I was really surprised that in my years of doing Lighthouses of the Week, I hadn't featured the Point Pinos light. It's a well-visited light, considering that it's on the Monterey Peninsula. It's a little more than 2 miles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row. It's also next to a golf course, which for the Monterey Peninsula is not unusual.
It is also historic; as the Web site banner states, it's the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast.
Point Pinos Lighthouse
There's a quick video tour, too. (8 minutes long)
Here's some interesting history about its beginnings:
"The Point Pinos lighthouse was built in 1853–1854. While waiting for our scheduled 2nd-order lens, a third-order lens became available (one of the first two ever shipped to California) and was redirected to Point Pinos. It was installed February 1, 1855 and Point Pinos officially became a lighthouse. From 1855 to 1912 our light was just a bright light at the southern end of Monterey Bay. A rotating shutter (called an eclipser) was installed in 1912 that made the light blink: on for 10 seconds, off for 20 seconds."So one thing remarkable about it is that the Fresnel lens that was installed in 1855 is still in use today.
It's not very tall; only 43 feet.
So now a video (with kids and the lens), and pictures. They all look very similar, and there are many more online.
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| by Bill Heller |
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