Set in one of the most spectacular yet peaceful surroundings on the northern California coast, the 154 year old Point Arena Light Station offers a great experience for everyone. Light Station Store, Indoor Museum, and Outdoor Museum are open daily from 10 am to 4:30 pm from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, and to 3:30 p.m. The Light Station Store features unique souvenirs, interesting gifts, custom-made jewelry, beautiful collectibles, and lighthouse clothing. The iconic 115' tall Lighthouse Tower - the tallest on the Pacific coast - is once again open for tours daily. Tours are conducted about every 20 minutes with the first tour around 10:20 a.m. Masks are optional for all guests while in the Tower. Guests under 4 years old are not allowed on Tower Tours. For those who want to spend more time by the sea, you can stay in comfortable accommodations in one of our seven historic Keepers' Home vacation cottages and studios which are available year-round. Magnificent views, coastal mountains, and the Pacific Ocean surrounding the point provides a beautiful backdrop for your lighthouse wedding and other special events. Visit the Point Arena Light Station today for one of your most memorable experiences on the breathtaking Mendocino Coast! HISTORY
The first Point Arena Lighthouse was constructed in 1870. Its brick-and-mortar tower featured ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keeper residence with enough space to house several families. In April of 1906, a devastating earthquake struck the tower. Damage from the trembler occurred all along the San Andreas Fault, which runs very close to Point Arena. In the town itself, many buildings were reduced to rubble, and at the Light Station, the Keeper's residence and Lighthouse were damaged so severely that they were rendered condemned, and ultimately torn down. The United States Lighthouse Service contracted with a San Francisco-based company to build a new lighthouse here to withstand any future earthquakes. The company built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design of the new Point Arena Lighthouse. The new design featured steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete, and was the first lighthouse to be built in this manner. The new Lighthouse began operation in 1908, nearly 18 months after the quake. It stands 115 feet tall and is the first steel-reinforced Lighthouse built in America. the original 1st Order Fresnel Lens, 7' wide by 9' tall and weighing 4,700 pounds is the centerpiece of our Indoor Museum housed in the historic 1896 Fog Signal Building. The lens is made up of 258 hand-ground glass prisms all focused toward three sets of double bulls eyes. It is these bulls eyes that gave the Point Arena Lighthouse its unique "light signature" of two flashes every six seconds up until 1977, when the U. Coast Guard decommissioned the Fresnel lens and replaced it with a rotating beacon that changed our signature to a single white flash every 15 seconds. This incredible optic, which holds an appraised value of over $3.5 million, is set in a solid bronze framework and was crafted in Paris, France in 1908. Before the introduction of electricity, 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, a 1,000-watt electric lamp was installed to replace the oil lamp, and a 1/8 horsepower electric motor was installed to replace the clockworks. In 1978, the fog signal at the station was silenced, and a bell buoy was placed nearby. June of 1977 brought the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the balcony tower, and the historic 1st Order Fresnel Lens was decommissioned. The rotating beacon was replaced in 2003 by a VRB-25, a 40 pound modern rotating light that incorporated the Fresnel principles for the efficient projection of light. The VRB-25 was replaced by the current VLB-44 in 2015. There is a battery powered emergency system installed as a back-up in the event of a power failure. In addition, a radio beacon, with a 50 mile signal that originates from the station, also assists mariners. The original oil lamp was visible for approximately 18 miles, the 1st Order Fresnel Lens for 21.5 miles and the current VLB-44 can be seen for 14 miles. In 1984, a nonprofit organization called the Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers, Inc. (PALKI) acquired the Light Station as part of a 25 year land lease from the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation. In November of 2000 the non-profit 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 desperately needed income for ongoing preservation, facility upgrades and educational endeavors. For more information on lighthouses around the world, contact The United States Lighthouse Society, located in Point No Point, WA.
