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Point Bonita Lighthouse

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Year first constructed
  
1855 (first)

Automated
  
1980

Construction started
  
1855

Construction
  
Brick

Year first lit
  
1877 (current)

Foundation
  
masonry basement

Height
  
10 m

Point Bonita Lighthouse

Location
  
San Francisco Bay California United States

Tower shape
  
hexagonal prism tower with balcony and lantern on fog signal building

Address
  
Fort Barry, Building 948, Sausalito, CA 94965, United States

Hours
  
Closed today WednesdayClosedThursdayClosedFridayClosedSaturday12:30–3:30PMSunday12:30–3:30PMMonday12:30–3:30PMTuesdayClosedSuggest an edit

Similar
  
Marin Headlands, Rodeo Beach, Fort Point - San Francisco, Muir Woods National, Fort Baker

Point bonita lighthouse


Point Bonita Lighthouse is a lighthouse located at Point Bonita at the San Francisco Bay entrance in the Marin Headlands near Sausalito, California. Point Bonita was the last manned lighthouse on the California coast.

Contents

Hiking san francisco hawk hill to point bonita lighthouse


History

The original Point Bonita Lighthouse, a 56-foot (17 m) brick tower, was located too high. Unlike the East Coast of the United States, the West Coast has dense high fog, which leaves lower elevations clear. The original light was 306 feet (93 m) above sea level so the second order Fresnel lens was often cloaked in fog and could not be seen from the sea. In 1877, the lighthouse was moved to its current location at 124 feet (38 m) above sea level. The United States Coast Guard currently maintains the light and fog signal. It is accessible to the public during limited hours (12:30 PM–3:30 PM) on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Up until 1940 the lighthouse could be reached without a bridge, but erosion caused a trail leading to the lighthouse to crumble into the sea. A wooden walkway was installed, but when that became treacherous the suspension bridge was built in 1954.

As of January 6, 2010, the suspension bridge to the light house was closed to public access. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the bridge, which was 56 years old, started to rust. It underwent repairs in 1979 and again in 1991, but the metal components were not able to stand up to the sea spray. The new span reopened April 13, 2012. The new bridge construction cost a little over $1 million. It is made of tropical hardwood with steel suspension cables and attachments.

Historical Information from USCG web site:

  • Point Bonita Light Station had the first fog signal on the West Coast. It was an Army surplus 24-pounder siege gun.
  • This light is the only one in America that can be reached only by crossing a suspension bridge.
  • In 1877 the lighthouse was moved to its current location because the original location was often too obscured by fog for the light to be visible from the bay. This location required the builders to overcome many challenges, including the need for a hand carved, 118-foot (36 m) long hard rock tunnel.
  • More than 300 boats ran aground near the Golden Gate during the Gold Rush years. One shipwreck, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, is just a few hundred feet offshore from the light.

    On the television show Murder in the First the lighthouse was a setting at the end of the second-season episode "Schizofrenzy."

    The lighthouse can be found in the video game Watch Dogs 2.

    References

    Point Bonita Lighthouse Wikipedia