Lighthouse of the Week, June 29-July 4, 2020: Point Arena, Mendocino County, California

This is a continuation of the theme postings (and I haven't revealed the theme yet).  I'll do one more lighthouse after this and then give the "Big Reveal".

This one is pretty special, too.  It's the Point Arena lighthouse in Mendocino County, California (click the link there to see where).

Let's learn more about it.


https://www.pointarenalighthouse.com/

https://www.pointarenalighthouse.com/visit/lighthouse-tours/ featuring 3-D virtual tour

Webcam:  https://www.pointarenalighthouse.com/visit/webcam-3/

Tower is 115 feet tall, tallest on the Pacific Coast with Pigeon Point (both of them had the same tower design when first built).

First tower, built in 1870, damaged in 1906 by earthquake (the famous San Francisco one), replaced with current tower in 1908.

Fresnel lens retired in 1977.

"The United States Lighthouse Service contracted with a San Francisco based company to build a new Lighthouse that could withstand any future earthquakes. The company built factory smokestacks, which accounts for the final design for the current Point Arena Lighthouse. The new design featured steel reinforcement rods encased in concrete, and was the first lighthouse to be built in this manner."

"In 1984, a nonprofit organization called the Point Arena Lighthouse Keepers acquired the light station as part of a 25 year land lease from the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation. In November 2000, the nonprofit 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 income to the group for ongoing preservation, facility upgrades, and educational endeavors. The Point Arena Light is California Historical Landmark No. 1035."

Below, first the video, then the pictures.  That cape the lighthouse is on seems to go on Forever, doesn't it?

For these next two, I was on the Web site while composing this post, and happened to see the lighthouse right at sunset, so I downloaded these two images.

And here's the mighty Fresnel lens.