Point Loma Lighthouse

San Diego, California

Point Loma was one of the original 8 west coast lighthouses, built in 1855 in the Cape Cod style that was used for all of them. The forty foot tower rises from the center of the keeper's house, fitted with a third-order fresnel lens.

The Lighthouse Board often built these early west coast lights high up on hills, as was the custom in New England. This tactic failed in the west, as the light often shone above the low-lying fog that is prevalent along the Pacific coast, making the light useless to passing ships. As a result, Pt. Loma served for only 36 years before being replaced in 1891 by a skeletal tower built near sea level.

The "new" Point Loma Lighthouse was constructed on the shore below the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in 1891 because the Old Light, at 422 feet above sea level, was frequently enshrouded in fog and thus of little use to mariners. The Light is not open to the public but can be viewed from the parking area in Cabrillo National Monument.

Today Old Point Loma Lighthouse is the centerpiece of Cabrillo National Monument, with a spectacular view of San Diego Harbor.

Cabrillo National Monument, located on the tip of Point Loma, marks the point where Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the first European to set foot on California soil. He landed near Ballast Point in 1542 and claimed San Diego Bay for Spain. Cabrillo liked this "closed and very good port" and said so in his report to the King of Spain.