Lighthouses and Life-Saving on the Oregon Coast

Images of America: Oregon

by David Pinyerd

The Oregon Coast has been the site of shipwrecks even before Lewis and Clark's arrival in 1805. Even as the population grew, the federal government let the Oregon Coast go unguarded by lighthouses and lifesavers for decades. Economic and political pressures finally forced the government to build the first Oregon lighthouse in 1857 at the Umpqua River. The LifeSaving Service followed in 1878 with a station at the mouth of Coos Bay. Eventually, most of the harbor entrances and headlands were protected by both the Lighthouse Service and the LifeSaving Service, the precursor to today's Coast Guard. Lighthouses and Lifesaving on the Oregon Coast commemorates the true heroes who served to warn, protect, and rescue those who went to sea.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2007

Reviews

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book reading if you are a fan of Oregon beach trips, history & lighthouses.

[Lilifane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot! Since I've been to most of the locations in the northern half of Oregon's coast, the first half of the book was a very nostalgic read. But the second half about the southern coast was super interesting as well. Absolutely loved all the historic photos in the book and I liked that there wasn't too much text. I just wish there were more stories about the lighthouse keepers, because the few details about everyday lives around lighthouses and life-saving stations were really fascinating.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historic images of each Oregon lighthouse and lifesaving station, captioned in a such a way that the words almost form a narrative.

[Michelle now at StoryGraph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the history and photographs and look forward to reading more books from this series.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good introduction to the topic. But I think it could have used more substance, I was very interested in the topic and left wanting more.