Point Arena Light
Encyclopedia
Point Arena Light is a lighthouse
in Mendocino County
, California
, United States
, two miles (3 km) north of Point Arena, California
. It is located approximately 130 miles (209.2 km) north of San Francisco in the Fort Point Group of lighthouses. The lighthouse features a small museum
and giftshop. Guided tours of the light station as well as self-guided tours of the grounds are available daily.
an to record Point Arena was Spaniard
Bartolomé Ferrelo
in 1543, who named it Cabo de Fortunas (Spanish for "cape of fortunes"). The cape was renamed to Punta Delgado (narrow point) in 1775 by lieutenant
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
(commander of the schooner
Sonora), part of a royal
expedition
charter
ed by the government of Mexico
to map the north coast of Alta California
. Later the point, and the small harbor town
south of it, were called Barra de Arena (i.e. sandbar) and finally Point Arena (literally "sand point"). Point Arena is a narrow peninsula
jutting around 1/2 mile (800 m) into the Pacific Ocean
. This sandbar creates a natural hazard to navigation, and hence the need for a lighthouse and fog signal here.
tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keeper residence with enough space to house several families. In April 1906, a devastating earthquake
struck the Light Station. The Keeper's residence and Lighthouse were damaged so severely that they had to be demolished.
The new Lighthouse began operation in 1908, nearly 18 months after the quake. It stands 115 feet (35.1 m) tall, and featured a 1st Order Fresnel Lens
, over six feet in diameter and weighing more than six tons. The lens was made up of 666 hand-ground glass prisms
all focused toward three sets of double bullseyes. It was these bullseyes that gave the Point Arena Lighthouse its unique "light signature" of two flashes every six seconds. This incredible optic, that held an appraised value of over $3.5 million, was set in solid brass
framework, and was built in France
.
, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism. The Keepers, or "wickies" as they were called, had to hand crank a 160 pound weight up the center shaft of the lighthouse every 75 minutes to keep the lens turning. Light was produced by a "Funks" hydraulic oil lamp, that needed to be refueled every four hours, and whose wicks would have to be trimmed regularly. Later, two 1,000 watt
electric lamps were installed to replace the oil lamp, and a 1/8 horsepower
electric motor was installed to replace the clockworks.
In 1978, the original fog signal at the station was silenced, and a bell buoy
was placed nearby. June 1977 brought the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the balcony tower, and the historic 1st Order Fresnel Lens was discontinued. At the time, the lens was the only mercury
-floated light still in existence in the Twelfth United States Coast Guard
District. The 400 pound aircraft beacon had been replaced by a 40 pound modern rotating light that incorporates the Fresnel principles for the efficient projection of light.
emergency system installed as a back-up in the event of a power failure. In addition, a radio
beacon, with a 50 miles (80.5 km) signal that originates from the station, also assists mariners. The original oil lamp was visible for approximately 18 miles (29 km), the 1st Order Fresnel Lens for 20 miles (32.2 km) and the current modern rotating light can be seen for 16 miles (25.7 km).
fueling pumps. The station had a ½-ton pickup truck
assigned which, among other things, was utilized to transport dependent school children to school three miles (5 km) from the station.
. In November 2000, the nonprofit group became the official owners of the property due to their diligent historic preservation and educational efforts. Daily visitation, gift store sales, memberships and the rental of the historic Keeper's homes on the property as vacation houses, all provide income to the group, for ongoing preservation, facility upgrades, and educational endeavors.
The Point Arena Light is California Historical Landmark
No. 1035.http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21431
(1992, starring Mel Gibson
) were filmed near the lighthouse.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
in Mendocino County
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, two miles (3 km) north of Point Arena, California
Point Arena, California
Point Arena is a small coastal city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Point Arena is located west of Hopland, at an elevation of 118 feet . The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 474 at the 2000 census, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the state...
. It is located approximately 130 miles (209.2 km) north of San Francisco in the Fort Point Group of lighthouses. The lighthouse features a small museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and giftshop. Guided tours of the light station as well as self-guided tours of the grounds are available daily.
Geography
The first EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to record Point Arena was Spaniard
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Bartolomé Ferrelo
Bartolomé Ferrelo
Bartolomé Ferrelo, also known as Bartolomé Ferrer, born 1499 in Bilbao Spain, died 1550 in Mexico.He was the pilot for Juan Rodrigo Cabrillo, the Portuguese captain who was sent by the viceroy of Mexico, with two ships in 1542 to explore what is now Northern California...
in 1543, who named it Cabo de Fortunas (Spanish for "cape of fortunes"). The cape was renamed to Punta Delgado (narrow point) in 1775 by lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain , this navigator explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska.Juan...
(commander of the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Sonora), part of a royal
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
expedition
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
ed by the government of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to map the north coast of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
. Later the point, and the small harbor town
Point Arena, California
Point Arena is a small coastal city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Point Arena is located west of Hopland, at an elevation of 118 feet . The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 474 at the 2000 census, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the state...
south of it, were called Barra de Arena (i.e. sandbar) and finally Point Arena (literally "sand point"). Point Arena is a narrow peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
jutting around 1/2 mile (800 m) into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. This sandbar creates a natural hazard to navigation, and hence the need for a lighthouse and fog signal here.
The First Lighthouse
The lighthouse at this site was constructed in 1870. The brick-and-mortarBrickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keeper residence with enough space to house several families. In April 1906, a devastating earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
struck the Light Station. The Keeper's residence and Lighthouse were damaged so severely that they had to be demolished.
The Rebuilding
The United States Lighthouse Service contracted with a San Francisco based company to build a new lighthouse on the site, and specified that it had to be able to withstand any future earthquakes. The company chosen, normally built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design for the new Point Arena Lighthouse; featuring steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete. This was the first lighthouse built this way.The new Lighthouse began operation in 1908, nearly 18 months after the quake. It stands 115 feet (35.1 m) tall, and featured a 1st Order Fresnel Lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
, over six feet in diameter and weighing more than six tons. The lens was made up of 666 hand-ground glass prisms
Prism (optics)
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use...
all focused toward three sets of double bullseyes. It was these bullseyes that gave the Point Arena Lighthouse its unique "light signature" of two flashes every six seconds. This incredible optic, that held an appraised value of over $3.5 million, was set in solid brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
framework, and was built in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The Light
Prior to the introduction of electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism. The Keepers, or "wickies" as they were called, had to hand crank a 160 pound weight up the center shaft of the lighthouse every 75 minutes to keep the lens turning. Light was produced by a "Funks" hydraulic oil lamp, that needed to be refueled every four hours, and whose wicks would have to be trimmed regularly. Later, two 1,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
electric lamps were installed to replace the oil lamp, and a 1/8 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
electric motor was installed to replace the clockworks.
Modernization
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
was placed nearby. June 1977 brought the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the balcony tower, and the historic 1st Order Fresnel Lens was discontinued. At the time, the lens was the only mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
-floated light still in existence in the Twelfth United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
District. The 400 pound aircraft beacon had been replaced by a 40 pound modern rotating light that incorporates the Fresnel principles for the efficient projection of light.
Reliability
There is a battery-poweredBattery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
emergency system installed as a back-up in the event of a power failure. In addition, a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
beacon, with a 50 miles (80.5 km) signal that originates from the station, also assists mariners. The original oil lamp was visible for approximately 18 miles (29 km), the 1st Order Fresnel Lens for 20 miles (32.2 km) and the current modern rotating light can be seen for 16 miles (25.7 km).
Manning
Four men manned this family station and were provided with quarters as follows: One 4 bedroom unit, three 3-bedroom units. Other buildings are the light tower, paint locker, fuel locker, bosun locker and buildings housing the fire pump, water pumps and JP-5JP-5
JP-5 or JP5 is a yellow, kerosene-based jet fuel developed in 1952 for use in aircraft stationed aboard aircraft carriers, where the risk from fire is particularly great. JP-5 is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, containing alkanes, naphthenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons that weighs and has a...
fueling pumps. The station had a ½-ton pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
assigned which, among other things, was utilized to transport dependent school children to school three miles (5 km) from the station.
Today
In 1984, a nonprofit organization called the Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers acquired the light station as part of a 25 year land lease from the Coast Guard and the Department of TransportationUnited States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
. In November 2000, the nonprofit group became the official owners of the property due to their diligent historic preservation and educational efforts. Daily visitation, gift store sales, memberships and the rental of the historic Keeper's homes on the property as vacation houses, all provide income to the group, for ongoing preservation, facility upgrades, and educational endeavors.
The Point Arena Light is California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
No. 1035.http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21431
Trivia
The final scenes of the movie Forever YoungForever Young (film)
Forever Young is a 1992 film, directed by Steve Miner, starring Mel Gibson, Elijah Wood and Jamie Lee Curtis. The screenplay was written by J.J. Abrams from an original story, "The Rest of Daniel". The original music score is composed by Jerry Goldsmith...
(1992, starring Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
) were filmed near the lighthouse.