| Westport Maritime Museum |
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NEW: VISIT THE WESTPORT MARITIME MUSEUM'S NEW WEB SITE Our historic museum building was built in 1939 to serve as the Coast Guard's Lifeboat Station, Grays Harbor. The Colonial Revival structure served in that role until 1972 when a new station was built several blocks to the South. The Maritime Museum opened in the Old Coast Guard building in 1985. Adjacent to the main building are two "Whale Houses" that exhibit sea mammal skeletons. The Westport Maritime Museum is the home of the Destruction Island Lens and The Grays Harbor Lighthouse - the Tallest Lighthouse in Washington. Now an American Historical Site! Destruction Island is located forty miles north of Grays Harbor on the Washington Coast. Its lighthouse, first lit in 1891, has been an important aid to navigation for mariners transiting the Pacific coastline for over one hundred years. The crews of early sailing vessels, tug boats, log ships, fishing boats and pleasure craft have all used lighthouse, both by day and night, to mark their location and warn them of rocky dangers near shore. |
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The United States Coast Guard offered the Westport Maritime Museum an opportunity to be the keepers of the lens, which was removed from Destruction Island in 1995, being replaced by a modern, automated light. This lens is a first-order Fresnel type. In December 1998, the museum opened a new Destruction Island Lens exhibit that affords visitors a unique opportunity to see this spectacular historic object lit and rotating. |
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 Westport Maritime Museum 2201 Westhaven Drive P.O. Box 1074 Westport, WA 98595-1074 360-268-0078 360-268-1288 (fax) |
Other things to see in Westport at WestportWa.com.