Built: 1st lighthouse 1857 / 2nd lighthouse 1894

Type: 1st lighthouse Brick Tower / 2nd lighthouse Conical attached to Workroom

Height: 1st lighthouse 92ft / 2nd lighthouse 65ft

Status: 2nd lighthouse is Active

Location: Reedsport

Deactivated: 1st lighthouse 1864 Collasped

Lens: 1st lighthouse Third Order Fresnel / 2nd lighthouse First Order Fresnel

Keepers: 1st light house Fayette Crosby / 2nd lighthouse US Coast Guard

Notes:  Prior construction of the first lighthouse several vessels had already been lost on the hazardous Umpqua River bar.  The light was completed in 1857, two years before Oregon's admission to the Union. The lighthouse was a duplex with a 92-foot tower housing a third-order Fresnel lens. 
The first Umpqua River lighthouse was short-lived. It was built on sand close to the river edge. An 1861 storm compromised the foundation of the lighthouse. In 1864, it was reported that the lens had been removed, and while workers were dismantling the lantern room, the tower began to show signs of toppling. The workmen hurredly abandoned the tower moments before it collapsed. 
A new lighthouse was not approved until 1888. Several issues delayed completion of the lighthouse. One contractor went bankrupt while performing the work. When the lighthouse was near completion, the lens' base was determined to be fifteen inches too short. Construction stopped until additional funds were allocated to correct the problem and complete the project. 
The new lighthouse, designed by Carl Leick, was identical to Heceta Head in Oregon. The new tower was built of two layers of brick, and overlayed with cement. The 65-foot tower was built 100 feet above sea level, well back from the river and the ocean. The first-order Fresnel lens built by Barbier and Cie alternated a white and red flash. A workroom was attached to the base of the tower. 
Other than a fire in 1958, the light has operated almost continuously ever since. The lighthouse was automated in the 1960's, and the surrounding grounds turned over to the state of Oregon. Most of the 110 acres of the lighthouse reservation are now the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, overlooking the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. A nearby former Coast Guard building now houses a museum. 
In 1983, the chariot mechanism that rotated the lens failed. The Coast Guard considered replacing the spectacular lens with a modern optic. Local uproar caused the Coast Guard to reconsider. The mechanism was rebuilt and the Fresnel lens relit in 1985.