Piedras Blancas Lighthouse

 lighthouse, interesting place

15950 Cabrillo Highway
San Simeon, CA 93452
(805) 927-7361
www.piedrasblancas.org/index.html

On 10 June 1872, an appropriation of $75,000 was approved by congress for a first order light and fog signal and before the end of the year the actual site for the light was selected. In early 1873 a detailed survey of the site was completed and a map had been made. However, work did not begin until April 1874, when material for the brick and steel tower was shipped under contract with Goodall, Nelson and Perkins, prominent coastwise shippers of the day. The materials came from San Francisco on the San Luis, under Captained Alexander and were brought ashore at the beach south of the point on 26 April 1874. Twenty-five to thirty men were employed in construction which was not completed until the following year.
The tower of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse was the third of its kind to be constructed on the Pacific coast. A double wall of brick with an air space between keeps the structure from sweating and deteriorating in the most sea air. Originally the tower reached a height of 110 feet, with the the focal plane 141 feet above mean high water. The diameter at the base is 34 feet. The tower contains a circular iron stairway which reached to the light.
The lens, lantern room, ornate railing and the upper portion of the tower were removed by the U. S. Coast Guard in 1949 when they judged that the tower could no longer safely support the lantern room due to a large crack about 25 feet down from the top. The crack was the result of an earthquake occurring on the last day of 1948 with an epicenter quite close to the lighthouse. The lens was then loaned to the Cambria Lions Club for care and display in Cambria. It now stands near the Veterans' Memorial building on the Pinedorado grounds in downtown Cambria.
In place of the old light an automatic electric drum aero-rotating beacon with a 36-inch lens was installed. Operating in conjunction with a 1,000 watt electric bulb, it was capable of casting a light beam a distance 18 miles from its altitude of 141 feet above sea level.
In May 1999, the aero beacon failed and in September the Coast Guard replaced it with a smaller, less intense flashing lantern with a visibility of only about 10 miles.
On 12 October 2001, Piedras Blancas Light Station was officially transferred to the Bureau of Land Management.

Latitude: 35.66563
Longitude: -121.2844