Watercolor View Of Benson Beach

by Robert Bales

Title

Watercolor View Of Benson Beach

Artist

Robert Bales

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

Benson Beach extends from two miles from the North Jetty to the rocky base of the North Head Lighthouse. The 1/4-mile-long Benson Beach Trail goes from the end of the North Jetty Road and ends at a viewing platform overlooking the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. On February 20, 1920, the American steamer the Admiral Benson grounded on Peacock Spit in the fog and broke up after several days of wind. The wreck today still snags fishing lines off the coast of today's Benson Beach.
It soon became apparent that a second lighthouse at the mouth of the Columbia River was needed since ships coming from the North could not see the light from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. The North Head Lighthouse, built two miles north of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, went into operation on May 16, 1898.
From the 1942 "Coast Pilot":

"... North Head Light is shown from a white conical tower on the western point of North Head. The light is 194 feet above the water, and visible 20 miles. The light is obscured east of 181o. Near the light there is a United States Weather Bureau storm-warning display station, with telegraph and telphone to Astoria and Portland, and equiped with international code signals for reporting vessels and receiving messages. From the southward, Cape Disappointment shows as three low knobs, separated by low flat ridges. North Head Light shows on the western slope of the western knob. Cape Disappointment Light shows on the western slope of the eastern knob. ..."
The lighthouse is 65 feet tall and sits on solid basalt more than 190 feet above sea level.

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March 9th, 2013

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