The Heceta Head lighthouse is one of 11 on the Oregon coast. Most still functioning as navigation aids. Heceta has a Fresnel lens, an amazing bit of glass magic invented by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel and in use around the world since the 1820s, about 200 years ago. There’s no knowing how many lives his invention saved. The one at Heceta Head was installed in 1894.
It was a pleasure to walk up to it from Heceta beach on a rare sunny day in November.
It still casts the strongest light seen from the Oregon coast and visible 20 nautical miles out to sea. All respect to Fresnel; he suffered from tuberculosis and died at 39.
Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now 