While there may be no greater “sure thing” image to capture when along the coast than a lighthouse, no two of their stories are the same.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse
Pescadero, California
Perched on a cliff 50 miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the tallest lighthouses in America. Still an active U.S. Coast Guard navigational aid, it has been guiding mariners since it was first lit in 1872.
Pigeon Point Lighthouse is currently undergoing a significant restoration project. This undertaking began in early 2024 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2026. This historic structure’s interior has been closed to the public since 2001 due to safety concerns caused by corrosion and crumbling.
Up close there was a vulnerability to this lighthouse, with fencing and the indignity of a porta-potty on its grounds. As my husband and I continued south on the Pacific Coast Highway, we were able to look north and see the lighthouse in the distance. From this vantage point it stood strong and proud, ever vigilant. The construction would not prevent the Pigeon Point Lighthouse from doing what it has done faithfully for over 150 years, keep seafarers on the Pacific Ocean safe.
Point Pinos Lighthouse
Pacific Grove, California
In 1850 Congress appropriated funds for the construction of lighthouses on the West Coast. Two years later, the Secretary of the Treasury ordered that seven beacons be built along the California coast, with one to be located at the dangerous southern entrance to the Monterey Bay at Point Pinos. Building began in 1853 but difficulties with the delivery of the lens from France delayed the opening of the lighthouse until 1855.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, the 85-foot Point Pinos Lighthouse is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States, even the original lens is still in use.
Set back a good distance from the coastline, the Point Pinos Lighthouse is no less effective than those stationed more closely to the water. It was a surprise to see where it is positioned, yet its location did not diminish its authority or its duty. Almost 170 years of service cannot be denied.
Santa Cruz Lighthouse / Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse
Santa Cruz, California
The original Santa Cruz Lighthouse was a two-story wooden structure and one of the California coastal lighthouses allocated funding by Congress in 1850. Because of disputes over ownership of the land, construction did not begin until 1868. The lighthouse was ready for its first lighting in January 1870, it entered service as the twelfth beacon along the California coast.
Erosion of Point Santa Cruz required the lighthouse to be moved back 300 feet in 1879.
In February 1941, the lighthouse was deactivated. The city of Santa Cruz signed an agreement with the Coast Guard to lease the inactive lighthouse and surrounding grounds for use as a park. However, when fear that the country would soon become involved in World War II, the government decided to keep the strategic property.
Seven years later the Coast Guard placed the lighthouse on the auction block, with the stipulation that it be removed from the property. There was talk of turning the lighthouse into a museum but a local carpenter won the bid and rather than move it, he made the decision to dismantle it and use the lumber for other projects.
On February 28, 1965, eighteen-year-old Mark Abbott drowned while bodysurfing in the waters three miles east of Point Santa Cruz. Mark’s parents had purchased a life insurance policy for their son’s eighteenth birthday, receiving a $20,000 payment shortly after the accident. Remembering that Mark had enjoyed the lighthouses he had seen on the Oregon Coast during a vacation, the Abbotts decided to use the insurance money to donate a lighthouse to the city in honor of their son. In 1967, the redbrick Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse was built. Mark’s ashes were buried at the base of the tower.
Since 1986, the lighthouse has been home to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, the first of its kind in the world. The light remains operational and an active aid to navigation.
What a fascinating past the former Santa Cruz Lighthouse has had. For a structure whose job is to be spotted, I could not have seen the twists and turns its story has taken.
Point Sur Lighthouse
Big Sur, California
The Point Sur Lighthouse is a lightstation 25 miles south of Monterey, California at the peak of a 361-foot volcanic rock. The lighthouse is 48 feet tall and 270 feet above sea level. Established in 1889 it is still in operation as an essential aid to navigation. In 1991, the Point Sur Lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (The photo above the title of this story is also of Point Sur Lighthouse.)
The fog had begun to roll in as we approached the Point Sur Lighthouse. We knew we were getting close but when my husband spotted it in the distance and I found it in the lens of my binoculars, the locale was something out of a movie. But it was real and how darn cool is that?
I had known nothing about these four lighthouses prior to the trip. After seeing them, though, I wanted to know more, proving to me once again that the exploration does not have to end after you take the picture and drive away. Anything worth photographing is most likely more than it seems.
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