Fresnel lens at the Cape Blanco lighthouse on the Pacific Coast of southern Oregon. The Cape Blanco Lighthouse started operation on December 20, 1870 with an oil lamp and a class one Fresnel lens. In 1936 electricity was brought to the lighthouse and in 1980 the lighthouse was automated. It is still a functioning lighthouse today acting as a navigation aid a warning shipping of the reefs in this area of the Oregon coast.