Beacons From the past - Lighthouses of the San Diego area.
On our trip in January 2011 to the San Diego Zoo birthday party I was able to add two new lighthouses to my list that I have visited.
Old Point Loma Lighthouse and outbuildings
At Old Point Loma Lighthouse the rain basin was the first time I have seen them use this type of water supply. Given the high elevation there was not way to have a well or carry water up the very steep hill. So they had this basin built to collect water for a cistern below it and a hand pump to draw the water from it.
Old Point Loma Lighthouse keeper' s kitchen.
Old Point Loma Lighthouse's view of tide pools at Cabrillo National Monument.
This grand lighthouse was short lived as there were to many days that the area's fog blocked the view of the light from the ships that needed it to guide them. The Old Point Loma Lighthouse was taken out of service after only 36 years - as the heavy fog would often obscure the light.
So a new light station was to be build on the very end of the point nearer to the sea level.
Bricks and lumber were delivered to the point in September of 1889, and by the following spring, two Victorian cottages, each flanked by its own cistern and privy, along with a concrete foundation for the lighthouse were completed. The tubular lighthouse tower, manufactured by Phoenix Iron Company of Trenton, New Jersey, rolled into San Diego aboard two flatcars of the Southern California Railroad on July 5, 1890.
Point Loma Light Station (New) from our Whale Watch cruise out into the Pacific Ocean.
Point Loma Light Station (New) from the hill above.
Point Loma Light Station (New) from the front gate. It is closed to the public as it is also a US Coast Guard station.