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Point Wilson Light
Pt Townsend, WA lighthouse 01.jpg
Point Wilson Light is located in Washington (state)
Point Wilson Light
Point Wilson Light
Location in Washington (state)
Location Western entrance to Admiralty Inlet, Port Townsend, Washington
Coordinates 48°8′39″N 122°45′19″W / 48.14417°N 122.75528°W / 48.14417; -122.75528
Year first constructed 1879 (first); 1914 (second)
Year first lit 1879 (first); 1914 (second)
Automated 1976
Foundation Concrete
Construction Masonry/concrete
Tower shape Octagonal on fog signal building
Markings / pattern White with red roof
Height 46 feet (14 m)
Focal height 51 feet (16 m)
Original lens Fourth order Fresnel lens
Current lens Same
Characteristic White light, occulting every 20 s for 5 s, with one red flash in the middle of the occultation
Admiralty number G4784
ARLHS number USA 641
USCG number 16475

The Point Wilson Light is an active aid to navigation located in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington. It is one of the most important navigational aids in the state, overlooking the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, the waterway connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. The lighthouse was listed on the Washington State Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

History

Point Wilson's first lighthouse was built in 1879 by the United States Lighthouse Service as a companion to the Admiralty Head Light built some 18 years earlier on the eastern side of Admiralty Inlet. A square wooden tower projecting from the roof of a two-story, Cape Cod–style keeper's quarters held a fixed fourth-order Fresnel lens. The station also included a fog signal building with 12-inch, steam-powered fog whistle.

In 1904, landfill was added to the site in an effort to protect the station, but time and tide having worked their destructive effects, a new lighthouse was commissioned. Completed in 1914, it was built of reinforced concrete with a 46-foot (14 m) octagonal tower designed to withstand the wind. It received the station's original fourth-order Fresnel lens that it continues to display. The beacon's height of 51 feet (16 m) made it the tallest light on Puget Sound. The tower on the original lighthouse was removed and the building continued in use as residence for the keepers. The station was automated in 1976.

Point Wilson Light remains in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard, while the grounds are managed by Washington State Parks. Its site on the exposed point at Fort Worden State Park is under serious threat from shoreline erosion and rising sea levels.

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