The Willamette River flows north from the Willamette Valley and meets the Columbia River near Portland. In the 1860's, mariners complained about the lack of markers along the Columbia. After the Civil War, the government began improving navigational aids on the river. In 1868 there were eleven unlighted river buoys. In the 1870's, dredging along the river increased the need for navigational aids. By 1892 there were thirty-eight minor lights along the river.

Due to the importance of the river junction, a lighthouse was proposed for the site, and funding authorized in 1894. The lighthouse was completed in 1895. The lighthouse was built on pilings on an oft-flooded island near Kelly Point. The lighthouse was a residence with widow's walk, but no lantern room. A post lantern was mounted on a railing, and a fog bell was placed on the porch.

In 1935, the station was electrified and no longer required a keeper. The light and fog signal were moved to a dike built into the river from Kelly Point. The structure was acquired by the Portland Mercantile Exchange in the 1940's and moved by crane to a low piling near Kelly Point beach. The new owners used the building to notify the Portland office of arriving vessels. When the Mercantile Exchange built a new office on Sauvie Island in the 1950's, the building was abandoned. Shortly afterwards the old lighthouse burned down.

References (see links)

Lighthouses Northwest - the Designs of Carl Leick, Aliberti p. 15
Umbrella Guide to Oregon Lighthouses, Nelson pp. 91-93