Point Vicente Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Despite the point's prominence, funding for a lighthouse to mark this turning point into the harbors of San Pedro and Long Beach was not approved until 1916, when Congress appropriated $80,000 for a light and fog signal. Delays in acquiring the eight-acre parcel of land postponed construction until 1925. A United States district attorney had prepared data for a condemnation suit for the desired parcel before the land company made a satisfactory offer to the government.

The site on the point was fully acquire in 1922, but the fog signal was not activated until June 20, 1925, and the light atop the 67-foot cylindrical Point Vicente Lighthouse was not exhibited until April 14, 1926.

By this time, gone were the days of oil lamps and weight-driven clockworks. Instead, a 500-watt lamp was used inside the lighthouse's third-order clamshell Fresnel lens, which was transferred from a light station in Alaska after forty years of service there. The lens was manufactured around 1886 in Paris, France, by Barbier, Bernard and Turenne, the oldest lens making company in the world. Due to the tower's position on a high bluff, the actual height of the lens' focal plane is 185 feet.

The light source was dimmed during World War II to avoid aiding the enemy. After the war, nearby residents complained about the bright flashes when the light was returned to its normal power, so the landward side of the lantern room was painted an opaque, pearly white. The light from the rotating lens seen through the opaque tower room windows created, for some, the illusion of a woman pacing the tower's walkway and gave rise to Point Vicente's "Lady of the Light," yet another lighthouse ghost story. Some said the ghost was the spirit of a woman who leaped into the sea when her lover was lost in a shipwreck off the point. In 1955, a thicker coat of paint ended the spirit's nightly romp around the tower, and the ghost has not been seen officially since.

Aerial view of Point Vicente Lighthouse Photograph courtesy Cliff Graham

Although automated in 1971, the station, complete with three keeper's quarters and a fog signal building, still houses Coast Guard personnel. Tourists are allowed to climb the tower's 74 steps during an open house held monthly by the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The original Fresnel lens still revolves in the lantern room, producing two white flashes every twenty seconds. Powered by a 1,000 watt bulb, the light is rated at 437,000 candle power and can be seen up to twenty miles at sea.

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References

1. Umbrella Guide to California Lighthouses, Sharlene and Ted Nelson, 1993.
2. Point Vicente Lighthouse pamphlet.

The lighthouse and grounds are closed to the public, except for the second Saturday of each month when the tower and a small museum in the fog signal building are open for tours between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. In March, the lighthouse is open on the first Saturday instead of the second Saturday. If your visit does not fall on a Saturday when tours are offered, the tower can still be viewed through the fence surrounding the Coast Guard compound, or a more distant, but perhaps more spectacular view including the high bluff on which the lighthouse stands can always be had from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. For recorded information regarding lighthouse visits, call (310) 541-0334.