California Beauty - Point Bonita Lighthouse

The Point Bonita Lighthouse is located North of San Francisco, CA. The original tower was built in 1855. It and the keeper's dwelling were perched on a ledge to the left of this lighthouse, about 300-feet above the ocean. The light could be seen from up to 20-miles out to sea, except when heavy fog obscured the beam and it occurred often . Almost daily, the keepers had to sound the fog signal by firing a cannon which was mounted outside the tower. Later a 1,500-pound bell replaced the cannon, but the fog and low clouds around the tower remained a problem.

A new light station, pictured above, was built at this lower elevation about 100-feet above the ocean. The 33-foot tower, as well as the building that housed two steam-driven fog signals, the keeper's dwelling and the storage buildings were built. The second-order Fresnel lens from the original lighthouse was moved to the new tower, and the new Point Bonita Lighthouse lamp was lit in February 1877.

The new tower survived the April 1906 earthquake that devastated nearby San Francisco, but the keeper's dwelling collapsed moments after the family escaped.

The U.S. Coast Guard automated the light in the early 1980's, and they were still maintaining it at the time of my visit here in 1999. The National Park Service maintained the grounds and the lighthouse was open three days a week to the public.