Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is located out of Mendocino, California. It was built in 1908 and is still an active light. The Light Station was built by the US Lighthouse Service to protect the "doghole schooners" that supplied the lumber trade between San Francisco and the North Coast. These steam ships and sailing vessels were known for their ability to navigate the small coves, or "dogholes," of Mendocino's rocky headlands. The third order Fresnel lens was turned by weighted, pendulum-style, clockworks concentrating the light made by a kerosene lamp through hundreds of concentric prisms of the lens. The Point Cabrillo light shown from its 47 foot tower for the first time in 1909, and it cast a beam of light visible for 14 miles out to sea. The lighthouse also contained the fog signal, initially a siren produced by massive engines. It was later replaced by a diaphone signal.
In 1939 the lighthouse was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1972 they automated the light and retired the fog signal and Fresnel lens in favor of an electric beacon. Through the combined efforts of staff, volunteers, and Coast Guard, the Fresnel lens was reinstated in May 1999 as the operating light. The Coast Guard was still maintaining this aids to navigation when I visited in 1999. The lighthouse was closed for restoration at the time of my visit as shown by the above picture.
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