Along the central California coast from Monterey to Santa Barbara are five existing light houses, running, from north to south, Point Pinos, Point Sur, Piedras Blancas, San Luis Obispo, and Point Conception. This wonderful natural area consists largely of three counties, Monterery, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. The overall population of the area is approximately 1,000,000 people, but they are mostly concentrated in the north, around Monterery and the south, around Santa Barbara. In approximately the center of this area is the small but lovely city of San Luis Obispo.
in 1930s, the state of California constructed Highway 1 which is the major route connecting the towns and settlements along the coast.
Point Pinos Lighthouse
The Point Pinos light station was established in 1855. The original tower is still in use, making it the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the west coast. The structure was a typical design of the first west coast lighthouses, consisting of a 43 ft (13 m) tower rising from an integral keeper's house built in the Cape Cod style. A 3rd order Fresnel lens was originally installed in the tower and this remains in use to this day.
The original tower was built of stone, but it was damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and was replaced with one of poured concrete. The lighthouse is now owned by the city of Pacific Grove and maintained by the local historical society.
Point Sur Lighthouse
The Point Sur light station was established in 1889, and, like the Point Pinos station, is in Monterrey County. Point Sur is a large rounded volcanic formation which stands out into the surf and is close to being an island. The light is displayed from a 48 ft (15) square stone tower, but because of its location on the cliffs, the focal plane of the light is 273 ft (83) m above the sea. The original lighting apparatus, now at the Monterey History and Maritime Museum, was a 1st order Fresnel lens manufactured by Barbier and Fenestre in Paris.
On February 12, 1935, a dirigible, the USS Macon crashed into the sea within site of the lighthouse.
Back in 2004, Congress, in a rare fit of sanity, enacted the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, and it was pursuant to this law that the Point Sur lighthouse was transferred to the ownership of the California State Parks. The site also includes a nearly complete set of support buildings and keepers quarters as part of the state park. Here's a little video that gives a good view of the light station:
Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
Located in San Luis Obispo County, a few miles north of San Simeon, the
Piedras Blancas light station was established in 1879. The station's name means "white rocks" in Spanish, and this comes from the guano-covered sea stacks in the vicinity. The tower was originally 115 ft (35 m) high, at the top of which was a lantern house enclosing a 1st order Fresnel lens. On December 30, 1948, the lantern house was damaged during an earthquake and later removed. The lighting apparatus was replaced with a rotating aerial beacon. This reduced the tower height to 74 ft (22.5 m) and left it looking strangely proportioned. The old fresnel lens was kept out of doors for many years in a park, but was reported to have suffered little damage from sunlight discoloration or vandalism. In 1996, volunteers constructed a replica lantern room in the town of Cambria to house the lens. (
photo.
Since 1990, an increasing number of elephant seals have established a breeding colony on the beach to the south of the light station. Here's a video of the seal colony. It's remarkable how close this is to the highway. My understanding was that marine mammals were easily disturbed by the proximity of humans, well, at least some of them, but it doesn't seem to be a matter of concern here.
San Luis Obispo Lighthouse
This light station was established in 1890, and, like Piedras Blancas, is in San Luis Obispo County. The tower was 40 ft (12 m) high, built of wood, and connected to a keeper's residence built of wood in the Victorian style. The original light was a 4th order Fresnel lens.
This elaborate lighthouse was built from a design that was also used for the former Ballast Point Lighthouse (razed in the 1950s) in San Diego and, far to the north, the also razed Table Bluff Lighthouse on the south side of Humboldt Bay. The original lighting apparatus was a 4th order Fresnel lens, which has since been placed on exhibit at the San Luis Obispo County Library. There are a number of other original station buildings on the site.
Point Conception Lighthouse, Mar. 5, 2009. © John Wiley, licensed
for reuse under Creative Commons: CC BY 3.0
Point Conception Lighthouse
This station was established in 1856 as one of the original lighthouses in California. The first tower was similar in design to that of Point Pinos and was located at the top of the bluff behind the present tower, and the light was displayed by a 1st order Fresnel lens. In 1882 a new tower was built closer to the sea, and the original lens transferred to the replacement structure. This tower is 52 feet (16 m) high, and connected to a fog signal building. The original 1st order Fresnel lens is still in use, and the Coast Guard maintains the light. The station is completely surrounded by a private ranch, and essentially inaccessible to non-official visitors except by a long walk along the beach.
Well, that's all I have on lighthouses for now. Hope you liked. Please consider this your open lighthouse thread!
Pax.