At Cape Meares, a French hand-ground Fresnel lens formed the center of lighthouse work and was one of only two eight-sided lights in the United States, the other being in Hawaii. This “first order” light, the largest of seven lens sizes, was shaped like a giant beehive, with an outer surface made of prisms that bent light into a narrow beam. The beam then passed through a magnifying glass, or bull’s-eye, at the center of each side, intensifying it into a brilliant sheet of light visible for 21 miles. The original light used a heavy bronze five-wick kerosene lantern turned by weights and pulleys, and four sides of the eight-sided lens were covered with red glass to create an alternating red and white beam as the light turned. Cape Meares lighthouse was tended by three keepers—an appointed keeper and first and second assistants—whose main tasks were to keep the light burning from sunset to sunrise and maintain the equipment. The keeper and first assistant cleaned and polished the lenses to prevent pitting from salt spray, trimmed or replaced the large wicks, filtered the kerosene, and filled the lamp, with the kerosene strained many times and fine silk used for the final filtering. The second assistant swept, dusted, and cleaned the inside of the building, and keepers wore linen aprons to avoid scratching the lens with their coarse clothing.