Point Sur Lighthouse
Point Sur Light in 2013
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 California
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| Location |
Point Sur State Historic Park California United States |
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| Coordinates | 36°18′22.79″N 121°54′05.36″W / 36.3063306°N 121.9014889°WCoordinates: 36°18′22.79″N 121°54′05.36″W / 36.3063306°N 121.9014889°W |
| Year first constructed | 1889 |
| Automated | 1972 |
| Construction | sandstone tower |
| Tower shape | square parallelepiped tower with balcony and lantern attached to fog signal building |
| Markings / pattern | unpainted tower, black lantern |
| Height | 48 ft (15 m) |
| Focal height | 270 ft (82 m) |
| Original lens | First order Fresnel lens |
| Current lens | DCB-224 |
| Characteristic | Fl W 15s. |
| Fog signal | 2 blasts every 60 |
| Admiralty number | G3988 |
| USCG number | 6-0280 |
| Managing agent |
Point Sur State Historic Park |
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Point Sur Light Station
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| Nearest city | Big Sur, California |
| Area | 37 acres (15 ha) |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Romanesque, Lighthouse |
| MPS | Light Stations of California MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 91001097 |
| CHISL # | 951 |
| Added to NRHP | September 3, 1991 |
Point Sur State Historic Park
Point Sur Lightstation is a lighthouse at Point Sur, California, 135 miles (217 km) south of San Francisco, on the 361-foot (110 m)-tall rock at the head of the point. It was established in 1889 and is part of Point Sur State Historic Park. The light house is 40 feet (12 m) tall and 270 feet (82 m) above sea level. As of 2016, and for the foreseeable future the light is still in operation as an essential aid to navigation. The lightstation is part of Point Sur State Historic Park. Point Sur is the only complete turn-of-the-20th-century lightstation open to the public in California. Three-hour walking tours guided by volunteers are available on Wednesdays and weekends throughout the year.
The lighthouse has had four different light sources during its history. First, it had an oil wick lamp, and then an oil vapor lamp. Three different fuels were used: whale oil, lard oil, and kerosene. Later, two different kinds of electric lights were used.
The Station emitted a beam of light which swept across the arc to seaward of the Point. The lamp's light was concentrated into a beam with a first-order Fresnel lens. The lens was almost 9 feet (3 m) tall, weighed 4,330 pounds, and consisted of 580 separate glass prisms. The entire structure, including the pedestal and clockworks was 18 feet (5 m) tall and weighed 9,570 pounds (4,341 kg).
Currently, the original first-order Fresnel lens along with the clockworks are on display at the Museum of Monterey in nearby Monterey, California.
In dense fog, the light beam might not be visible, so the lighthouse had a foghorn to alert ships. A coal-powered foghorn was installed when the light was used, but this labor-intensive system was replaced as soon as better technology was available. In 1972, the “Super Tyfon Double Fog Signal,” named after the giant Typhon from Greek mythology, was put into use. This system consisted of two compressed air horns sounding simultaneously, and could be heard up to 3 nautical miles (6 km) away. The modern electric tone fog signal was a 12 volt high frequency fog signal with a sound range of half a nautical mile. The high frequency was very effective in fog.
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Wikipedia