Pigeon Point Lighthouse (Text Below)
|
|
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the truly magnificent sentinels on the California Coast. Looming majestically skyward from a rock shelf, it attains a height of 115 feet, sharing honors as the tallest on the Pacific Coast with the tower at Point Arena.
Countless travelers on the Coast Highway 1 have thrilled at the sight of the lighthouse which, for the most part, remains unaltered since it's completion in 1872 when the Fresnel lens, lighting apparatus and clockwork mechanism first became operational. The original first order lens with it's 1008 prisms, is no longer in use having been replaced by an aero-marine type beacon mounted on the tower gallery by the Coast Guard.
The conical-shaped masonry structure remains in a good state of preservation despite it's many years of service. Though the sentinel stands where the British ship Sir John Franklin was wrecked shortly before the tower was built, the point bears the name of an earlier shipwreck. The Franklin ran afoul of the rocks in January 1865 and the captian and crew perished. The American clipper ship Carrier Pigeon was lost in a storm on a june night in 1853, allitle to the north and 500 feet offshore from this point. Her master, Captian Azariah Doane, and his crew survived.
Today the grounds, just off Highway 1, are accessible to the public and tours are conducted every Sunday for a small donation. There is also a dormitory style hostel in the old keepers home. For information and tour schedules call (415) 879-0633.