Cattle Point Lighthouse is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

on the southeastern tip of San Juan Island overlooking the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

where the

Haro Strait The Haro Strait is one of the main channels connecting the Strait of Georgia to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, separating Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, Canada from the San Juan Islands of Washington (state), Washington st ...

s meet the San Juan Channel, in San Juan County, Washington. The light lies adjacent to the state's Cattle Point Natural Resources Conservation Area and, since 2013, is part of the San Juan Islands National Monument.

History

The first light at Cattle Point was a lens lantern on a post erected in 1888. In 1921, the U.S. Navy installed a radio compass station. The modern , octagonal, concrete tower on Cattle Point was erected in 1935. Following automation in the late 1950s, the tower's lantern was removed and replaced with a 250-mm drum lens that sits on a short mast on top of the tower. The lighthouse received a temporary makeover in 1984, when it was used as a backdrop for an Exxon television commercial. The commercial's ahistorical additions were subsequently removed. The

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

announced plans to reinforce the structure, which was in danger of collapse from the forces of erosion, during the summer of 2010.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1935 Lighthouses in Washington (state) Transportation buildings and structures in San Juan County, Washington