Washington Lights | Brown's Point Lighthouse

Brown's Point Lighthouse • Tacoma, WA

This diminutive light overlooks Commencement Bay, connecting Puget Sound to the Port of Tacoma. Located within the small but pleasant Brown's Point City Park, there is full beach access for visitors, picnic tables, and even a barbeque grill available for use.

• H I S T O R Y •

This light station was originally established in 1887, and consisted of a lens lantern hanging on a post. The lightkeeper's cottage and a wood frame tower were built in 1903, when a full-time lightkeeper (Oscar Brown) was assigned to the site. Unlike the tower, the cottage was designed in the neoclassical style. The current concrete structure was erected in 1933, replacing the wooden tower. Also on the premises are an oil house and a boat house. The fog bell (replaced with an electric foghorn in 1933) from the original wooden tower was given to the College of Puget Sound, were it signaled the class hours. In 1984 the bell was given to the Fox Island Alliance Church. The bell was returned to Browns Point in 2000 and is now housed in the boathouse on the premises. The light was automated in 1963, and then in 1997 the original optic (original to the 1933 structure) was replaced.

• A T T R I B U T E S •

Location:	Eastern side of the entrance to Commencement Bay.
Year built:	1933
Form:	Square tower
Composition:	Concrete
Markings:	Solid white
Height:	34 feet
Present Optic:	VRB 25
Original Optic:	375 MM
Focal Plane:	38 feet above sea level

• S T A T U S •

Brown's Point light is open to public as part of Brown's Point City Park. The U.S. Coast guard owns the land and leases it to the Metroplitan Park District of Tacoma. The light is still an active navigational aid and the keepers quarters are inhabited by Coast Guard personnel.

• D I R E C T I O N S •

From Seattle take I-5 South. Get off at the exit for Dash Point. This will take you to WA-509. Follow WA-509 a few miles past Dash Point and it will take you to Brown's Point.

• W A L L P A P E R •

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