Historical Marker Inscription
Coquille River Lighthouse - 1896
This lighthouse, officially the Coquille River Lighthouse, stands today as a reminder of a past era when safe shipping depended on a lightkeeper and his light. From within the stuccoed brick walls of the adjoining 47 foot tower was a fixed, fourth-order light which beaconed 28 seconds, eclipsed two seconds. The light guided boats safely across the shallow beach at the mouth of the Coquille River until 1939 when it was abandoned and replaced by an automatic light on the South Jetty.
In 1963, the Oregon State Parks Division leased the lighthouse and surrounding acreage from the Army Corps of Engineers for park purposes. Together, these two agencies restored the weatherworn and deteriorated lighthouse in 1978.
Of the eight lighthouses remaining on the Oregon coast, the Coquille River Lighthouse was the last constructed. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.