The original light at the point was built under the contract with Francis A. Gibbons and Francis X. Kelly. Work at the point ran the same time as work on the Cape Cod structure at Alcatraz Island was going on. The 28 foot by 30 foot lighthouse, identical to the original Alcatraz light, was finished in 1853, shortly after Alcatraz's lighthouse. This made it the second lighthouse in California. While it was waiting for it's third order fresnel lens to arrive from France, Congress approved a plan by military engineers that stated a fort was needed at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. The site for the fort was exactly where the new lighthouse stood. It was torn down before its lens arrived. The lens was sent to Point Piños Lighthouse on Monterey Bay. The lens has shown there for over 138 years. Point Piños became California's second lighthouse.
Construction on the fort began in 1854. Seven years later it was completed. The fort is a brick structure standing over three stories in height. While work on the fort continued, a thirty-six foot tall wooden tower was built to hold a 5th order fresnel lens. This became the third operating lighthouse in California behind Alcatraz and Point Piños.
Because of the strong currents into San Francisco Bay, the seawall that held this tower proved to be inadequate. It had to be torn down and with it the light tower. The third light to shine at the point in 11 years was built in 1864. The twenty-seven foot iron tower was built on top of the forts Northwest bastion or wall. It was constructed in such a manner as to allow it to be disassembled rapidly in time of war should the need arise. The fifth order fresnel lens was turned by a clockwork drive that had to be reset every two and one-half hours.
By 1880 a large fog bell was added to the Fort. In 1899, the bell was replaced with a Daboll trumpet. Unfortunately this new installation did not help the City of Rio de Janeiro, a Pacific Mail Steamship. Inbound from Hong Kong the ship, with 227 passengers and crew, ran aground on February 22, 1901 at 5:25 a.m. The ship seemed to be stuck on a reef. The captain, William Ward, lashed the ships horn halyard to the wheel to keep it sounding out while he organized the launching of the lifeboats. Suddenly the ship slipped off the rocks and began to sink. No one in the fort or at the lifesaving station near-by heard the horn. Over 140 lives were lost in the bay's worst sea disaster. Captain Ward went down with his ship. Even with this disaster and the recommendations by the Lighthouse Board that it would never have happened if there had been an adequate fog signal had been installed; it wasn't until 1904 that the fog horn was upgraded. In 1902, the lens was replaced with a larger 4th order fresnel that flashed alternate red and white lights.
The light was removed from Fort Point with the 1937 construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
©westofpch.com - All rights reserved.
