Built: 1881

Type: Octagon/Square attached to Fog Signal bldg

Height: 23 Feet

Status: Active

Location: Seattle

Lens: Fourth Order Fresnel

Keepers: Marvin Gerber

Notes: The lighthouse started operation on November 15, 1881.  The first fog signal used at the point was a bell. After mariners found it difficult to hear the Cape Disappointment fog bell above the ocean's surf, that bell was transferred inland to West Point. In 1887, the bell was replaced by a steam whistle, which was in turn upgraded to a Daboll trumpet. The room to the west of the tower housed the engines, which powered the fog signal. The wandering bell eventually found its final home at the Warrior Rock Lighthouse in Oregon.
The light house was automated in 1985.  Although automated, the lighthouse is not alone on the point. The West Point Treatment Plant , capable of processing 133 millions gallons of wastewater per day, was completed east of the lighthouse in 1966. The closest neighbors to the lighthouse are the Coast Guard personnel who reside in the keeper's dwellings. 
The West Point Lighthouse is now part of Discovery Park, Seattle's largest city park. Also included in Discovery Park is Fort Lawton, built by the Army on Magnolia Bluff around the turn of the nineteenth century. In late 2002, the West Point Lighthouse was declared surplus by the federal government under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. The city of Seattle was awarded ownership of the lighthouse in 2004, and Seattle Parks and Recreations has plans to restore the lighthouse and open it to the public.