California - Point Vicente Lighthouse

The Point Vicente Lighthouse was built in 1926 and is located at Rancho Palos Verdes, west of Long Beach, California. This lighthouse towers more than 65 feet above a cliff that drops more than 100 feet straight down to the Pacific Ocean. The classic masonry tower holds a 1.1 million candlepower beacon that can be seen from up to 20 miles out to sea.
Over the years keepers and visitors claim to have seen a lady ghost wandering the grounds around the lighthouse. Perhaps she is still waiting for her lover who drowned in a shipwreck off the point.          Or perhaps she is a vision created by slight imperfections in the third-order Fresnel lens that refracts light in a ghostly confusion of arcs as it rotates in the lantern room above. If you visit the lighthouse at night when there is a light fog, you can decide for yourself.
At the time of my visit in 1999 this was an active light. The U.S. Coast Guard opened the lighthouse for tours but only by special arrangement.

California - Alcatraz Island Lighthouse

The Alcatraz Island Tower was built in 1854 and is located in the San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, California. This tower became the first active lighthouse in the West. The earthquake that leveled San Francisco in 1906 heavily damaged the tower and dwelling. This reinforced concrete replacement tower, completed in 1909, stands more than 80 feet tall. It was high enough to be seen above the walls of the military prison that had been built on the island. In the mid 1930's the prison became a federal penitentiary. Al Capone and other inmates referred to the island simply as "The Rock". The light was automated in the early 1960's, about the time the penitentiary was closed.
At the time of my visit in 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard maintained the lighthouse, and the National Park Service maintained the grounds, which was open to the public. Ferries to Alcatraz Island left every half-hour from San Francisco.
This picture is an exception to my statement on the face of my blog that I photographed all the lighthouses I seen. Due to weather conditions and my camera not working, I purchased the above Photographer's Edition Post Card of Alcatraz. The picture is an aerial view, and the card was published by Smith Novelty Company, San Francisco, CA.

California - Point Hueneme Lighthouse

The Point Hueneme Lighthouse was built in 1874 and is located near Oxnard, California on the U.S. Customs property at Port Hueneme. The present tower of the lighthouse was built in 1940. At the time of my visit in 1999 this active light was not open to the public due to its location. However, after considerable explanation to security personnel as to the mission my late wife and myself had for tracking lighthouses all over the country, he arranged for an escort to take us to the lighthouse. Their cooperation enabled me to take the above close up picture.

California - The Piedras Blancas Lighthouse

The Piedras Blancas Lighthouse was built in 1875, and is located at San Simeon, California. In 1949 the First Order Fresnel lens was removed from the lighthouse due to storm damage.  The lens was replaced with an automated beacon that still warned ships of the dangers lurking off the coast. The First Order lens was moved to the protective "Lantern Room" on the Pinedorado Grounds in Cambria, CA.  At the time of my visit in 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard maintained this active light but it was not open to the public.

California - Point Sur Lighthouse

The Point Sur Lighthouse is located in Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park near Big Sur, California.  This lighthouse was built in 1889 on a rugged rocky hill that rises 200 feet above the Pacific Ocean.  Workers had to lay railroad tracks up the hill so that materials could be transported to the site.  After the lighthouse was finished the tracks were removed. Therefore, the first lighthouse keepers had to climb almost 400 steps up the hill to reach the lighthouse. Once they reached the top they had to walk more steps between the dwelling and the tower, as they were located quite a distance from each other.  The tower is 50 feet tall, so they had more steps to climb to get to the lantern room.  Eventually a tramway and a road were built.

At the time of my visit in 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard maintained the now-automated light.  The California State Parks Department maintained the buildings at the Light Station. Although the station was open to the public, I did not make the trip up the hill, so in order to get this picture I had to take it from a great distance and used a 500mm lens with a 2X coupler.

California - East Brothers Lighthouse

The East Brothers Lighthouse was built in 1874 and is located at San Francisco, California. At the time of my visit in 1999, the light was still an active light. This lighthouse marks safe passage for ships traveling through the straits that separate San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. The U.S. Coast Guard automated the light in 1969 and in the 1970's began leasing the property to a nonprofit corporation that maintains this historic site. During my visit the light station was open to the public but had to be accessed via boat. The keepers dwelling served as a bed and breakfast inn.

California - Point Pinos Lighthouse

Point Pinos Lighthouse is located at Pacific Grove, California and was built in 1855. At the time of my visit in 1999, this light was still an active light. This is the oldest existing lighthouse on the West Coast. The tower and dwelling survived the earthquake that leveled San Francisco in 1906, but it was severely shaken. To strengthen the weakened structure, the original granite facade was coated with reinforced concrete.
The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the light but leases the buildings to Pacific Grove National History Museum.  At the time of my visit, the lighthouse was open to the public.

California - Cape Mendocino Memorial Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located at Shelter Cove, California.  That city won a three-way bid for restoration and relocation of the historic Cape Mendocino Lighthouse.  It was built in 1866 and served as an aid and warning to mariners for nearly a century before being abandoned by the Coast Guard in 1951.  The light was in extremely poor condition, and was even in danger of falling into the sea.  Shelter Cove was proud and excited to begin the restoration of the lighthouse.  It was moved approximately 25 miles North in November 1988 and now sits at its new location on Upper Pacific Drive in Shelter Cove. The above picture shows the lighthouse at the time I visited it in 1999.

California - Point Arena Lighthouse

The Point Arena Lighthouse was built in 1870 and is located at Point Arena, California.  The original lighthouse was built of masonry and held a First Order Fresnel Lens.  It collapsed during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  The replacement tower was completed in 1908 and is made of reinforced concrete. This was the first time this "new material" was used for a lighthouse.  The supporting buttresses at the base of the tower have helped the lighthouse survive earthquake tremors for almost a century.
As part of the reconstruction, the height of the tower was increased from 100 to 115 feet.  Also, instead of rebuilding the original keeper's dwelling that housed the keeper and his three assistants plus their families, lighthouse officials agreed to provide separate housing for each of the keepers.
Several military actions during World War II were witnessed from this lighthouse.  One example was when the U.S. Navy defeated three Japanese destroyers on 12 August 1945, two days before the end of the war.
In 1977 the U.S. Coast Guard automated the lighthouse.  The Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers Association leased the property from the Coast Guard and then opened it year-round to the public.  At the time of my visit in 1999, the keepers association maintained a museum and provided teacher's/instructor's for tours.  The Association also rented the keeper's dwellings to overnight visitors.

California - Point Reyes Lighthouse

Point Reyes Lighthouse is located at Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes, California. Workman completed the 40 foot, sixteen sided iron plated tower in 1870.  In the mid 1970's the U.S. Coast Guard automated the light and transferred all property to the National Park Service.  At the time of my visit in 1999, the Light Station was open to the public except during high winds. Although the keeper's dwelling no longer stands, you could tour the lighthouse and see the First Order Fresnel Lens in the lantern room. There are 300 steps leading down to the lighthouse tower. Those same 300 steps were much harder to walk up.

California - Point Bonita Lighthouse

Point Bonita Lighthouse is located North of San Francisco, CA.  The original tower and keeper's dwelling, built in 1855, was perched on a ledge approximately 300 feet above the ocean.  The light could be seen from up to 20 miles out to sea, unless heavy fog obscured the beam, as it often did.  Almost daily the keepers had to sound the fog signal by firing a cannon 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.
This new light station was built at a lower elevation, approximately 100 feet above the ocean.  The 33 foot tower, as well as the building that housed two steam driven fog signals, the keepers dwelling and the storage buildings.  The 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 after the family escaped.
The U.S. Coast Guard automated the light in the early 1980's and continues to maintain it. However, the National Park Service maintains the grounds, and the lighthouse was open to the public during my visit in 1999.