The Lighthouses of California

Since the time of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, 1542, over 1200 miles of California coastline have been explored. Her inlets, bays, jagged cliffs, reefs and sandy beaches have provided refuge for explorers, smugglers, pirates, traders and whalers. The discovery of gold in 1848, increased the number of vessels sailing up the California coast to San Francisco, dramatically.

It became immediately evident that some kind of aid to navigation was needed to provide safe passage up the coast for the new settlers and miners. In 1853, the firm of Francis A. Gibbons and Francis Kelly was awarded the contract to build the states first seven light houses. By October of 1853, the lighthouse on Alcatraz Island was built. Eventually, over 40 lighthouses would be built.

The earliest of California's lighthouses used a Fresnel Lens. The lens was perfected by Augustin Fresnel in 1822. It consisted of a series of prisms joined together to focus the light into a horizontal beam that could be seen for miles. The Fresnel Lens was adopted for lighthouse use in the United States in 1852. These lenses came in many different sizes. The size of the lens was refered to as it's order. A First Order lens stood over 12 feet high. A Sixth Order lens stood only 16 inches high. The lens to the right is from Point Arena, California. It is an example of a First Order lens.

Lenses were mounted inside of glass enclosures. This enclosure was called the "lantern." Each lantern was surrounded by a gallery to allow access to clean the glass on the outside. Each lighthouse had a distinct arrangement of its lenses. This allowed seamen to identify each lighthouse along the way. Some lenses were stationary, while others rotated. The central panel of the lens could be covered with a colored screen to produce a different colored beam of light. Rotating the lens produced a flashing light.

The U.S. Lighthouse Service operated all of the lighthouses until 1910. Operation was then transferred to the Commerce Department - Bureau of Lighthouses. In 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard took over management of the lighthouses. Many of the stations today are automated. The care of a "keeper" or "wicky" is no longer required. The history of the lighthouses is woven into the history of California. This site takes a look a just a few of the many lighthouse stations in California. To see a map of California's Historic Lighthouses click here.

 ©westofpch.com - All rights reserved.