Browns Point Light

The Browns Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located near Tacoma on Browns Point at the east entrance to Puget Sound's Commencement Bay, Pierce County, Washington.[3]

Browns Point Lighthouse

Location	Browns Point, Washington
Coordinates	47°18′21.3″N 122°26′39.4″W
Year first constructed	1887
Year first lit	1933 (current tower); 1903 (previous tower);[1] 1887 (first structure)
Automated	1963
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Concrete
Tower shape	Square without lantern
Tower height	34 feet (10 m) (38 feet (12 m) above sea level)
Focal height	12 metre
Current lens	VRB-25
Range	12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing white light every 5s, Light obscured from 217° to 002°. HORN: 2 blasts ev 30s (2s bl-2s si-2s bl-24s si).
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Tacoma, Washington
Area	2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built	1933
Architectural style	Modernistic
NRHP reference No.	89000208[2]
Added to NRHP	February 16, 1989

History

Cupy the first light station on Browns Point, erected in 1887, consisted of a white light lens lantern on a white post that stood 12 feet (3.7 m) above sea level and 50 yards from the low tide shoreline.[4] A wood-frame lighthouse and separate keepers cottage were built in 1901. The current lighthouse was built in 1933 and automated in 1963.[5] The lighthouse plus the original keeper's cottage, oil house and boathouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[6]

Public access

The Points Northeast Historical Society rents out the keeper's cottage with the renter serving as an honorary lightkeeper who conducts lighthouse tours on Saturday afternoons.[7] The Society also operates two museums by the lighthouse: the History Center with changing history exhibits and the Boat House Museum with displays of a replica surfboat and maritime artifacts.[8][9] The lighthouse is on the grounds of Browns Point Lighthouse Park which offers picnicking and scenic vistas of sea traffic and mountains.[10]

References

1. "13th Coast Guard District Lighthouses". 13th Coast Guard District. January 1996. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. "Browns Point Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Washington Lighthouses. National Park Service. Archived from the original on April 7, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
4. "History of Browns Point Lighthouse Park". Metro Parks Tacoma. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
5. "Historic Light Station Information & Photography: Washington". U.S. Coast Guard. November 17, 2014. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
6. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". National Park Service. February 16, 1989. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
7. "Light Keeper's Cottage Rental". Points Northeast Historical Society. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
8. "Browns Point, WA". Lighthousefriends. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
9. McClary, Daryl C. (March 19, 2014). "Browns Point Light Station". The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
10. "Browns Point Lighthouse". Seattle and Sound. Retrieved April 20, 2015.

More reading

• Sharlene Nelson & Ted Nelson (1998). Umbrella Guide to Washington Lighthouses. Epicenter Press. ISBN 9780945397700.

External links

• Media related to Browns Point Light at Wikimedia Commons
• Browns Point Lighthouse Park Metro Parks Tacoma
• Points Northeast Historical Society