Reprinted from the U. S. Lighthouse Society’s The Keeper’s Log – Fall, 2004 <www.uslhs.org> EAST BROTHER LIGHT STATION East Brother Lighthouse circa 1900. By Frank Perry, as edited by Wayne Wheeler U. S. Lighthouse Society Archives. Introduction In reality, though, East Brother was not at all ferent lightkeepers lived for nearly one hun- an unusual lighthouse during its heyday in the dred years. Today, as a living museum, East f one were to describe the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Brother Light Station preserves an almost for- “typical” lighthouse, it would Several other lighthouses were built on the West gotten, yet important, part of America’s mari- probably be a tall, white, cir- Coast in the late 1800s using similar plans. It time history. Icular tower, made of brick or was also one of about a dozen lighthouses built East Brother Island is one of two tiny stone, with black trim and a on greater San Francisco Bay. Like other United islands on the east side of San Pablo Strait, few slender windows. It would be located on the States lighthouses, it was constructed and oper- a two-mile-wide waterway connecting San open coast, warning ships of treacherous surf ated by the federal government, primarily as a Francisco Bay with San Pablo Bay. The island or dangerous rocks. Indeed, some of America’s nighttime aid to navigation. covers just three-quarters of an acre. Neigh- best known beacons fit this description: Cape Today, East Brother is unusual in that boring West Brother, only a stone’s throw Hatteras in North Carolina, Portland Head in much of it has been restored to its early-day away, is even smaller. The only inhabitants on Maine, and Pigeon Point on the central coast appearance and function. A giant cistern still West Brother are the flocks of gulls, cormo- of California. Based on these criteria, East stores rainwater for use on the island. Victo- rants, and pelicans that perch on its rounded, Brother Light Station would not be considered rian-style trim decorates the outside of the rocky crest. East Brother had similar inhab- typical. Its lighthouse is a rectangular, wooden dwelling and tower. And the mighty diaphone itants and a similar shape until 1873 when building, painted buff color with white trim. fog signal, installed in 1934, roars back to life the federal government hired contractors to It is not especially tall, and it overlooks a bay to the thrill of visitors. Guests can even stay blast off the top of the island and begin con- instead of an ocean. overnight, dining and sleeping where the dif- structing a light station. Reprinted from The Keeper’s Log – Fall, 2004 <www.uslhs.org> The captains who guided ships through San lies, who in later years recalled with nostalgia maintain and less prone to vandalism. The Pablo Strait badly needed a lighthouse. The their days on the island. It was a peaceful life, announcement angered many local citizens; strait connects the Golden Gate, San Francisco, away from the mainland rush, yet a life with a they dearly loved the quaint old landmark and and other San Francisco Bay ports with inland special sense of duty and fulfillment. vowed to save it. ports such as Stockton and Sacramento. Ships Though the station was in many ways iso- In 1971 primarily through the efforts of the traveling to and from the Mare Island Navy lated from the mainland, the world did not pass Contra Costa Shoreline Parks Committee, the Yard must also pass through these waters. Ves- it by. As technology and the lighthouse admin- station was placed on the National Register of sels that stray off course at night or in fog could istration changed, so did the operation of East Historic Places. This protected it from being easily collide with the numerous rocky islands Brother. In 1934 electricity replaced kerosene razed, but neither the Coast Guard nor other and nearby shoals. as energy for the lens. That same year com- public agencies had funds for maintaining or The lighthouse was originally a six-room pressed air replaced steam as power for the fog restoring the buildings. For ten years the birds dwelling with an attached tower for the lens. signal. In later years rotating crews of Coast and natural elements reclaimed the island. The The government’s workers also constructed a Guardsmen replaced the keepers of the old U.S. only people who regularly visited it were Coast fog signal building, workshop, wharf, boathouse, Lighthouse Service. Guard service crews who periodically checked water tanks, cistern, and rain catchment basin. In the late 1960s, technology brought what the lens and electronic fog signal. In the mean- Since the station was only accessible by boat, was nearly the final chapter in the station’s his- time the paint peeled, the iron rusted, and the it was equipped so that the keepers could meet tory. The Coast Guard decided to automate wood rotted. most any sudden demand, be it high winds, East Brother. To save on salaries and main- In 1979 East Brother Light Station, Inc., a storm waves, or unexpected equipment fail- tenance costs, an automatic rotating beacon nonprofit citizens’ group, was formed with the ures. was installed on the dome of the lantern room, goal of restoring the landmark and making it About three dozen different men served at and the last resident personnel said goodbye to available for public use. The organization suc- East Brother through the years as keepers and their island home. Coast Guard officials had cessfully applied for a Maritime Preservation assistants. They faithfully kept the light burning announced that the old buildings would even- Matching Grant from the U.S. Department of each night, guiding ships across the bay waters. tually be demolished and a lens placed on a the Interior. The Coast Guard enthusiastically Many of the keepers lived there with their fami- steel tower This, they said, would be easier to supported the project and gave the organization a license to occupy the island. With the help of private donations and hundreds of volunteers, the lighthouse and other island structures were restored and rehabilitated. The equivalent of $300,000 was put into the project, which was completed in 1980. Today, day use fees, opera- tion as a bed and breakfast inn, and continued volunteer help make upkeep and further resto- ration possible. Unfortunately, many of California’s light- houses have not been so lucky. Of the nearly fifty lighthouses that were built to watch over California’s seacoast and bays, fully a third either no longer exist or have been so altered as to spoil much of their aesthetic and histor- ical value. This gives added importance to East Brother, where not only the lighthouse but the entire station is preserved. Several relatives and descendants of early keepers have shared their remembrances of life on the island. The sta- tion journals have also survived, giving vir- tually a daily record of events at the station from first lighting in 1874 through 1945. All this makes the story of East Brother Light Sta- tion an unusually rich, well-documented and personal history. Reprinted from The Keeper’s Log – Fall, 2004 <www.uslhs.org> A Light Station for San Pablo Strait, and the southern tip of Mare the land’s value was excessive, but being anx- East Brother Island. ious to begin lighthouse construction, accepted Previously, in 1851, the Coast Survey had the ruling. The owners of the land apparently an Francisco Bay ranks among the anchored a marker buoy over Invincible Rock, thought this was not enough, so they appealed world’s great natural harbors. Though a submerged hazard about one-half mile south- the case to the California Supreme Court. Sthe Golden Gate at its narrowest point west of The Brothers. By the early 1870s other In March of 1872 Paul J. Pelz, chief draftsman is but a mile wide, it opens into a bay covering buoys marked hazards bordering the strait but for the Lighthouse Board, went ahead and nearly 450 square miles. The bay has not one ship captains who regularly navigated these executed drawings for the proposed Point San harbor but dozens along its one hundred miles waters needed a better guide at night and during Pablo lighthouse. He prepared them under the of meandering shoreline. fog. On March 3, 1871, Congress appropriated direction of Major George Elliot, engineering San Francisco Bay stretches from Alviso $20,000 for construction of a lighthouse and secretary of the board. In the meantime, litiga- near San Jose in the south to points San Pablo fog signal for this purpose. tion dragged on over the Point San Pablo site. and San Pedro in the north. Between these two After passage of the bill, lighthouse engi- The final hearing in the case was scheduled points lies San Pablo Strait. The two islands neers examined land at Point San Pablo and for October, but the defendants succeeded in called The Brothers mark the east side of the tried to negotiate with the landowners for pur- delaying matters still further. strait, a quarter-mile off point San Pablo. On chase of a suitable site on the mainland. The Soon two years had passed since plans were the west side are two similar islands named The owners, however, refused to sell. This left the first made for a lighthouse along San Pablo Sisters. It is not known who named these two government with no choice other than to file Strait, and mariners who regularly traveled this sets of islands or when they were named.