The French hand-ground Fresnel lens at Cape Meares is one of only two eight-sided lights in the United States - the other is in Hawaii. Keepers were given detailed instructions for maintaining the masterpiece.




A brilliant light of the "first order"

Shaped like a giant beehive, the outer surface of the lens is made of prisms, that bend the light into a narrow beam.
The beam then pass through a magnifying glass, or bull's-eye, at the center of each side that intensifies it, producing' a brilliant sheet of light visible for 21 miles.

The original light was a heavy bronze five-wick kerosene lantern that was turned by weights and pulleys. Four sides of this 8-sided lens were covered with red glass, which produced an alternating red and white beam as the light turned. The Cape Meares light is of the "first order," the largest of seven lens sizes.


A day in the life of a lighthouse keeper

Cape Meares lighthouse was tended by three keepers: an appointed keeper and a first and second assistant. The main tasks were to keep the light burning from sunset to sunrise and to maintain the equipment. Among the many daily tasks done by the keeper and his first assistant were: 1) clean and polish the lenses to prevent pitting by salt spray; 2) trim or replace the