The Lighthouse at the Tip of the Point: A Short History of Browns Point Light
Top photo: Browns Point Lighthouse at sunset. Photo: Meilee Anderson.
If you have stood on the lawn at Browns Point Lighthouse Park and watched a container ship slide into Commencement Bay, you have seen the reason the light is there. The point was a key landmark for ships heading into Tacoma’s port, and it is a foggy place. For more than a hundred years, someone has made sure there was a light on it.
Names before the light
Local tradition holds that Capt. George Vancouver stopped near here for lunch in 1792 on his way into the bay. The Seattle Times notes that historians believe this, but it is not certain, so we tell it as tradition. The point was known as Point Harris before a surveyor named it Point Brown in 1877. That was years before a keeper named Oscar Brown arrived. The match is a coincidence.
A lamp, then a tower
In the late 1880s a lamp was set out on the tidal flats, then part of the Puyallup Indian Reservation, and a keeper rowed out weekly to tend it. The U.S. government bought the land in 1901. In 1903 a simple two-story wooden tower went up with a new light and a fog bell, and the station opened on Oct. 26 of that year.
Oscar and Annie Brown
The first resident keepers were Oscar and Annie Brown. They arrived with a cow, a horse and an upright piano. There were no roads and no electricity, and, according to a KING 5 report, no running water until 1921. The Browns planted an orchard and hosted end-of-summer clam bakes. When the platform flooded, Oscar rowed from the keeper’s cottage to the light. The land has since been filled, but king tides still sometimes reach the base.
The 1933 tower
The concrete art deco lighthouse you see today was built in 1933. The Seattle Times describes it as one of only a few art deco lighthouses in North America. The tower is about 34 feet tall and 9.5 feet wide. The light was fully automated in 1963, ending the era of full-time keepers, and in 1964 the grounds became a public park. Today the light is solar-powered and on around the clock.
Cared for by neighbors
Points Northeast Historical Society, established in 1986, looks after the lightstation. The Seattle Times reports the society led a restoration in 2021 that returned the tower to its 1933 look. The park also holds the bellhouse, the boathouse and the 1903 keeper’s cottage, the Browns’ home. The cottage can be rented, and proceeds help fund restoration.
Visit
Browns Point Lighthouse Park is a public park run by Parks Tacoma at 201 Tulalip St NE, Tacoma, WA 98422. Browns Point is part of the City of Tacoma, in Pierce County. The magazine research this month listed the park as open a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, with parking gates locking at 4 p.m., and free society tours on Saturdays, 1–4 p.m. Check parkstacoma.gov and pointsnortheast.org (253-927-2536) before you go, since hours and tours can change.
Sources
- Tantri Wija, “Art deco Browns Point Lighthouse illuminates a long, foggy history,” The Seattle Times, Mar. 9, 2026: https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/art-deco-browns-point-lighthouse-illuminates-a-long-foggy-history/
- KING 5 Evening, “Stay the night at the historic Browns Point Lighthouse,” Aug. 16, 2024: https://youtu.be/9LiVJUlIZck
- Points Northeast Historical Society (est. 1986, phone re-checked Oct. 22, 2026): https://pointsnortheast.org/
- Parks Tacoma, Browns Point Lighthouse Park: https://www.parkstacoma.gov/place/browns-point-lighthouse-park/