Destruction Island Lens
Westport-Washington State
One of the most spectacular exhibits at the Westport Maritime Museum is a working first-order Fresnel lighthouse lens that came from the Destruction Island lighthouse, located 57 miles north of Westport. Constructed in 1890 in France, the lens contains twenty-four bull's-eyes and 1,176 prisms.
The 94- foot tall ironclad conical Destruction Island lighthouse was an important aid to navigation for mariners along the Pacific coastline for 117 years. The light was first lit on New Year's Eve at 4:26 p.m. in 1891 and remained in service until the U.S. Coast Guard removed the lens from the isolated lighthouse in the spring of 1995. A modem automated light replaced the first order Fresnel lens, which was placed in temporary storage. In April 2008, the Coast Guard shut off the automated beacon after determining that with mariners relying on modem onboard navigation equipment, the light was no longer needed.
Destruction Island Lens
Westport-Washington State
One of the most spectacular exhibits at the Westport Maritime Museum is a working first-order Fresnel lighthouse lens that came from the Destruction Island lighthouse, located 57 miles north of Westport. Constructed in 1890 in France, the lens contains twenty-four bull's-eyes and 1,176 prisms.
The 94- foot tall ironclad conical Destruction Island lighthouse was an important aid to navigation for mariners along the Pacific coastline for 117 years. The light was first lit on New Year's Eve at 4:26 p.m. in 1891 and remained in service until the U.S. Coast Guard removed the lens from the isolated lighthouse in the spring of 1995. A modem automated light replaced the first order Fresnel lens, which was placed in temporary storage. In April 2008, the Coast Guard shut off the automated beacon after determining that with mariners relying on modem onboard navigation equipment, the light was no longer needed.