Point Conception Light
{{short description|Lighthouse in Santa Barbara County, California}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| image_name = USCGpointconception1882.JPG
| caption = Point Conception Light by U.S. Coast Guard Archive
| location = Point Conception
California
United States
| coordinates = {{coord|34|26|55.51|N|120|28|14.71|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| yearbuilt = 1856 (first)
| yearlit = 1882 (current)
| automated = 1973
| foundation = stone basement
| construction = stucco, brick and wooden tower
| shape = cylindrical tower with lantern behind fog signal building
| marking = white tower, black lantern, greenish lantern roof
| height = {{convert|52|ft}}
| focalheight = {{convert|133|ft}}
| lens = First order Fresnel lens Now on display (original), VRB-25 (current)
| range = {{convert|20|nmi}}
| characteristic = Fl W 30s.
| fogsignal = continuous blast every 30s.
| managingagent = United States Coast Guard{{Cite rowlett|ca2|access-date=2016-06-13}}[http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHCA.asp California Historic Light Station Information & Photography] United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 13 June 2016
| module = {{Infobox NRHP
| embed = yes
| name = Point Conception Light Station
| nrhp_type = hd
| nocat = yes
| image =
| caption =
| nearest_city = Lompoc, California
| added = February 25, 1981
| area = {{convert|29|acre}}
| refnum = 81000176{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
}}
}}
Point Conception Light is a lighthouse in Santa Barbara County, California, on Point Conception at the west entrance of the Santa Barbara Channel, California.{{cite uscgll|6|2012|3}}{{cite uscghist|CA}}{{cite rowlett|ca2}} One of the earliest California lighthouses, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on the Gaviota Coast.
History
Image:USCGpointconception1856.JPG
Image:Aerial-PtConceptionLightClose.jpg
File:180414 0209ptConcLight-.jpg
File:Point Conception Lighthouse on bluff.PNG in 1881.]]
File:Point Conception Light.PNG
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed along the California coast in search for glory and gold. On October 18, 1542, he encountered heavy winds upon rounding the Point and was forced to turn back to San Miguel Island where he died. Second-in-command Bartolomé Ferrer took charge and again tried to round the Point but he was also unsuccessful.
The Point was named Punta de la Limpia Concepcion by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602, who was the next Spanish sailor to venture the Pacific waters along the California coast after Juan Cabrillo. The 1835 experience of the sailing ship Pilgrim, which was damaged and nearly capsized in a sudden change of weather here, is typical of boaters even today.
It was here at Point Conception in 1856, that the lighthouse was built high on the sandstone cliffs, above the location of the present lighthouse. The first order Fresnel lens[https://archive.today/20120805094132/http://www.nps.gov/maritime/light/ptconc.htm nps.gov] and steel tower for the lighthouse were made in France at a cost of $65,068 and was transported around Cape Horn. A report indicates that the lighthouse was severely damaged during the Fort Tejon earthquake of January 9, 1857.
The lighthouse was moved in 1881 because the fog would be less likely to obscure the light, and was rebuilt from the top of the bluff to a mesa halfway down, {{convert|133|ft|m}} above the Pacific Ocean. The light station was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1973.
The lighthouse was used as the location for the film The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959), and has appeared on two Toad the Wet Sprocket music videos: Come Back Down (Pale) and Walk on the Ocean (Fear).{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
In recent years Vandenberg Air Force Base restricts access from the northwest, and the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve restricts access from the adjoining land although a few people have reached the lighthouse by hiking west along the narrow rugged public beach several miles from the nearest road during low tide. You are not allowed on private land. Vandenberg Space Force base now has ownership of the land and the lighthouse.
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|California|Engineering}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- Shipwrecks, Smugglers and Maritime Mysteries, by Wheeler & Kallman, 1986
External links
{{stack|{{commons category|Point Conception Lighthouse}}}}
- [http://www.cr.nps.gov/Maritime/light/ptconc.htm Inventory of Historic Light Stations - California Lighthouses - Point Conception Light] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011045302/http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/ptconc.htm |date=2006-10-11 }}
{{Lighthouses of California}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Santa Barbara County, California
Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1856
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1882
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Santa Barbara County, California
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California
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