“Punta de los Reyes . . . God help the hapless mariner who drifts upon it!” - San Francisco Chronicle 1887

Point Reyes: A Treacherous The Light The , Fog Signal and The Fresnel Lens: Obstacle to Mariners First Shone in 1870 Lifesaving Station Saved Lives The French Jewels oint Reyes is the windiest place on the The Point Reyes provide mariners some safety The lens in the Point PPacific Coast and the second foggiest Lighthouse lens by warning them of rocky shores and Reyes Lighthouse is place on the North American continent. and mechanism reefs. They also help mariners navigate by a “first order” Fresnel Weeks of fog, especially during the summer were constructed indicating their location as ships travel along (fray-nel) lens, the larg- months, frequently reduce visibility in France in 1867. the coast. Mariners recognize lighthouses est type of Fresnel lens. to hundreds of feet. The Point Reyes The clockwork by their unique flash pattern. On days when Augustine Jean Fresnel of Headlands, which jut 10 miles out to sea, mechanism, glass it is too foggy to see the lighthouse, a fog France revolutionized op- pose a threat to each ship entering or leaving prisms and housing signal is essential. Fog signals sound an tics theories with his new San Francisco Bay. The historic Point Reyes for the lighthouse identifying pattern to signal location to the lens design in 1823. Lighthouse warned mariners of danger for were shipped on passing ships. However, the combination Before Fresnel developed more than a hundred years. a steamer around of lighthouses and fog signals does not this lens, lighthouses used the tip of South eliminate the tragedy of shipwrecks. The historic , built in mirrors to reflect light out America. The parts 1870, was retired from service in 1975 when Because of this ongoing problem, a to sea. The most effec- from France and the U.S. Coast Guard installed an automated lifesaving station was established on the tive lighthouses could only be seen eight to the cast iron tower, light. They then transferred ownership of Great Beach north of the lighthouse in 1890. twelve miles away. After his invention, the which was built in San Francisco, were then the lighthouse to the , Men walked the beaches in four-hour shifts, brightest lighthouses could be seen all the hauled on ox-drawn carts from the landing which has taken on the job of preserving this watching for shipwrecks and the people way to the horizon, about twenty-four miles. on Drakes Bay to the cliff 600 feet above sea fine specimen of our heritage. who would need rescue from frigid waters level. The Fresnel lens intensifies the light by and powerful currents. This lifesaving All lighthouses in the United States are bending (or refracting) and magnifying Meanwhile, 300 feet below the top of the station was later moved to Drakes Bay near now automated because it is cheaper to let the source light through crystal prisms into cliff, an area had been blasted with dynamite Chimney Rock and was active until 1968. electronics do the work.* Many decommis- concentrated beams. The Point Reyes lens to clear a level spot for the lighthouse. To be Today, it is a National Historic Landmark sioned lighthouses were transformed is divided into twenty-four vertical pan- effective, the lighthouse had to be situated into restaurants, inns or museums. The els, which direct the light into twenty-four below the characteristic high fog. It took six lighthouse at Point Reyes National Seashore individual beams. A counterweight and gears weeks to lower the materials from the top is now a museum piece, where the era of similar to those in a grandfather clock rotate of the cliff to the lighthouse platform and the lightkeepers’ lives, the craftsmanship the the 6000-pound lens at a constant speed, construct the lighthouse. one revolution every two minutes. This rota- Finally, after many years of tedious political tion makes the beams sweep over the ocean * except for the Boston Light, which remains staffed “in pressure, transport of materials and difficult surface like the spokes of a wagon wheel, perpetuity” in accordance with legislation introduced by National Park Service collection Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. construction, the Point Reyes Light first Shipwrecked Junta, 1938, at Point Reyes Headlands. “No keepers ever volunteer to transfer to Point Reyes, and almost without exception the keepers on the station are the ones who have entered the service there.” Point Reyes National Seashore - Superintendent of Lighthouses, 1926

The Lonely Life of a The Lighthouse is an Visiting the Point Reyes The Historic Lighthouse Keeper Enduring Historical Legacy Lighthouse Today Keeping the lighthouse in working condition The historic Point Reyes Lighthouse The Point Reyes Lighthouse is located on was a twenty-four hour job. The light was served mariners for 105 years before it the western-most point of the Point Reyes Point Reyes lit only between sunset and sunrise, but was replaced. It endured many hardships, Headlands. there was work to do all day long. The head including the 1906 earthquake, during which The Lighthouse Visitor Center is open keeper and three assistants shared the load in the Point Reyes Peninsula and the lighthouse Lighthouse from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday four six-hour shifts. moved north 18 feet! The only damage to through Monday. Here, you can see historic the lighthouse was that the lens slipped Every evening, a half-hour before sunset, a photographs of shipwrecks and lighthouse- off its tracks. Thirteen minutes after the keeper walked down the wooden stairs to keepers, and handle items on the touch earthquake, the lighthouse was once again in light the oil lamp, the lighthouse’s source table, including whale baleen. A display of working order. of illumination. Once the lamp was lit, the local birds will introduce you to the birds keeper wound the clockwork every two The National Park Service is now you might see just off the cliffs. A small hours and twenty minutes to turn the lens so responsible for the maintenance the bookstore offers books, maps and other that the light would flash. Then, throughout lighthouse. Park rangers now clean, polish educational products. the night, he kept the lamp wicks trimmed and grease it, just as lighthouse keepers did To get to the lighthouse itself, you must so that the light would burn efficiently, thus in days gone by. With this care, the light walk a half mile from the parking lot to the the nickname “wickie.” can be preserved for future generations - to Visitor Center, and then down 308 steps. teach visitors Daytime duties included cleaning the lens, The stairs are open 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., of maritime polishing the brass, stoking the steam- Thursday through Monday. When wind history and powered fog signal and making necessary speeds exceed 40 m.p.h., the steps to the of the people repairs. At the end of each shift, the keeper lighthouse are closed for visitors’ safety. trudged back up the wooden staircase. Seasonally, there are tours of the lantern Sometimes the winds were so strong that he room and evening lighting programs. On weekends and holidays during whale- watching season, the road to the Lighthouse is closed to private vehicles. Visitors must ride a shuttle bus. had to crawl on his hands and knees to keep from being knocked down by the wind. Please call the Lighthouse Visitor Point Reyes The hard work, wind, fog and isolation at Lighthouse today. printed on recycled paper