St. George Reef Light
St. George Reef Light. The manmade granite caisson is five stories high by itself, and waves regularly crash that high. The boom was used to lift supply launches on to the landing platform below.
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 California
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| Location | Six miles off Point St. George |
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| Coordinates | 41°50′11″N 124°22′33″W / 41.83633°N 124.37587°WCoordinates: 41°50′11″N 124°22′33″W / 41.83633°N 124.37587°W |
| Year first constructed | 1892 |
| Deactivated | 1975-2012 |
| Foundation | elliptical concrete and granite basement |
| Construction | granite tower |
| Tower shape | square parallelepiped tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings / pattern | white tower, black lantern |
| Height | 90 feet (27 m) |
| Focal height | 146 feet (45 m) |
| Original lens | First Order Fresnel lens (removed in 1983 and displayed at Del Norte County Museum) |
| Light source | solar power |
| Characteristic | Fl W 12s. |
| Admiralty number | G4418 |
| ARLHS number | USA-793 |
| USCG number | 6-0561 |
| Managing agent | St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society |
| Designated | December 9, 1993 |
| Reference no. | 93001373 |
The St. George Reef Light is an inactive lighthouse built on North West Seal Rock, six miles (10 km) off the coast of northern California near Crescent City.
The St. George Reef Light is a wave-washed lighthouse, one where the ocean hits from all sides. The location of the light on North West Seal Rock, part of the line of "Dragon Rocks" thus named by Sir Francis Drake, was selected after numerous accidents and the wreck of the overloaded Brother Jonathan on July 30, 1865. The loss of prominent people on the steamer was an impetus to the light's approval; nonetheless, it took until 1892 to complete due to the changing availability of federal construction funds. Unlike the typical lighthouse design by federal architect Ammi B. Young, which consisted of a separate keeper's cottage and light tower, the living quarters and light tower at St. George Reef Light were housed in the same medieval fortress-like structure on top of a 50-foot (15 m) high foundation.
The light was first illuminated on October 20, 1892. It stands 144 feet (44 m) above the waterline. The first complete survey of the rock was done in 1882, and construction began in 1883, with the blasting of the reef rock into a stepped pyramid to form the core that anchored the caisson to the rock. The granite was rough quarried at the Mad River quarry and moved by train across the Arcata bottoms. The fully loaded train cars were loaded on barges pulled down the Mad River Slough (not same as the river) and across Humboldt Bay to the construction yard near the Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station at Paysonville. Trained quarrymen smoothed and shaped the blocks to fit the outlines of templates cut by the designers. Each stone had to fit within tight tolerances to provide a seamless wall against the ocean. Construction was erratic for several years due to lack of funds allotted by Congress. Work was finally completed in 1891, but the lighthouse awaited arrival of its lens from France until the following year. When the light finally became operational in 1892, the total construction expense came to $752,000 (equivalent to $20 million today) making it the most expensive lighthouse ever built in the US and more than double the initial estimate.
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