Built: December 1901

Type: Two story octangonal dwelling on a cluster of piles

Height:

Status: Non Active

Location: West end of a shoal near the mouth of the Columbia River

Lens: Fourth Order Fresnel

Deactivated: 1965

Keepers: 

Signal: Daboll Trumpet, 2 blasts of 2s each every 30s

Notes:  Desdemona Sands is a series of shoals on the Columbia River just north of the main channel. The area gets its name from the bark Desdemona. The sands had traditionally been called Chinook Sands. On New Year's Day 1857, the ship's captain tried to cross the Columbia River bar without a pilot - having been promised a new suit if he could enter the Columbia by January 1. The ship ran aground on the bar. The cargo was saved, but the ship was lost, and one salvager was drowned. 
The Desdemona Sands Lighthouse was first lit in December 1901 to replace the Point Adams light. The Carl Leick-designed structure was identical to Semiahmoo Bay in Washington - a residence with rooftop tower built on pilings. The station housed a fog signal and fourth-order Fresnel lens 48 feet above sea level. The station had a water cistern for gathering fresh water, and a small boat to reach the mainland. The station was for keepers only - families lived on shore. 
In 1934, the station received electricity from the shore, making the keeper's position redundant. The station was dismantled and replaced by a minor aid placed on a small pyramidal structure. This was replaced again in 1955. The light was finally extinguished in 1965.
Today, nothing remains except some pilings and rocks that may visible when the river is low.