugs and surfmen of the nearby lifesaving station.
(Gibbs, pp. 53-7) Numerous other vessels were not so
fortunate. For example, the schooners Onward,
Western Homer, and Del Norte were all lost
in 1904-05.
Oscar Langlois was the last principal keeper at the
Coquille River Lighthouse. He was assistant
keeper at Cape Arago in 1905.
Langlois married the principal
keeper's daughter, Marie Amundsen, and moved to the Coquille
River Lighthouse - first as assistant keeper, and later as principal
keeper. Oscar Langlois was the son of James Langlois,
who served at Cape Blanco for 42 years.
In September 1936, a forest fire swept through the town of Bandon.
Of the 500 buildings in town, only 16 survived. The town went bankrupt.
The resulting decline in shipping led to the station's closure
in 1939. The lighthouse was replaced by an
automated light on the south jetty.
The abandoned lighthouse deteriorated due to neglect and vandalism.
When Bullards State Beach Park was created, park personnel evaluated the
site with the intention of restoring the lighthouse as a park attraction.
A major restoration of the lighthouse took place from 1976-1979.
A new solar powered light was installed in 1991. The revival of the
lighthouse paralleled the revival of Bandon, which is now a seaside
resort town.
In 2005 local officials announced that the lighthouse required
another major restoration, costing up to a million dollars.
As of 2005, it was unclear how this money would be raised.
Oregon's Seacoast Lighthouses, Gibbs pp. 49, 62-63
Umbrella Guide to Oregon Lighthouses, Nelson pp. 9, 11, 13-14
Pacific Northwest Lighthouses, Roberts and Jones p. 13
Lighthouses of the Oregon Coast (video)
Lighthouse Digest November 2005
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