Point Reyes is a rugged area approximately 30 miles northwest of the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. The point is notorious for its fog. Money was appropriated for a lighthouse at Pt. Reyes as early as 1854, but squabbles over land ownership with local ranchers delayed the project. The Lighthouse Board was ultimately forced to postpone efforts to build a lighthouse until after the Civil War. After the war, the local land owners wanted such an enormous sum of money that "the board had to resort to condemnation proceedings. This action brought the land owners to a more amenable frame of mind, and they offered the land at a reasonable price." (Holland, p. 171)

Construction of the light was difficult. Materials were hauled up the cliff from nearby Drake's Beach, and back down the cliff to the site of the lighthouse. Originally, the light was to be built at the top of the point. However, due to concerns that the light would be obscured by fog, the light was built 275 feet down the bluff at its present location. A keeper's dwelling was built at the top of the point. The light was equipped with a first-order Fresnel lens, and lit on December 1, 1870. A lifesaving station near Chimney Rock was added in 1927.

Point Reyes is often shrouded in a heavy fog. In 1918, for example, the fog signal at Point Reyes was active for 2139 hours - about 6 hours a day! The original fog signal was a steam whistle built about 100 feet below the lighthouse. The signal was completed in June 1871, but could not be used until winter rains filled the water cisterns. The huge dome-like water cisterns at the top of the point are still visible. The following year, the fog signal building burned. The building was rebuilt, but was again without sufficient water. The cistern was later enlarged to meet the demand for water. One year, a local rancher hauled 20,000 gallons to Point Reyes to fill the cisterns! In 1915, a diaphone fog signal powered by gasoline engines replaced the steam signal. The fog signal was relocated just below the lighthouse in 1934. The light and signal were powered by electricity shortly thereafter.

The lighthouse was handed over to the Coast Guard in 1939. The keeper's dwellings were replaced by an apartment building. In 1975, the station was automated. A small building was built just below the light tower for an automated light, foghorn, and radio beacon. The original tower and lens were left intact. In 1977, the site was handed over to the National Parks Service. The lighthouse is a popular stop for visitors to the Point Reyes National Seashore.

A restoration project was completed at Point Reyes in early 2003. The tower was repainted, and the steps to the lighthouse repaired.

References (see links)

Umbrella Guide to California Lighthouses, Nelson pp. 89-92
America's Lighthouses, Holland pp. 171, 202
The Keeper's Log Fall 2003

Tower and Cliff

From the Top

Container Ship Passing

Visitor's Center

Gray Whale Skull

San Francisco Lightship Lens

Equipment Building

Inside the Equipment Building

Modern Optic

Equipment Building Desk

Point Reyes at Night

Sunset

Life Saving Station Cemetery

Path to Life Saving Station

Water Cistern

Close Up

At the Bottom

From the Last Landing

Tower Steps

Tower

The Pacific