Out of His Mind's Eye

Terrible Tilly, the lighthouse on Tillamook Rock on the northern Oregon coast, took over a year to build and the light was first turned on in January of 1881. After years of being ravaged by storms, Keeper Oswald Allik turned off the light for good On September 1, 1957. He made one final entry in the logbook:

“Farewell, Tillamook Rock Light Station. An era has ended. With this final entry, and not without sentiment, I return thee to the elements. You, one of the most notorious and yet fascinating of the sea-swept sentinels in the world; long the friend of the tempest-tossed mariner. Through howling gale, thick fog and driving rain your beacon has been a star of hope and your foghorn a voice of encouragement. May the elements of nature be kind to you. For 77 years you have beamed your light across desolate acres of ocean. Keepers have come and gone; men lived and died; but you were faithful to the end. May your sunset years be good years. Your purpose is now only a symbol, but the lives you have saved and the service you have rendered are worthy of the highest respect. A protector of life and property to all, may old-timers, newcomers and travelers along the way pause from the shore in memory of your humanitarian role.”

But she still proudly stands!