The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The west coast state of Oregon is located on the Pacific coast north of California. Oregon was originally part of the Oregon Country, the area west of the Continental Divide between latitudes 42° and 54°40' North. In the London Convention of 1818 the U.S. and Britain agreed to joint occupation of this territory. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 confirmed British occupation of Vancouver Island and the rest of what became British Columbia; it also set the boundary between the U.S. and British territory at latitude 49° between the Rocky Mountains and the Strait of Georgia. In 1853 the Oregon Territory was divided, the part north of the Columbia River becoming Washington Territory, and in 1859 Oregon, the area south of the Columbia, was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state. Almost all of Oregon's 363 mi (584 km) of coastline is steep and scenic, and the lighthouses are generally built on spectacular headlands. Protected harbors are very scarce. The most important harbor facilities are on the Columbia River, which forms the northern border of the state. In all there are 12 lighthouses, two of them built privately. In addition the lightship Columbia is preserved at Astoria. The Oregon Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society supports all the state's lighthouses and there are local preservation groups active at many of them. Navigational aids in the United States are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Aids to navigation in Oregon are maintained by the Thirteenth Coast Guard District. Aids to Navigation (ANT) teams are based at Coos Bay and Astoria. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from volume 6 of the U.S. Coast Guard List of Lights.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Western Washington | South: Northern California
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted June 26, 2001. Checked and revised January 9, 2024. Lighthouses: 25. Lightships: 1. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.