| Alcatraz Island San Francisco (1854, 1909) Alcatraz Island once held a fort, where to the first lighthouse on the west coast, lit in 1854. As many lighthouses were, this light was damaged in the earthquake of 1906. The new lighthouse was finished in 1909 and the prison followed soon after. | 
Battery Point | Crescent City Lit in December 1856, only two years after Crescent City was incorporated, the Battery Point Lighthouse is one of the oldest inhabited lighthouses in California. Built in a traditional Cape Cod style, the quaint structure is only accessible at low tide. The lighthouse is now a museum run by the Del NorteCounty Historical Society and home to historical society curators who maintain the building for visitors and give tours during the summer. | 
East Brother | San Francisco (Richmond) (1874) This lighthouse is located on a small islet off the Contra Coast shore in the San Francisco Bay in CA. The lighthouse is Victorian in design with a frame construction. The light was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and currently serves as a Bed and Breakfast. | 
Fort Point | San Francisco (1853, 18564) This light sits under the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Fort Point National Historic site. It was discontinued in 1934. | 
Lime Point | San Francisco (1900) This lighthouse sits at the foot of the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge and is difficult to see. It was originally established as a fog signal station, blasting its two 12 inch steam whistles. 
Pigeon Point | Pescadero (1872) The light tower at Pigeon Point in Pescadero, CA is a 115 feet high brick circular structure. The lighthouse received its name from the clipper ship "Carrier Pigeon" that shipwrecked on its shoals in 1853. It has been subleased to the American Youth Hostels for use as a Youth Hostel. | 
Point Arena | Point Arena (1870, 1908) The original tower (which looked like the one at Point Pigeon) was destroyed in the Great San Francisco Earthquake. It was automated in 1977, including a modern beacon which is outside the tower. | 
Point Bonita | San Francisco (1855, 1877) The lighthouse is located in the Golden Gate National Recreation area in CA. It was the 3rd light in the San Francisco Bay area. It is reached by foot via a long suspension bridge. The following was extracted from The Lighthouses of the Pacific by Jim Gibbs: "Point Bonita Lighthouse was established on April 30, 1855. The original tower was separate from the residence unlike the other early California coast structures. The station was extremely lonely in the early years. The initial keeper wrote the lighthouse inspector claiming that, "there are no inhabitants within five miles from this point, from San Francisco to Point Bonita; there is no direct communication but by chance, a sail boat may be procured at an expense of $5, and from $2 to $5 for freight." "Seven keepers were to resign their position in the first nine months. The abundance of fog rolling in from the Pacific demanded concern so the very first fog signal on the coast was placed at Point Bonita, it being an Army surplus cannon." "The lighthouse inspector threatened dismissal of one Bonita keeper because glass chimneys controlling the flame inside the lens kept shattering. It was finally discovered that the lens had been installed off center in the lantern room providing insufficient ventilation. The man was exonerated." "Fog continued to be the bane of the lighthouse, 324 feet above sea level, and navigators entering the bay complained the light was often shrouded by high fog when the lower slopes were fog-free. After considerable agitation it was deemed necessary to abandon the original light and build a new tower. The authorities chose "Land's End," the bitter end of point Bonita, broken, unstable, narrow and steep." | 
Point Cabrillo | Mendocino (1909) This lighthouse now sits in a nature preserve. Point Cabrillo Lighthouse is a 47 foot wood-frame structure housing with a third order lens, and also serves as a fog signal building. | 
Point Montara | Pacifica, Moss Beach (1900, 1928) A fog signal was first installed in 1872, followed by the light station in 1900. It is now a youth hostel 
Point Pinos | Monterey (1854) Point Pinos lighthouse was the third lighthouse built on the west coast and the second one lighted. It is located in Pacific Grove, CA on the south side to the entrance to Monterey Bay. It is a stone Cape Cod structure with a 43 foot tower rising from the center. | 
Point Reyes | Point Reyes (1870) This lighthouse is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore. There are 300 steps leading down to the light - This is the windiest point of the Pacific coast and if the winds exceed 40 mph the stairway is closed. The light was retired in 1975. | 
Table Bluff | Eureka (1892) This light once sat at the south end of a finger of land at Humboldt Bay. The station was automated in 1953 and the keeper's house dismantled and the tower eventually found it's way to Eureka. There was also another lighthouse on the other side of Humboldt Bay that is now gone, but the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum is nearby. |
