Terrible Tilly

A mile to sea, we could see Tillamook Rock, a bleak island with a lighthouse that operated from January, 1881 to September, 1957. Nicknamed "Terrible Tilly," the light was repeatedly over-swept by winter storms that dashed water, rocks, and fish into the lantern room 150 feet above normal sea level.

In 1980, a group of Portland investors purchased the light for $50,000, had it stripped and sealed shut, converting the facility into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium-a unique resting place for ashes of the deceased The island was finally bought by funeral entrepreneurs who bring in urns of cremated remains by helicopter.