Point Pinos Lighthouse
Posted by: 
Touchstone
N 36° 38.006 W 121° 56.025
10S E 595325 N 4054738
Built in 1855, the Point Pinos lighthouse it the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States.
Waymark Code: WM1W4
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2005
Views: 36
Since February 1, 1855, the Point Pinos beacon has flashed nightly as a guide
and warning to shipping off the California Coast. The lighthouse is
located on the Southern entrance to the Monterey Bay.
The lighthouse has a third-order Fresnel lens that was manufactured in
France. Originally, the lighthouse was meant to have a second-order lens,
but delays in manufacturing prompted officials to install the smaller
third-order lens in order to get the lighthouse operational.
The first light source installed was a whale oil lantern, in which oil was
forced up from a tank by a gravity-operated piston. Lard oil soon replaced
whale oil, and in turn was replaced by kerosene in 1880. At the turn of
the century, an incandescent vapor lamp was used, followed by electric lights in
1919.
From 1912 to 1940 a falling weight mechanism rotated a metal shield around
the stationary lens, in order to eclipse the light source and give mariners a
reliable means of identifying the lighthouse properly. A display of this
mechanism can be found in the basement of the lighthouse. The rest of the
lighthouse (except for the tower) has a wonderful museum staffed by volunteers
four days a week.