Browns Point Light

The Browns Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located near Tacoma on Browns Point at the east entrance to Puget Sound's Commencement Bay, Pierce County, Washington.^[3]

Browns Point Lighthouse

Location	Browns Point, Washington
Coordinates	47°18′21.3″N 122°26′39.4″W
Tower
Constructed	1887
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Concrete
Automated	1963
Height	34 feet (10 m) (38 feet (12 m) above sea level)
Shape	Square without lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1933 (current tower); 1903 (previous tower);[1] 1887 (first structure)
Focal height	12 m (39 ft)
Lens	VRB-25
Range	12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing white light every 5s, Light obscured from 217° to 002°. HORN: 2 blasts ev 30s (2s bl-2s si-2s bl-24s si).
Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Tacoma, Washington
Area	2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built	1933 (1933)
Architectural style	Modernistic
NRHP reference No.	89000208[2]
Added to NRHP	February 16, 1989

History

Cupy the first light station on Browns Point, erected in 1887, consisted of a white light lens lantern on a white post that stood 12 feet (3.7 m) above sea level and 50 yards from the low tide shoreline.^[4] A wood-frame lighthouse and separate keepers cottage were built in 1901. The current lighthouse was built in 1933 and automated in 1963.^[5] The lighthouse plus the original keeper's cottage, oil house and boathouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[6] In 2021, the lighthouse was restored, in an effort led by the Points Northeast Historical Society, with $65,000 in donations from local residents. The restoration was led by Metro Parks Tacoma, and the lighthouse was re-dedicated on October 17, 2021.^[7]

Public access

The Points Northeast Historical Society rents out the keeper's cottage with the renter serving as an honorary lightkeeper who conducts lighthouse tours on Saturday afternoons.^[8] The Society also operates two museums by the lighthouse: the History Center with changing history exhibits and the Boat House Museum with displays of a replica surfboat and maritime artifacts.^[9][10] The lighthouse is on the grounds of Browns Point Lighthouse Park which offers picnicking and scenic vistas of sea traffic and mountains.^[11]