A HIDDEN GEM ON THE OREGON COAST: TERRIBLE TILLY LIGHT HOUSE

Imagine this: It is January 21, 1881, the weather is frigid – a dense fog hangs over the northwest Oregon Coast – and not far off the shore near the town of Cannon Beach, a lonely lighthouse can be see sitting atop Tillamook Rock, shining its light for the first time.

Decades later, this lighthouse would become known to locals as “Terrible Tilly,” and after learning about poor Tilly’s history, it’s obvious to me just why.

The U.S. Congress first decided to budget for the construction of the Tillamook Rock Light in 1878. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but once surveying began in 1879, it became clear that the offshore site was not only illogical for the lighthouse, but a severe hazard and danger to the workers. Tilly’s rock was surveyed three times by two different men before construction officially began, and the second man who surveyed the place for final time was lost at sea and never found. The tragedy only continued from there.

Due to the location and structure of Tillamook Rock itself, as well as its extreme weather and susceptibility to severe storms, building the lighthouse seemed like an impossible feat. In fact, it took more than 500 days for the workers to complete construction, and during that time a barque (a common three-masted sailing ship) named Lupatia wrecked into the rock and none of her 16 crew members survived.

It’s easy to see why locals began to believe the lighthouse was cursed!

Tilly did operate, with human lightkeepers, for some eight decades before it was decommissioned on Sept. 1, 1957. It has been inactive since.

In 2022 the structure was listed for sale for an impressive $6.5 million, with hopes it would continue to be used as a columbarium (a location to store cremated remains).

If the fatalities of her past didn’t already scream “haunted,” that sure does!

While her light no longer shines, “Terrible Tilly” can still be viewed from the coast. I have marveled at her creepy, mysterious, captivating structure from the beaches of nearby Ecola State Park plenty of times – and it’s a sight worth checking out this spooky season!