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| Point Robinson | |
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What folks call Vashon Island is actually two islands... Vashon, and
Maury Island. At one point, the two were separated by a small
strait, but in 1925 or so, an earthquake happened, and the result
was that the land in the strait rose, joining the two islands during
low tide. This isthmus was further filled in during the
1930's, and now there's a roadway joining the two islands together
almost seamlessly. On the western tip of Maury Island is Point Robinson Park, and in that park is Point Robinson Lighthouse. |
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Point Robinson is prone to fog. Since it juts out into the
channel for shipping in the Puget Sound on the way to Tacoma, a fog
station was established on Point Robinson in 1885. The original
boiler and 12-inch steam whistle came from Oregon's Point Adams
lighthouse. In 1887, a light was added, in the form of a lantern placed on a 25-foot pole (pictured above). in 1894, the pole was replaced by a 30-foot wooden tower, which sported a 5th Order Frensel Lens. (pictured below) In 1897, after shoveling coal to keep the fog horn blowing for 528 continuous hours, the keeper requested an assistant. In 1903, an assistant was assigned. A second dwelling for the assistant was added in 1907. The current Lighthouse structure was built in 1915, which raised the light to 38 feet, making it visible 12 miles away. The same 5th order lens that was on the tower was used in the lighthouse. It is pictured on the left, just after its completion. |
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The light was automated in 1978, it still shines two white flashes
every 12 seconds from the original fifth-order Fresnel lens. More
specifically, the flashing pattern is on for three seconds, off for
one second, on for another three seconds, and off for five seconds. In the early 1990s, local residents caught wind of a plan to lease land on Point Robinson to a seafood-processing plant. The citizens joined together to form the Keepers of Point Robinson and, coupled with the Vashon Parks Department, they were able to negotiate a fifteen-year lease on the property with the Coast Guard. |
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The lighthouse today is very well maintained. Every Sunday, it
is open for tours. The lighthouse looks quite familiar... To cut construction costs, the same plans used to build the Point Robinson Light were also used to build several other lighthouses in the Puget Sound... there are also several lighthouses in Oregon that used that design as well.. |
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Inside the base of the lighthouse, the generation and compression
units, idle since the station was automated, still sit on their
mounts. The large tank is the air compressor cell for the Fog horns, which were removed in the 1980's, replaced by a more modern, self-contained horn. Holes in the walls remain the only remaining evidence of where the horns were located (They are visible in the picture of the lighthouse in 1915). |
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Up in the light room, the Frensel Lens gets it's just due! It truly
is a work of art, genius in it's very design. The lamp inside the light, a 200 watt bulb, is actually 4 lamps on a rotating circuit. When the lamp assembly detects that the active bulb is burned out, the assembly rotates, bringing another light into the focal point of the lens. If all 4 lights burn out, then an alternate strobe light illuminates outside the light room. Mt Rainier can be faintly seen in the background... |
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The original keeper's quarters, on the upper left, is the
original building, but it was expanded when the Assistant Keeper's
quarters were built. Currently, the part, rents out the building
assort of a hotel to make money for upkeep of the Station. The
Assistant Keeper's quarters are being restored to the way they were
from the design order, to show 'how it was' back then. The "back" of the structrue faces the water, because the foghorns needed to face towards the ships. The Maintenance building is the first building built on the site, and is the oldest on structure the island. |
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