Home»Events»Nov 15, 2008 Pigeon Point Lighthouse - 136th Anniversary Lighting

The Pigeon Point Lighthouse celebrated its 136th Anniversary by lighting the Fresno Lense. The lighting, performed by the Coast Guard, may be the last one for awhile due to budgetary cuts in the Parks System.

The 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp, and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. It sits in a lantern room that had been constructed at the Lighthouse Service's general depot in New York before being shipped around the Horn. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon. The lighthouse is located on just off Route 1 @50 miles south of San Francisco.