Lighthouses of the United States: Oklahoma

The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The state of Oklahoma is in the south central part of the country north of Texas. The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lower Mississippi River maintains aids to navigation on the Arkansas River waterway in the eastern part of Oklahoma but those aids do not qualify as lighthouses. This page includes one private lighthouse found on an Oklahoma lake.

During the 19th Century the eastern half of the state was set aside for Indian reservations. The western half was organized as Oklahoma Territory in 1890 and the state with its present borders was admitted to the union as the 46th state in 1907.

To be listed here a lighthouse must actually serve as an aid to navigation. This means it must be located on a navigable lake or river and must be lit as a navigational aid at least during the local boating season.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights.

Oklahoma Lighthouse
* East Wharf (Lake Hefner)
1999. Active (charted by Navionics); focal plane approx. 40 ft (12 m); red light, 2 s on, 2 s off. 36 ft (11 m) hexagonal concrete tower with lantern, painted beige; lantern painted dark red. Patricia Garcia's photo is at right, a closeup photo is available, Wikimedia has a photo, Lighthouse Digest has Bill Edwards's September 2003 feature on the lighthouse, and Google has a street view and a satellite view. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the marina in a commercial development on Lake Hefner, on the north side of Oklahoma City. It was prefabricated and erected by a "tilt-up" technique, for which it won an award. Located on the eastern shore of the lake, just off Lake Hefner Parkway. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: East Wharf Development. ARLHS USA-1236.

General Sources
Navionics Charts
Navigation chart for Lake Hefner.
 

Notable faux lighthouses:

  • Centennial Lighthouse (2007), Elk City (Beckham County). This is an active lighthouse but it stands beside a small pond, not navigable water. The lighthouse commemorates the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma's admission to the union as a state in 1907. Guy Bowen has a photo and Google has a street view and a satellite view.

East Wharf Light, Oklahoma City, June 2022
Google Maps photo
by Patricia Garcia

Adjoining pages: North: Kansas | Northeast: Arkansas | Southeast: Louisiana | South: Texas

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Posted July 15, 2003. Checked and revised October 11, 2023. Lighthouses: 1. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.